I agree with Mr. Tag. The hunting minority is also the ageing baby boomers. We need to recruit our kids into hunting, fishing, and trapping. Trade in the kid's I-pod and video games for a shotgun and fishing rod, and get them off the couch and outside instead of heading for a life of obesity, diabetes, and an early death. No one can effectively speak for conservation and traditions from their armchair.
Opportunity is also key to the future of hunting. Lots of people don't hunt anymore because it is getting harder to get access. A lot of this is due to changing attitudes about hunting, landowner liability, and bad behavior by a few hunters who ruin it for eveyone else. We as hunters, need to be courteous to landowners (even if you are a local and never felt you had to ask, ask the landowners anyways). We also need to be organized and join a local fish and game club or national organization.
Lastly, your state fish and game departments and federal agencies are experiencing a lot of turnover in the ranks as the older biologists are retiring. In many instances, those positions are being cut due to losses in license sales or are being filled by conservation biologists, not fish and game biologists. What's the difference? Conservation biologists care more about ecological issues and less about land management and wildlife habitat that help support our fish and game populations. Their philosophy is more in line with The Nature Conservancy rather than habitat management. Where is this coming from? The Nature Conservancy for sure, but it's also coming from our state universities and colleges who are abandoning fish and wildlife curriculum and starting up degree programs in conservation biology. These programs are attractive to students who have never hunted or fished in their lives,and may even have a philosophical or ethical problem with these activities. Wanna rub some salt in that wound? As more and more positions in state and federal management agencies are filled with these people, guess who is paying for their salaries? You. That's right - your license dollars, duck stamp, and habitat stamp dollars are paying the salaries for people who have no intention of managing habitat. Therefore, get more involved with these agencies and demand some accountability on habitat management programs. It's your money.
