Declining Hunter Numbers?

[Nershi]

I genuinely believe we're living in the golden age for waterfowling.

I sure hope you're wrong about that. It ain't as golden as it once was, that's for sure.

You can do waterfowling on the cheap but you can't look like the badazz hunters I've seen boasting on the internets.

[Bailey]

This is the first year I have noticed hunter numbers down. Usually I hunt a secluded spot on opener away from other hunters but after scouting decided to hunt a well known public area and there wasn’t much pressure compared to previous years. This Saturday I hunted a large, fairly well known marsh and there was only a couple other groups out. Usually there are a dozen or two. It was holding about 20k ducks too. Really hoping my late season spots are the same so I don’t have to wake up at 3-4 every morning.

20k ducks and only a couple of groups out? Are you sure you had not crossed the border into South Dakota by mistake.

[Bailey]

Numbers seem way down, not just this year but overall trend... When I look at my graduating class (small'ish school, rural MN) nearly everyone in our class hunted at some point, most would have hunted waterfowl at some point. Fast forward to 2018 and none of my kid's classmates or their parents are waterfowlers.... I remember the 4-lane both to and from places like Manitoba, Saskatch and ND being filled with boats and hunting trailers. You seem em now, but not like I remember from 80's and 90's.... I remember spending a fair bit of time in TinTown in the mid 90's. Everyone we talked to there was mid-50's and up. Everyone had kids and none of them came to hunt. Back then in my mind this was the world wide capital of waterfowling @ Delta Marsh.

I firmly believe we did this to ourselves. I fear for what's coming in waterfowl hunting, not because of the lack of ducks or anything like that. I'm scared that some pretty historic places are going to become just dots on a map and largely forgotten.

I had five or six hunting buddies when I got out of college. I am the only one who still hunts ducks and I do it all in the Dakota's these days. I may do a Minnesota hunt but it is pretty rare now. Got to maximize your hunts when you have limited time with kid’s sports, etc.

It appears by granting the liberal start dates, shooting times, etc. the Minnesota DNR was able to stop the hunter decline for a few years but that honeymoon now appears to be over. The DNR has no more ammo left. The one million duck breeding plan never happened and the Lessard Council shot down any moist soil units for Minnesota. So the liberals seasons was all they had left.

Then you have places like Swan Lake that used to be great for late season mallards, etc and now are not very good at all. Just a ton of different factors.

[Nershi]

I had five or six hunting buddies when I got out of college. I am the only one who still hunts ducks and I do it all in the Dakota's these days. I may do a Minnesota hunt but it is pretty rare now. Got to maximize your hunts when you have limited time with kid’s sports, etc.

It appears by granting the liberal start dates, shooting times, etc. the Minnesota DNR was able to stop the hunter decline for a few years but that honeymoon now appears to be over. The DNR has no more ammo left. The one million duck breeding plan never happened and the Lessard Council shot down any moist soil units for Minnesota. So the liberals seasons was all they had left.

Then you have places like Swan Lake that used to be great for late season mallards, etc and now are not very good at all. Just a ton of different factors.

No more MN hunting? I thought you were the one who likes to hunt the river late and were all about the southern split. Maybe I’m mistaken?

I don’t think any regulation changes will bring back hunter numbers and I don’t think the changes they made helped retain any. I don’t think it has much to do with bird numbers or success either. I think it’s more society and population changes that have reduced the numbers like mallard maniac, MLDS and others in this thread have pointed out. In my high school and college days I had several friends begging me to take them hunting all season and I introduced several people to the sport. As time passed one by one they fell off and I’m down to a few remaining and I ain’t that old yet. All those guys shot plenty of birds while hunting with me and none of them had any grief with the regs. Priorities changed and some got lazy. Just the way people are now.

Personally I don’t mind it at all. Less pressure on the birds the better. I don’t buy the argument hunting will be banned if our numbers keep dropping they way they are. If that were the case you’d think it’d already be banned in some states. Maybe I’m wrong about that though.

[h2ofwlr]

I don't think hunting will end in my life time, but 20 + yrs from now? Hmmm.
I bet there will be serious challenges in the next 20yrs, and be banned in some states, and 20+ yrs from now when us baby boomers are mostly dead, all bets are off.

Also who will fund the USFWS and DNR and the conservation orgs like MWA, Du and Delta with the dropping participation?

I know for me in my 20-40s I got up at 2;30 to go hunting, but in my 50s I found that I just do not function well at all with 3 hrs sleep, with a mentality of screw that... which has resulted in me hunting only 1/3 of what I used to do. But what really played into this less hunting is the bad encounters I had while hunting from 12 to 23 yrs ago in MN, to SD to ND to MB with dick head hunters and G/Os. They ruined my zeal to go hunting, took the fun right out of it for the most part.

As for hunter participation - look at the last 5 yrs, here - we have not even done a group hunt here, be it for Snows, Honkers or ducks. Its a sign for sure.

A good thread topic for sure.

[Quack]

One of the things I find interesting about “declining hunter numbers” is they only look at license or stamp sales.

All you have to do to count that widget is get someone to hunt one day of the year.

So why not make those opportunities as available as possible- ie, the August goose hunt, teal season, north zone closed over thanksgiving weekend. More “easy hunts” like bingo draws for goose blinds in cities, duck blinds in refuges, etc. Meet and greet hunts like they do for youth and veterans where you show up for dinner Friday night, hunt with volunteer guides Saturday morning, and go home at noon


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[Bailey]

I had five or six hunting buddies when I got out of college. I am the only one who still hunts ducks and I do it all in the Dakota's these days. I may do a Minnesota hunt but it is pretty rare now. Got to maximize your hunts when you have limited time with kid’s sports, etc.

It appears by granting the liberal start dates, shooting times, etc. the Minnesota DNR was able to stop the hunter decline for a few years but that honeymoon now appears to be over. The DNR has no more ammo left. The one million duck breeding plan never happened and the Lessard Council shot down any moist soil units for Minnesota. So the liberals seasons was all they had left.

Then you have places like Swan Lake that used to be great for late season mallards, etc and now are not very good at all. Just a ton of different factors.

No more MN hunting? I thought you were the one who likes to hunt the river late and were all about the southern split. Maybe I’m mistaken?

I don’t think any regulation changes will bring back hunter numbers and I don’t think the changes they made helped retain any. I don’t think it has much to do with bird numbers or success either. I think it’s more society and population changes that have reduced the numbers like mallard maniac, MLDS and others in this thread have pointed out. In my high school and college days I had several friends begging me to take them hunting all season and I introduced several people to the sport. As time passed one by one they fell off and I’m down to a few remaining and I ain’t that old yet. All those guys shot plenty of birds while hunting with me and none of them had any grief with the regs. Priorities changed and some got lazy. Just the way people are now.

Personally I don’t mind it at all. Less pressure on the birds the better. I don’t buy the argument hunting will be banned if our numbers keep dropping they way they are. If that were the case you’d think it’d already be banned in some states. Maybe I’m wrong about that though.

You are correct I do hunt the river late but on the Wisconsin side where there is much less pressure than across the river. At least in the area I go. I have tried the Minnesota side and never had nearly the luck I have in Wisconsin.

[h2ofwlr]

Then you have places like Swan Lake that used to be great for late season mallards, etc and now are not very good at all. Just a ton of different factors.

Yup.

As my dad said about 30 years ago when the DNR got control of Swan - that it'll go down the crapper, and it did.
They are keeping the water levels down from the levels in the 50-70s. Meaning many years there was zero water in the refuge in the horseshoe shaped Anderson Island. Ducks imprint and get used to stopping at certain places. - that is gone now. I remember as recently as 20 yrs ago watching tens of thousands of Mallards coming back into the refuge late AM in the end of Oct. That stopped when they put in the new dam and they lowered it 1.5' than the lake used to be - making the refuge having no water. Thus hunting went down the crapper.

But this year you can go to places with a regular motor that you have not been able to go for many years with the very high water levels.

BTW, the carp are back. They caught a 14" carp in a test net 2 weeks ago. So it'll just be a matter of time before they are all over the place again and they will drain it. I'd give it 3 yrs, maybe 5 at most before it is a mud flat.

As for "Other factors" - 1 is DNR mismanagement of our wetlands.

[Mallard_maniac]

As for "Other factors" - 1 is DNR mismanagement of our wetlands.

I respectfully disagree with the wetland argument. While I 100% believe habitat loss and mismanagement of wetlands is occurring, I don't think it's a factor in our hunter recruitment and retention. I doubt new hunters are using it as an argument for a reason not to participate. Nershi absolutely nailed it with:

I don’t think any regulation changes will bring back hunter numbers and I don’t think the changes they made helped retain any. I don’t think it has much to do with bird numbers or success either. I think it’s more society and population changes that have reduced the numbers

Our "would be" prospective hunters are simply doing something other than waterfowl hunting. habitat loss and wetland draining is an easy target and it puts the blame on everyone but ourselves so it helps us sleep. When in reality our kids, grand kids, etc... aren't doing it and we're at fault.

Loss in waterfowl hunter #'s is a problem throughout the entire continent. Places throughout the entire country that were once waterfowling meccas are slowly dwindling. Not just in MN and therefore it's tough for me to blame the MN DNR for it. There's been a societal change in mentality towards waterfowl hunting and we're to blame.

[Bailey]

As for "Other factors" - 1 is DNR mismanagement of our wetlands.

I respectfully disagree with the wetland argument. While I 100% believe habitat loss and mismanagement of wetlands is occurring, I don't think it's a factor in our hunter recruitment and retention. I doubt new hunters are using it as an argument for a reason not to participate. Nershi absolutely nailed it with:

I don’t think any regulation changes will bring back hunter numbers and I don’t think the changes they made helped retain any. I don’t think it has much to do with bird numbers or success either. I think it’s more society and population changes that have reduced the numbers

Our "would be" prospective hunters are simply doing something other than waterfowl hunting. habitat loss and wetland draining is an easy target and it puts the blame on everyone but ourselves so it helps us sleep. When in reality our kids, grand kids, etc... aren't doing it and we're at fault.

Loss in waterfowl hunter #'s is a problem throughout the entire continent. Places throughout the entire country that were once waterfowling meccas are slowly dwindling. Not just in MN and therefore it's tough for me to blame the MN DNR for it. There's been a societal change in mentality towards waterfowl hunting and we're to blame.

Well it may have not have any impact on hunter recruitment I firmly believes it has an impact on hunter retention. I know of 7-10 guys that used to hunt Minnesota a lot and in the last ten years now only go to the Dakotas, Canada, and other southern states. They do not hunt Minnesota at all and never intend to again. They are still hunting 7-20 days a year just none in Minnesota. I used to hunt Minnesota 30 days a year but now a few at most. When time is very limited and you only have say a week to hunt you are going go to SD or Canada where you can shoot a limit every day. At least that is what I am going to do. I am not going to drive three hours to western MN not knowing if I will see any ducks or not. I could when I was younger and had the time marriage and kids changes that. However, Bullet is going to shoot a limit no matter where he goes. He could go to Carlos Avery and be done in twenty minutes. Some people just have the magic tough.