Where are all the hunters?

[blackbeltbill]

   It is possible  that while many here are hearing less Shots during Deer Season and seeing fewer hunters parked and walking around during Big Game- there probably  is a shift of many newer hunters of all ages focusing on Small Game Hunting. Especially  Pheasant  Hunting and Spring Turkey. Let's  face it- for a Teenager who is used to be chained to their Cell Phones and computers  all day like a Leash- the prospect of Freezing in a Deerstand for hours without moving is not Fun.

   Meanwhile- the only thing more exciting then watching a Pheasant Dog work- Point and or Flush Exploding Cackling Rooster Pheasants  is the Gobble of the Spring Longbeard.

  As my Sister once said- Everyone Wants The Big Bird.

   I believe  here is where the Hunters are increasing- Small Game Hunting.

[BowmanMike]

56 minutes ago, DirtTime said:

It makes sense and it does happen. I realize some people think the world is nothing but Skittles and unicorns, but the real world isn't like that.

Wth? Why did you have to tell me? Now I am depressed

[Steuben Jerry]

In 8T, there is a drastic reduction of hunter sightings and shots heard within a couple mile radius on opening day. Like a few said, it used to be volleys of shots from sunrise to noon. I think last year within a mile or so, we heard the first shot around mid morning and then a couple around lunch time.

Everything has changed here so much since I started in the early 80’s, and I think it’s changed much for the better.
Posted land was maybe 50% then and as long as you could pronounce the farmer’s name, you were welcome to hunt. And everybody did. The orange artillery drives would start after a short sunrise sit, and brown and down season commenced by 9:00 am. Stand hunting (on a board nailed into a crotch of a tree) was useless as the woods were pushed clean by 10:00 am. Or earlier. A basket racked 8 point was a rare sighting around here, and even rarer yet when someone you knew harvested one. I’d find carcasses all over on hike during a January thaw from wounded deer that ran off to die unrecovered because “they weren’t hit that good”. 

These days, farming has declined dramatically, and many of those land tracts are bought up and either hunted privately or leased. Everything in my immediate area certainly is. Seems to me that hunters are able to be selective and generally focused on hunting more and shooting less now. People are letting those yearling deer walk instead of sending 3 Brennekes at it at first light.  And yet harvest numbers are way up from back then. I started when party permits were a thing. 
Edit to add; nothing wrong with deer drives. I’ve been on my share back then. I just don’t miss having them sweep through my area by 9:00 am.
 

Edited September 24, 2023 by Steuben Jerry

[G-man]

Honestly  in my experiance the hunter numbers haven't dropped  but they way they hunt has.. walking, driving, slow pushes use to be normal.  Now everyone stand sits  tries 1 shot one kill.  Drives and pushes produced  volleys as deer were moving..  this method of hunting has also drastically reduced deer sightings as deer will find a quiet spot and just hold  up.  Non hunters with acreage also lend to this issue of deer dissappearing.  

[lucky118]

Alot of them have left for a less communist state. Hard to find workers who can work also. They also left for less taxes.

[Buckmaster7600]

Number of shots heard means nothing, hunting has changed. There are less brown is down, most aren’t willing to shoot a doe on opening morning, most don’t shoot the first spike they see. 
 

Opening evening of northern zone early muzzloader around my house is by far the most shooting I hear nowadays. Nothing like the old southern zone openers but not rare for me to hear 20or 30 shots.

[cas]

Part of it, at least in my immediate area is the old camps are all gone. Where I hunt, we're two people. In the 50's and 60's there were 8-12 people. (but the surrounding available land to hunt wouldn't support that now away).  The other neighboring camps are mostly gone, the old timers passed away. As they got older they upgraded their cabins and shacks to actual houses. So when they died, they were turned into homes. 

As well the state land we hunt has been logged and turned into an un-huntable mess. So the guys that traveled from far away and even out of state to hunt it every year no longer come. Anyone who does come doesn't come back after seeing what a mess it is. 

So no more Orange Army (can't say I miss that), no more huge amounts of shots opening day. But also no one pushing the deer around keeping them moving. 

Edited September 24, 2023 by cas

[Larry]

Right now I'm home watching football 

[Versatile Hunter]

4 hours ago, cas said:

Part of it, at least in my immediate area is the old camps are all gone. Where I hunt, we're two people. In the 50's and 60's there were 8-12 people. (but the surrounding available land to hunt wouldn't support that now away).  The other neighboring camps are mostly gone, the old timers passed away. As they got older they upgraded their cabins and shacks to actual houses. So when they died, they were turned into homes. 

As well the state land we hunt has been logged and turned into an un-huntable mess. So the guys that traveled from far away and even out of state to hunt it every year no longer come. Anyone who does come doesn't come back after seeing what a mess it is. 

So no more Orange Army (can't say I miss that), no more huge amounts of shots opening day. But also no one pushing the deer around keeping them moving. 

Whereabouts is this? I find that state land that has been logged generally has much more wildlife. 

[BowmanMike]

25 minutes ago, Versatile Hunter said:

Whereabouts is this? I find that state land that has been logged generally has much more wildlife. 

I see the same,it takes a few years for the cut to take off,but then it is good for several years until the browse grows too tall.

[crappyice]

I also think many who have gun hunted have "recently" shifted to bow hunting. As a result, they "hunt hard" with the bow and hunt gun for the tradition(if they have enough people/camps to keep those alive).

[Mike103]

Overall, the number of licensed big game hunters increased to just over 588,000, approximately seven percent more than 2019. The number of bowhunters increased 10 percent, reaching a new high of more than 251,000, and the number of muzzleloader hunters increased six percent to more than 253,600.Apr 23, 2021

[cas]

^ This was all clear cut by taking the trunks and leaving everything else laying where it fell. The first year you could cross it in theory, picture climbing over a 200 x 400 yard brush pile. Maybe an hour, maybe more, what took 5 minutes to walk across before. Now it's all grown in thorns and briar, on top of that.   Farther down, an older section is filling in with baby forrest. You can weave your way through it sideways, visibility is about 6-8 feet. You're not going to see/shoot anything in there.  

Edited September 25, 2023 by cas

[BowmanMike]

50 minutes ago, cas said:

^ This was all clear cut by taking the trunks and leaving everything else laying where it fell. The first year you could cross it in theory, picture climbing over a 200 x 400 yard brush pile. Maybe an hour, maybe more, what took 5 minutes to walk across before. Now it's all grown in thorns and briar, on top of that.   Farther down, an older section is filling in with baby forrest. You can weave your way through it sideways, visibility is about 6-8 feet. You're not going to see/shoot anything in there.  

It sucks the loggers left the place a mess..The DEC is stretched pretty thin and they don't check up on the logging as much as they used to. There is some stateland not far from my house that we used to ski on but when it got logged the trails were left in a complete mess with giant ruts.and the clear-cut was a mess as well. 

All depends on the outfit. I just saw another piece of stateland logged and that was tidy.

I agree you won't hunt in the new growth once it reaches 5 to 10 years old,but you know where they are bedding and eating.

If you can find any open area inside the thick new stuff that is a good spot to watch...

Edited September 25, 2023 by BowmanMike

[blackbeltbill]

1 hour ago, Rusty said:

It may look messy to us but it's actually much better for wildlife if you leave the slash.  It creates instant cover and it protects the young plants from browsing, allowing them to grow better.  We have a forest stewardship plan on the state land behind my house where they cut 10 acres each year.  They now intentionally spread the slash all around because they realized how beneficial it is for the wildlife.    

  It is really too bad that the old Wanaque Wildlife Management Area in North NJ ceased to exist and became part of the Ironworks State Park instead.

    There used to be Game in that area of the Green Turtle Pond. Plenty of Squirrels,Deer and Wild Turkey back in the 1990s and a through the 2000s.

  Now - just Black Bears Ambling about.

   That 2,000Acres could have been improved on . I surmise not enough Money for the NJ Game Dept to pour into the area and now it is a Ghost Town- except for the Black Bears.