Illegal hunting?

[tabasco_joe]

The home page references an article from the Pittsburg Post Gazette about Pennsylvania bucking the nationwide trend toward fewer hunters. Checking the PA Game Commission I see that the downward trend of license sales has continued. I guess there are just more illegal hunters now! Shows you what polls are worth.

BTW the details in hunting license sales could give us some insight into what might be happening to the number of fishermen/women in the state. Junior license sales have dropped by half in 8 years. This indicates the current declines will continue and maybe even accelerate. My guess is the same is happening in fishing. Good news is there will be less cpmetition for that secret stream. Bad news is that PFBC funding and political clout will wane.

 

[tomgamber]

This may just be an "i'm still not quite awake yet" theory but I think the some of the loss of youth in outdoors sports may be due to teh fact that there is a decline in that population especially among males. This is just an observation based on my family and their school peers. Obviously nothing scientific. But my older son, now 13 has a small class size relative to the size of the classes only 3-5 years before him. Also the majority of his classmates are female. My ten year old has only 13 students in each of his 4th grade homerooms. And we live in an area where people are moving to, not from. However there are a crap load of kindergarteners, preschoolers and 1st graders coming in behind him. I know this because i'm on the board of our little league and we will have trouble fielding a 9-10 yo team but will also have trouble having enough fields for all the t-ballers this year. Just an observation. Probably nothing to it. Buts that the situation here.

 

[troutbert]

Hunting and fishing licenses sales are declining in PA, as they are elsewhere. That's well documented.

Is PA is bucking the trend? No. See sentence one.

Can you draw any conclusions from the above information regarding the extent of illegal hunting? No.

License sales are off substantially, but has anyone seen a drop off in angler use on popular flyfishing streams? I live near Spring, Penns, Little J and I haven't seen a drop off on these streams. Fishing Creek has tapered off maybe a little, but it's still pretty busy.

 

[JDemko]

I think a lot more of the younger kids are spending a lot more time on the computer and playing video games..

 

[onemorecast]

JDemko wrote:
I think a lot more of the younger kids are spending a lot more time on the computer and playing video games..

You got that right. My great-nephew,who is 4 years old has been addicted to video games since early this year, now his 3 year brother is addicted too. These two kids can't even walk a block without complaining that they're tired. The last time I visited, I bought him a fishing pole and took him fishing. It didn't last five miutes before he complained that it was boring and that he wanted to go home and play his video game. :-?

 

[cce114]

Not sure if any of you are NWTF members or not, but in the September/October issue of Turkey Call magazine they had an interesting editorial about the USFWS survey that the media loves to point to concerning the "decline in hunters/anglers."

The survey takes a snapshot of outdoor recreation every 5 years by counting the number of hunters/fisherman who purchase licenses. It doesn't take into account those who did not fish or hunt during that particular year nor does it account for those who aren't required to buy a license (seniors, under the age of 16, etc). The survey even had the disclaimer "not intended to reflect the total number wildlife-related recreationists in the U.S. since many individuals can be considered anglers and hunters even though they may not have participated in 2006." Of course the media chose to ignore this fact. A Responsive Management poll in 2003 showed the 2001 USFWS survey missed more than 15 million people who identified themselves as hunters!

Despite the fact that hunters and anglers spent $75.4 BILLION in 2006 and $10 BILLION collected in tax revenue over the past 75 years, and that 78% of Americans have a favorable opinion of hunting, the media still attempts to discredit outdoorsman.

Do your part by continuing to take kids hunting and fishing and by informing the nonhunting/fishing public about the benefits of the sport. It will help ensure our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy the pastime that we all love.

 

[JDemko]

onemorecast:

It's such a shame, I have almost the exact situation with my two cousins..

 

ANDDDDD, what's the "LATEST THING", I've just been bombarded with, on TV 7 nights a week, now for the past two months, during commercials??

The "new, educational, video games", that are supposed to "Greatly enhance your child's learning by 50%, yadda, yadda, yadda"!??!!

And these commercials are supposed to be "cute" when the teacher tells the parent, during what I guess to be a "parent/teacher conference".......... "Go home and MAKE SURE, little Snot Head plays his video games"! Then, pans to a couple of toddlers, playing video games, that's guaranteed to put them into Yale, by the time they turn 6!?

Fine, I'm sure that there ARE "educational videos' out there that CAN and DO, perhaps teach children something. But all I see, is yet ONE MORE "truly American parental past time" of "Let someone ELSE or something ELSE, teach/instruct/BABYSIT my children!!
("That.....I HAD TO HAVE, because "Buffy and Biff, had THEIRS"!).

"Set 'em down, in front of a TV with a vid game box,or DVD player, capable of keeping them entertained and away from ME having to be a "parent" and all's well!! I'm way too "BUSY" with my Pilate class and Yoga and underwater flashlight focusing classes to be bothered, sitting down with my OWN children and actually teaching them these things they'll need to learn with pencil and paper, or reading to them, or even GOD FORBID "playing an educational game, between us, that HAS NO electronics involved, whatsoever!"

And, THEN we "wonder", Tab-Joe... "WHY" there's a decline in outdoor activity licensing? Why should a child, today, get all "icky-pookie" touching a REAL FISH,when he can "pop in a cartridge" and "go fishing", (or hunting), in the comfort of his own PJs and slippers? Worse, YET, even if he/she, HAD a real interest in such things, will his parents, give up a yoga class, or not worry about getting to the local Gag-Bucks for a latt'e before it closes to take them?

"Teaching a child to fish, by a concerned parent", if they can't do it, or be shown how to do it, because their "I-Phone" doesn't have a program on it to tell them "how",it probably isn't going to happen, for the child.

 

[FarmerDave]

So true Flybinder.

 

[MKern]

Funny how a post about a consern of illegal hunting turns into bashing electronic devices and parenting skills. :lol:

 

[FarmerDave]

Do you meant to tell me T_J was serious about that part? It sure looked like sarcasm to me.

 

[MKern]

Well, I didn't say I disagreed with him; whether he was sarcastic or not.

I try not to take general discussions and turn them into personal matters. Last time I checked, I'm not the first person who has brought the whole changing the topic and varrying from teh original post.

 

"MY POST", wasn't in any way, "changing the topic matter".
I simply, and truthfully, merely "posted a reply to TAB-JOE'S comment about "YOUTH licenses have dropped by over half and may, even, accelerate beyond that figure".

What I posted, was my own opinion as to "what's possibly happening, in that area, with youth today, in accordance to with the decline in seemingly ALL outdoor activities aimed at youth in this country".

The VERY SAME was written up in our, local papers here, in Oregon not long ago......... "Little League numbers are down over 35% Soccer is down 20%, fishing licenses nearly 50% and firearm safety classes, (a prerequisite in Oregon, before youth can get a hunting license/deer tag) is down nearly 60%.

Sadly, along WITH this decline in outdoor activity for young people, we also have the highest obesity rate, among adolescence children, than any country in the world.

"Parenting skill" as I was referring to it, was to point out the fact that "NO, 7-8-9-10 year old, is going to shut off his own video game, jump on his bike and as he rides into town, think to himself......... "I really NEED, that new 4wt-9 footer I saw at Benny's Sporting Goods!
No, it will take a concerned PARENT to get him interested in a 4wt. rod, or even a Snoopy closed face and a bobber. That is, of course, IF he/she isn't too wrapped up in their OWN lives to do so.

I feel, that I posted right in line with Tab-Joe's lead off posting, because I don't think this overall decline has anything to do with the kids in America having the measles all at the same time, clear across the country.

 

[troutbert]

flybinder wrote:

What I posted, was my own opinion as to "what's possibly happening, in that area, with youth today, in accordance to with the decline in seemingly ALL outdoor activities aimed at youth in this country".

The VERY SAME was written up in our, local papers here, in Oregon not long ago......... "Little League numbers are down over 35% Soccer is down 20%, fishing licenses nearly 50% and firearm safety classes, (a prerequisite in Oregon, before youth can get a hunting license/deer tag) is down nearly 60%.

Sadly, along WITH this decline in outdoor activity for young people, we also have the highest obesity rate, among adolescence children, than any country in the world.

I recently talked to my cousin, who's involved with a church-affiliated summer camp, where kids go for a week and stay in a cabin, swim in the lake, go on hikes, have camp-fire cookouts, and all that good stuff. He said even there, they are having declining enrollment. Not just his camp, but other camps he is in contact with. He's not sure of the reason, but says some parents are over-protective and have all sorts of safety concerns. Or maybe just can't fit in a week from all their other activities. This was a surprise to me.

Kids grow up "outdoors deprived." It's a darn shame. Kids get "environmental education" in their schools and learn about tigers that are near extinction in Asia, and problems with the Amazon rainforest. But many wouldn't know an oak from a maple tree in Penns woods.

 

[FarmerDave]

MKern wrote:
Well, I didn't say I disagreed with him; whether he was sarcastic or not.

I try not to take general discussions and turn them into personal matters. Last time I checked, I'm not the first person who has brought the whole changing the topic and varrying from teh original post.

Hmmmm, you got all that from my one line (two small sentence) response? I was in no way pointing fingers at you, so relax. I never said that you disagreed with him. For that matter, I didn't actually disagree with you, either. Go check.

But now that you brought it up again... Point taken, but I don’t agree with you, at least not in this instance. I didn't see the original thread as a concern about illegal hunting. Only the title said “Illegal Hunting?” and note the question mark. He may have been questioning why the survey did not match up with license sales, but the thread sure looked like it was about the declining ranks on hunting and fishing. I could be wrong, but that is what I saw. Flybinder was only stating his opinion as to why this is happening. Therefore, I don’t think it was even a tangent, let alone changing the subject.

 

[JackM]

I have one of those, too! An opinion, that is. And a kid. Gino comes to the Jamboree every year with me and came to the Smokies trip last year. He likes to fish, but it isn't his priority either.

He has the newest interactive video game and declined a trip to Erie for steelhead this weekend and didn't watch the Steelers yesterday all because of that damn game. It doesn't make me happy the choices he made in these two instances and while I'll shut the games off to make sure his homework and chores get done, I'm not going to insist he enjoy my passtimes more than his own-- and that doesn't make me an inattentive or bad parent despite the implications to the contrary.

Kids will make their own choices as to what they enjoy. So long as I present the option of enjoying the great outdoors, I have done my part. I just can't see me telling him what type of hobby he has to enjoy most.

 

[FarmerDave]

JackM wrote:

Kids will make their own choices as to what they enjoy. So long as I present the option of enjoying the great outdoors, I have done my part. I just can't see me telling him what type of hobby he has to enjoy most.

Very good point Jack.

But I do think you are more of an exception than the rule these days.

I'm hoping to get my nephew interested in fishing when he gets just a little older. His father isn't into outdoor sports, but will spend hours a week on his fantasy football.

My father did take us fishing from time to time, when i was pre-teen, but later I fished more frequently with one of my uncles. They eventually had a son of their own, and my uncle took him fishing quite a bit (much more than I fished in my pre-teen years), but when he got older he lost interest. Go figure.