License Sales Down

hunting is becoming a rich mans game.Young to be hunters just married and maybe with children cannot afford this moose and deer trips. License fees,gas, motels and equipment have gone up so much.EVERYTHING they sell at bass pro these days is gortex this and that and the pricing is out of this world for the average guy. Every time we buy something new,2 years down the road they invent something better so we obligated to buy it.Permission and places to hunt are harder to find.I duck hunt lake st. clair ,it is so crowded out there that it makes you want to stay home.

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Originally Posted by fishing1

hunting is becoming a rich mans game.Young to be hunters just married and maybe with children cannot afford this moose and deer trips. License fees,gas, motels and equipment have gone up so much.EVERYTHING they sell at bass pro these days is gortex this and that and the pricing is out of this world for the average guy. Every time we buy something new,2 years down the road they invent something better so we obligated to buy it.Permission and places to hunt are harder to find.I duck hunt lake st. clair ,it is so crowded out there that it makes you want to stay home.

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Hunting can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be.
We have guys at the camp that haven't spent a buck on hunting equipment in the last 10 years.

A lot of talk about a lack of new hunters and about the cost of hunting. The obvious other point is that the baby boom is aging.

How many old guys are giving up, because of failing health or other reasons?

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Originally Posted by werner.reiche

Hunting can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be.
We have guys at the camp that haven't spent a buck on hunting equipment in the last 10 years.

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Ain't that the truth....One guy is still working on a box of shells he bought in 1985 :)

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Originally Posted by fishing1

hunting is becoming a rich mans game.Young to be hunters just married and maybe with children cannot afford this moose and deer trips. License fees,gas, motels and equipment have gone up so much.EVERYTHING they sell at bass pro these days is gortex this and that and the pricing is out of this world for the average guy. Every time we buy something new,2 years down the road they invent something better so we obligated to buy it.Permission and places to hunt are harder to find.I duck hunt lake st. clair ,it is so crowded out there that it makes you want to stay home.

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All the expensive "must have" gear that's sold by Bass Pro and the like are only designed to separate people from their hard-earned cash. It's pure marketing hype and it's all BS. It's a trap that I caution all new hunters and anglers to avoid,at all costs. There's lots of good,warm and dry gear out there that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Milsurp and Canadian Tire are my go-to sources for almost everything related to outdoors gear.

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Originally Posted by MikePal

Ain't that the truth....One guy is still working on a box of shells he bought in 1985 :)

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It currently costs me $15 to $16 for 500 rounds....so I can afford to "miss" a few times for each bird I take..:goodstuff:

Maybe people need to think about how they do things..:joker:

Burning air is of course cheaper then powder..
Anyone care to try?

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Originally Posted by welsh

A lot of talk about a lack of new hunters and about the cost of hunting. The obvious other point is that the baby boom is aging.

How many old guys are giving up, because of failing health or other reasons?

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Last year when we were discussing recruitment it was found that 55% of the guys taking the Hunting courses were over 50...

Which makes sense...more time, more money...

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Thanks for posting....I was actually surprised when I was looking up the info here that there is a huge percentage (55%) of the new recruits that are older. I would have assumed that most would have been youth.

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In Ontario right now 20% of the people taking hunter education courses are women. Another roughly 25% are youth. Last year we put 25,000 new hunters through the hunter education program. You can do the math—you're probably better at it than I am—but 45% of those 25,000 were either young people or women.

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Originally Posted by trimmer21

All the expensive "must have" gear that's sold by Bass Pro and the like are only designed to separate people from their hard-earned cash. It's pure marketing hype and it's all BS. It's a trap that I caution all new hunters and anglers to avoid,at all costs. There's lots of good,warm and dry gear out there that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Milsurp and Canadian Tire are my go-to sources for almost everything related to outdoors gear.

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There is a limit on how "cheap" you can go too. There is also a learning curve for matching gear to the type of hunting and the conditions...A heavy coat will keep you nice and warm on a cool morning in September, but becomes a heavy PIA to carry around in the pack the rest of the day till you need it for that last 20 walking back to the truck. A thermal under shirt and a water proof lightly insulated pull over works almost as well for the hour you need the extra warmth in the morning and evening and is a lot easier to stuff in the day pack and carry.

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Originally Posted by MikePal

Ain't that the truth....One guy is still working on a box of shells he bought in 1985 :)

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We had one of the old timers - his last year was 1990, 80 years old then, that had a box of dominion shells from the early 1950's.
He told me it was his third box of ammo - he'd bought his rifle and two boxes of ammo just after ww II finished.

I think some find it expensive because they believe or are told they need to spend hundreds or thousands on gear. Most of my gear is 20 to 30 years old. Some I have made or repaired over the years. I don't have fancy out doors clothes or state of the art equipment. It has only been the past 3 years out of 20 that I purchase some new stuff. My tackle box for fishing is held together with duct tape.
My hunter's orange is older the my 24 year old daughter, I don't have a game camera as I have to make sure I pay for things like swimming lessons, cubs and cub camp for my kid's.

Hunting doesn't need to be expensive. You need a gun, ammo and a license to start.