License Sales Down

Saw these numbers in the OOD (Jan/Feb), thought it might be interesting for those that don't subscribe;

We had a discussion on here last year about Hunter Recruitment, these numbers seem to support the continuing decline across the province.

The quote from the MNRF Senior Media Relations Officer Jolanta Kowalski "We suspect it is a combination of factors including demographics, the economy, the cost of licenses and hunting, tags (availability and allocation) seasons and other things"

Moose: (residents)

2013...112,754
2014...106,901
2015...95,023

Moose; (non-residents)

2013...1,889
2014...1,746
2015...1,557

Deer (residents)

2013...183,701
2014...186,357
2015...181,495

Deer (non-residents)

2013...5,257
2014...3,582
2015...2,871

Deer (farmers)

2013...4,287
2014...4,301
2015...3,804

What about numbers for small game, and migratory?

As for hunter recruitment, lots of the new ones want the Xbox experience. Not interested in learning or developing the skills needed for bushcraft, and hunting.

Fuel prices rising and harder to get tags equals less moose hunters.


Less deer hunters? Perhaps harder and harder to get access to private land in the south?

The cost in time and money for a Moose hunt is getting up there especially for the far north west.Private land permission simply harder to get.

I sometimes think the commercialization of the products has affected the outdoor pastime as well. Whenever I talk to others & try to get them into the outdoors they always say it costs too much money. Or how some will tell others they spent thousands of dollars to get into this pastime. I always say basics first. Then you have the latest generations expectations & instant gratification. If you aren't filling your tag it isn't fun or worth it. Trying to tell them it's more gets me the comment, I can go buy a steak, fish fillet etc at the grocery store for a lot cheaper!:sad:

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Originally Posted by robster

I sometimes think the commercialization of the products has affected the outdoor pastime as well. Whenever I talk to others & try to get them into the outdoors they always say it costs too much money. Or how some will tell others they spent thousands of dollars to get into this pastime. I always say basics first. Then you have the latest generations expectations & instant gratification. If you aren't filling your tag it isn't fun or worth it. Trying to tell them it's more gets me the comment, I can go buy a steak, fish fillet etc at the grocery store for a lot cheaper!:sad:

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Another fine point. You look at 90% of hunting shows on tv that say they need all the gear they carry on a hunt in order to be successful. You add up everything and some of these guys will have $2000-$10 000 of gear with them for a day/weekend hunt. I have seen countless new hunters looking at shows and magazines thinking they need all this gear. But yet they are frustrated and thinking of quitting hunting after going on 3-4 hunts and not shooting anything.

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Originally Posted by TheProvider00

Fuel prices rising and harder to get tags equals less moose hunters.


Less deer hunters? Perhaps harder and harder to get access to private land in the south?

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Originally Posted by Gilroy

The cost in time and money for a Moose hunt is getting up there especially for the far north west.Private land permission simply harder to get.

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Originally Posted by robster

I sometimes think the commercialization of the products has affected the outdoor pastime as well. Whenever I talk to others & try to get them into the outdoors they always say it costs too much money. Or how some will tell others they spent thousands of dollars to get into this pastime. I always say basics first. Then you have the latest generations expectations & instant gratification. If you aren't filling your tag it isn't fun or worth it. Trying to tell them it's more gets me the comment, I can go buy a steak, fish fillet etc at the grocery store for a lot cheaper!:sad:

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If you ( they ) have your H1 and can afford $25.15 + tax, I can teach you (them) just about everything they need to know to hunt deer/moose/bear. Any animals that are hunted do not each need a differant set of skills. The same foundational skills are needed no matter what you hunt. If one does not have those skills, there is not enough money in the world, or any gear that will make you a hunter.

They all want to start at the top and are not interested in hunting small game. But I can tell you picking off rats in a chicken barn or rolling birds off the trusses in the cattle sheds, without damaging the building or injuries to livestock, will make you a better hunter and a superior shot in a few months then years of going to hunt camp for a week.

Ok guys go ahead and flame me for saying it..:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Snowwalker

If you ( they ) have your H1 and can afford $25.15 + tax, I can teach you (them) just about everything they need to know to hunt deer/moose/bear. Any animals that are hunted do not each need a differant set of skills. The same foundational skills are needed no matter what you hunt. If one does not have those skills, there is not enough money in the world, or any gear that will make you a hunter.

They all want to start at the top and are not interested in hunting small game. But I can tell you picking off rats in a chicken barn or rolling birds off the trusses in the cattle sheds, without damaging the building or injuries to livestock, will make you a better hunter and a superior shot in a few months then years of going to hunt camp for a week.

Ok guys go ahead and flame me for saying it..:rolleyes:

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Why didn't you shorten this down and say "I think they need more mentors". LOL

I think the major factor in the drop of Moose licenses is simply there are too few tags available. I think this also has a negative impact on deer hunting numbers as well, as many Moose hunting camps would also hunt deer.
Overall, it would be nice to see the figures for all licenses to see how this compares to the overall totals. If overall small game licenses are down, then the trickle down would impact all types of hunting.
Saying all this, mentoring new hunters can be one of the most rewarding things you will ever do.

It's very difficult to get land permission and crown land is difficult to hunt without "issues". As the private permissions disappear the crowding on crown land in Southern Ontario increases. Not a quality hunting experience on crown land in S Ontario IMO.

I also think the success ratefor deer has decreased steadily over the past 2-4 years and I think guys get discouraged very easily if they weren't raised as hunters. I can't believe how many people do the cost of hunting calculation and compare it to grocery store meat costs.

I maybe selfish but I wouldn't mind a few less hunters in my area.