Printable View
I have to agree welsh and know many young people getting into hunting the last few years. Most of my nieces and nephews are into hunting including two of my three children. My daughter loves to go hunting and work the dogs. She is a natural !Quote:
Originally Posted by welsh
What WMU are you talking about YD......
Increases/Decreases seem to be regional. A quick count of the changes in estimated hunter licenses for DEER from the chart in my previous post show that it's almost equal between the WMUs seeing less (x55) and WMUs seeing more (x54).
Numbers of deer tags sold is the wrong metric. All that tells you is how many people are hunting deer and naturally that may vary by WMU.
Based on licence sales overall, it is will established that hunting has been growing in the US over the past decade. There is limited data for Canada but there is a study for BC showing the same trend, and there is no reason to believe that Ontario or any other part of Canada would be out of step with what seems to be a broad cultural trend. Nation-wide, the numbers of migratory bird licences sold is rising over the same time frame.
More people have been taking the Hunter Safety course in Ontario every year, the percentage of women hunting is going up too.
I'm not sure deer and moose hunting are attracting the younger generations or at least the one that never hunted with their family. The one I talk to are more interested in waterfowl, turkey, rabbit and such... Something you can do on the week end, you interact with the game, bunch of friend seating or talking to each other and so on.... Seating on a tree stand all day and shooting a shot a year is probably not the best way to get into hunting.Quote:
Originally Posted by MikePal
In our camp for example, for the past two years we got 3 new hunters in their twenties, one is a family member (his dad is a camp owner) and the other two are family friends with no hunter in their family. This year we will probably have new 2 guys in their twenties and 1 in is thirties with no hunter in their family either and maybe one girl that is just twenty. The thing is, we are not serious hunters (two deer hanging from the pole and we are done) . People come and go for two weeks, you get up whenever and go to bed whenever, go fishing or riding, its a vacation not a job. The only two rules is don't be an idiot and help or you have to find a new camp.
It's probably the best metric that is useful for most of S/W and S/E Ontario..Quote:
Originally Posted by welsh
While I don't disagree that there are more people taking the courses..that doesn't appear to be translating into License (Tag) sales or it's not translating into more Hunters in the bush.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fox
Take a look at the License/Tag sales for Deer for WMU's in Eastern Ont between 2006-2013;
WMU 65 (+327), WMU 64A..(+101), WMU 64B (-15), WMU 66A (-347).
So over a 7 yr period the total increase of Tag sales in Eastern Ont averaged out to only +66.
Considering that the population of Eastern Ontario has been growing steadily over that same period, I don't see that there is a huge increase in 'Hunters' as a percentage of the general population.
ie; The city of Ottawa alone grew by 50,000 people over that same period (821,129 to 870,250)...add in all the other towns in Eastern Ont that grew over the same period , selling only 66 more tags, hardly shows an 'increase' in Hunters.
Like I said earlier, it's hard to nail down the numbers, especially when you add other variables.
That is just deer applications for antlerless deer, I live in 66A but did not apply as my chances of getting one are slim. I will hunt a buck here but not a doe. I know a lot of people who have different zones they hunt and apply for their antlerless deer in the zone with the best shot at a validation. This trend seems to follow the deer population for the area.Quote:
Originally Posted by MikePal
Another issue I have noticed is that permission for properties tends to follow the groups but hunting in gangs has gone down. Therefore if you used to have 14 guys that hunted a group of farms and now you are down to 6 guys but you still have that farm locked down you reduce the hunter density. Not to say that deer hunters have not dropped in the area but I don't think this necessarily parallels hunting in general.
The number of waterfowl hunters is up, I remember seeing an article on this. The huge plus about waterfowl is the low cost with high chance of success. If you know what you are doing deer hunting you are still only good for 1, maybe 2 deer a year per person depending on the area that you live. (unless you buy additional tags all over the province) Waterfowl you can hunt, specifically geese, every day from the start of the season to the end with a license fee of $17. My friend actually had about 180lbs of goose in the freezer for sausages.
Money is tight but waterfowl is still economical, if you don't shoot high end non-tox.
I'd hazard an assumption that over 95% of people who buy a 'Buck' tag will apply for an Anterless tag. So the estimate numbers that they are using are still relevant. Whichever MWU you hunt, it would still show up statistically in the overall numbers.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fox
I think broad stroke, the numbers that the MNR are using for those tables are a pretty good estimate of how many hunters there are, in regards to the increase over time and will support a statistical sampling.
As an aside...I was also add that the increase in 'women' hunting is a bit of a ruse if I am to believe the stories I hear at the camp. Apparently some guys are getting their Wives/GFs to take the courses just so that they can get an extra outdoor card in the family so they can get extra tags. Seems an expensive way to get more hunting in :)
I have no idea of the numbers of Waterfowl Permits that are sold to Ontario hunters and has that number increased over the past 10 yrs...if you can find a link to support that I would be interested in seeing the numbers and compare it to the Deer/Moose numbers.
Yes exactly Fox waterfowl hunters are way up ! As said earlier about nieces ,nephews and my own children getting into hunting. None of them are interested in deer or moose hunting whatsoever. In my neck of the woods waterfowl hunting Lake St.Clair is huge and my nephews and niece were raised on it (family tradition).
anecdotal..find some statistics to support your theory...it's not that I disagree, but it would be nice to see some facts.Quote:
Originally Posted by yellow dog