What percentage of gun-owners are hunters ? (Page 3 of 3)
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Originally Posted By kpacman:I'm absolutely shocked by the small percentage here that hunt. Hunting is what got me into guns and I hunted every season from when I was 15 yr. old and stopped three years ago at age 69. I loved hunting pheasants and deer when in season. I started noticing fewer and fewer hunters in the woods about 20 years ago, and during my final years I rarely saw a hunter or heard more than a shot or two on opening day. People are fat and lazy and the younger generations just want to play with their phones and stay warm indoors. Pro tip: dismissing the non-hunters as fat and lazy isn't going to make them want to join you. |
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IN, USA
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Hunting and shooting are two entirely different activities, and I happen to enjoy both. I sure wish states actually managed land like they used to. Here in Indiana, it's different than when I was growing up, and I suspect other states are doing the same. Places I used to hunt are now all filled with undergrowth so thick you can hardly get through. Trails have been abandoned due to not having manpower to maintain, so I've been told. At least some logging has occurred almost everywhere and treetops are left blocking travel for us humans. Neglect is the word. They sell license plates and advertise the need for donations to purchase and conserve forest and wetlands. They even did away with lifetime hunting licenses, afraid they were losing income. Now they're wondering why new hunter numbers are lower than ever. |
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Originally Posted By Jayne_Cobb: Hunters are a cagey bunch. Their reasons are ...reasonable, but it makes it such that unless you grew up doing it, starting from zero, especially as an adult, is a rough and awkward road. Pro tip: dismissing the non-hunters as fat and lazy isn't going to make them want to join you. I know I painted non-hunters with a broad brush, but I'll tease out a bigger narrative. This not only pertains to hunting, but to generational changes that have taken place. There is another thread that discussed growing up with toy guys as kids. I owned pop guns, cap guns, and owned a BB gun when a bit older. We would take our toy guns out and play all day long. Later, after school, we would all meet at a field and play pick up football until it started getting dark and our parents wanted us home. These things just don't happen anymore. It wasn't an accusation that non-hunters are fat and lazy, it's just that generational changes have taken place, and there is little appeal for a teen these days to rise at 5:00 AM, hit the woods on a cold morning, and stay out there for hours. Like I said, years ago opening day sounded like a battle taking place with all the gunshots. I would probably hear 30-40 early on. Now I'm lucky to hear 3. |
| I occasionally hunt, but I'm not a big hunter. I go to the range more and also do some competitive shooting and also maintain instructor certifications. I'm probably more a collector than anything else. On the rare occasions when I will acknowledge that I am a gun owner, the competitive shooting and instruction activities are usually the most socially neutral. |
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I'm firmly in the get both... Back in the day a 4 moa rifle, (ok an sks with the projectile swap milsurplus to soft point lead was good 'nuf.) Fast forward to the late 90's and a 30-06 wearing a nice Leopold 3X9. Game changer at that point.. Way better than the interim 8mm Mauser. Between 2002 and now hunting rifles and not hunting rifles have both come a long way. It's synergy. |
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Originally Posted By Windustsearch: A quick search shows 15-16 million licenses sold annually, out of 80 million gun owners. So, not even a quarter. But there are probably actually more gun owners than that, its a number that is far harder to track. You also have to take into account people like me. When i turned 65, I no longer have to purchase a hunting license but I still go hunting. Just not as much as when I was younger. |
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Pretty blessed my Dad took me hunting a lot. He really likes to wingshoot. Doves, quail, ducks, geese. I went on my first dove hunt when I was three or 4. He took me deer hunting a few times but we never got one when I went. I did get to appreciate his two mounted bucks most my life. Had my first shotgun and shot it by myself in a dove field since I was 11. Killed my first woodduck at 15. Killed my first deer at 17. Lots of quail, duck, dove, and occasional squirrel hunts in high school. Dad took me with him on many traveling waterfowl hunts starting at 15. I loved duck hunting. Obsessed. Got into bow hunting deer in college. My little boy went on his first dove hunt this month. Three generations together. My little boy tracked a 8 pointer, i shot with my bow in the dark as snow was coming in at 4 years old. Mounted it for his 5th birthday. I love to squirrel hunt with air rifles and 22lr. Its been, maybe not a way of life, but surely a big part of my most cherished memories with family and friends. We always target shot some. I really got into it more in my late 20s. Hunting young builds maturity quickly if learned from solid teachers and provides life time of skills, patience, toughness and drive. |
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I hunt. I like being outdoors and going “off trail”. It has led to many experiences I could have had no other realistic way. I divide my firearms into broad categories, but there isn’t much crossover in my specialized hunting firearms. My grouse gun is not a wise choice for defense, for example. My old hunting buddy passed away seven years ago and that took much of the shine out of hunting season. I can’t go hunting and not think of him. I have yet to come across a person who is on the same frequency as him in the woods. I got shooting buddies but blasting steel plates isn’t the same as bumping a buck in the deep cedars. |
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Originally Posted By SuperMoose: I've gotten into bird hunting the last few years. Been deer hunting three times in my life and will try to go again this year (took a doe last year). There's some other hunting I'd like to try to do at some point. I didn't grow up in a hunting household, so no one ever taught me. The number of hunters is declining from what I understand, so I'd say that percentage is getting smaller. I also hunt birds. Not as many doves as I use to. Now more invasive Crows and Grackles with the explosive varmint bullets out of a 223 to prevent ricochets. I do hunt deer. They are usually in my driveway. Easy to kill one, and I don't get greedy. |
