It Is Not Just Hunting - Outdoor Rec In General Is Declining

[COEngineer]

From here: https://outdoorindustry.org/resource/2019-outdoor-participation-report/
They counted everything (hiking, biking, fishing, camping, hunting, etc), including camping in the backyard, as an 'outdoor activity'.

• Less than 20 percent of Americans recreated outside at least once a week.
• Americans went on one billion fewer outdoor outings in 2018 than they did in 2008 (10.2 vs 11.2 billion).
• Of the people who report they go outside, 63 percent report they go outside within 10 miles of their home.
• Kids went on 15 percent fewer annual outings in 2018 than they did in 2012.

The following chart from the report seems counter-intuitive with the above bullet points in mind, but I think what it means is that more Americans (and a higher percentage) are going outside, but fewer times each.

 

[CiK]

 

[pabearhunter]

If the parents will not take them they are to blame. Not the children. In this day and age ruffing it is going to a motel without a pool and or wyfi !

 

[rwc101]

Every spring I see a few RVs in the NF with an awning, TV, and satellite dish. Does that count?

 

[Gr8bawana]

That Wall-E cartoon is spot on. People are becoming more and more sedentary as technology creates more gadgets that do more for us. You hardly even need to know how to drive a car anymore, they can park for you, they can apply the brake for you when your face in in your phone, soon the will perfect the self driving car.
People work more hours then plant their faces in their phones for hours at a time.
Kids no longer play outside, they play on their phones or computers. Fewer of them have someone to take them outside to instill a love of the outdoors to begin with, such as camping, fishing or hunting.
People can talk to their home computer assistant and order groceries without ever leaving the house.
Yes our society IS turning into a wall-E future.

 

[BrentD]

There appears to be a regional component

These are the laziest states in America, CDC study finds

How lazy is your state?

www.foxnews.com

 

[ShootsManyBullets]

Hmmm. Sad
My kids play outside all the time, do a couple team sports, ski in the winter and hunt. Around here it seems like we're above average, but those f'n phones and video games definitely suck a lot of kids in. I'm assuming most people that frequent this site have their kids doing outdoor activities.

This is a parenting problem combined with an economic one. Adults are working more and have less disposable income than previous generations due to many factors.

 

[WildWill]

There appears to be a regional component

These are the laziest states in America, CDC study finds

How lazy is your state?

www.foxnews.com

Right! Wonder why that is? Don't love that my state's leading the pack.

 

[rtraverdavis]

This is a parenting problem combined with an economic one. Adults are working more and have less disposable income than previous generations due to many factors.

I think it’s an urbanization problem as well. Where’s a kid going to ride his or her bike to for unstructured, knock around in nature time, when they are completely surrounded by people and buildings? Hard to fall in love with the natural world when it’s so distant from you.

 

[COEngineer]

Definitely a regional component. CO has the opposite problem of too many people going out year-round. Our local parks are being "loved to death" - more users (leaving more trash and dog shit, causing more erosion, etc) than the City Parks dept can handle. The same is true with hunting and just about every other outdoor activity on all public lands in CO - increased use with little or no increased funding.

 

[Irrelevant]

I think it’s an urbanization problem as well. Where’s a kid going to ride his or her bike to for unstructured, knock around in nature time, when they are completely surrounded by people and buildings? Hard to fall in love with the natural world when it’s so distant from you.

I would venture to say it has at least as much to do with quick access to public lands and the physical quality of those lands. Seattle is less than an hour from the Cascades and the Snoqualmie NF or a plethora of beaches. Similar with Portland. But generally it appears there are many factors at play here. Apparently liberals prefer to exercise

 

[BrentD]

I would venture to say it has at least as much to do with quick access to public lands and the physical quality of those lands. Seattle is less than an hour from the Cascades and the Snoqualmie NF or a plethora of beaches. Similar with Portland. But generally it appears there are many factors at play here. Apparently liberals prefer to exercise
View attachment 127490

Gotta be more to it than that. Otherwise Iowa would be black. (I think this map is a little optimistic with respect to Iowa)

 

[bushman13]

For overall recreation, yes. But specifically for hunting, not always. Georgia has little public land and resident hunter participation is noticeably increasing.

Hunting gaining popularity in Georgia, especially among women

Stormy Smith recently turned 12. As (bad) luck would have it, she observed that day in bed; the kid had strep throat.

www.ajc.com

I would venture to say it has at least as much to do with quick access to public lands and the physical quality of those lands. Seattle is less than an hour from the Cascades and the Snoqualmie NF or a plethora of beaches. Similar with Portland. But generally it appears there are many factors at play here. Apparently liberals prefer to exercise
View attachment 127490

 

[hank4elk]

NM has started a push to a more outdoors/tourist economy...they say.
We have a lot to offer there.

 

[antlerradar]

Looks to me like that map correlates nicely with heat and humidity.

 

[JTHOMP]

Right! Wonder why that is? Don't love that my state's leading the pack.

Hey Louisiana and Mississippi are doing great if we are not in the running for #1 and #2 of who sucks the most.

 

[bushman13]

lmao. The butt of all southern jokes drift westward. In FL they make fun of people from Georgia, In GA they make fun of people from Alabama and so on.

Hey Louisiana and Mississippi are doing great if we are not in the running for #1 and #2 of who sucks the most.

 

[rmauch20]

Oh enough already.
Everybody preaches we need more Hunter recruitment.
Also everyone I can’t draw a tag,It’s too crowded, damn out of staters everywhere, Raise the tag fees for the out of stater.
Another complaint you hear a lot is all the recreational activity going on in the back country whether it be biking, hiking, canoeing, fishing, shed hunting is disturbing the animals and they have constant pressure on them.
Now this. We need more people involved in outdoor activities. Good grief

Maybe we should tell people in Colorado to be lazier and people in Alabama to get off their fat butt.

 

[noharleyyet]

I want New Mexico resident hunters to take up golf.

 

[COEngineer]

Oh enough already.
Everybody preaches we need more Hunter recruitment.
...
Now this. We need more people involved in outdoor activities. Good grief

Thanks for not reading the previous posts that pointed out that there are regional differences. If you're in the Mtn West, the problems are most likely increasing pressure on too few resources. Anywhere else, your problem is probably too few hunters with too few places to go. It's not simple. No one here said it is.

And yes, most of us want to stop the decline in hunting participation because we are afraid that someday the non-hunting public is going to decide they don't want to allow anyone to hunt. The difficulties are immense - more suburbia, easier entertainment on the computer, etc, etc.