What hunts are better today than 10 years ago?

[Bambistew]

I can't say that I've read anywhere in the last 20 years, that hunt conditions actually improved. Is that because we only focus on the doom and gloom? Seems like all you hear is more hunting pressure, shorter seasons, fewer animals, tags are harder to draw, etc etc.

Are there actually any bright spots in public land hunting today as compared to say, 10 years ago? I'm not interested in status quo, but maybe those are the only bright spots we have? I'm interested in actual meaningful improvements to public lands hunting that have occured in the last 10 years.

 

[JohnCushman]

Turkeys

 

[300 win mag]

whitetails have gotten much worse in michigan

 

[Deleted member 18333]

I think an easy argument could be made that many Wyo elk hunting areas, statewide (public and private), are better today than they were 10 years ago.

 

[300 win mag]

I think an easy argument could be made that many Wyo elk hunting areas, statewide (public and private), are better today than they were 10 years ago.

yeah i dont hunt in that area tho

 

[MITCHMO]

I can’t say because I don’t have enough time under my belt, but after talking with some old friends of mine that hunted west many years ago, it didn’t seem like they had any better success or quality, just less people and cost. Basket mule deer and rag horn elk.

 

[Deleted member 18333]

yeah i dont hunt in that area tho

you should pick a better one

 

[Bambistew]

I think an easy argument could be made that many Wyo elk hunting areas, statewide (public and private), are better today than they were 10 years ago.

I think a better argument would be, is that WY elk is probably the only hunt in the west that has not diminished.

 

[2rocky]

CA Tule Elk

 

[Deleted member 18333]

I think a better argument would be, is that WY elk is probably the only hunt in the west that has not diminished.

opinions vary

 

[TheGrayRider]

Coyote.

 

[Oak]

I'm not sure I'd say the hunting conditions have improved, but Colorado bighorn sheep licenses have increased from 246 in 2011 to 319 in 2020, a nearly 30% increase. Those licenses are much more difficult to draw now, though.

 

[Irrelevant]

I only know WA, but there are some units in WA that have substantially better deer hunting than they did 10 years ago, however, much of that is due to reduced hunting on private lands. ~ 1/4 of elk areas in WA are better than they were 10 yrs ago but mainly because there's weren't any elk there 10 years ago.

I can't imagine Chukar hunting hasn't gotten better, it's really good now, and I just can't imagine it being better before.

 

[MTLabrador]

Black bear numbers themselves are great, but that has also coincided with approximately 17 times more people hunting bears in the spring... It’s a very annoying trend.

 

[TrumpkinTheDwarf]

Goose hunting has improved greatly since I was born.

 

[npaden]

In 2011 there was not an open season for mule deer or whitetail deer in Lubbock county.

7 years ago they implemented the first ever mule deer season and 5 years ago they started a whitetail deer season.

I would say that is an improvement. I still can't seem to ever shoot a mule deer on my property, but my neighbor has shot one every year since they have had a season with a couple of them being pretty nice. I have shot 3 whitetails and my son has shot 1.

Seems like there are more deer each year until this year it seemed to drop off but that could be because of our drought.

Hard to believe there are still places in the U.S. where deer are still expanding their range but that is the case in our county.

 

[mannmicj]

Wolf hunts are better today.... LOL

 

[TOGIE]

i'd venture to guess colorado black bear hunting is better than 10 years ago

no i didn't even hunt 10 years ago and i haven't even shot a bear anywhere, let alone colorado

but prices have even dropped in the last couple years, tags are more available than ever it seems, more bears than ever, success can come easily with a bit of work too

 

[marshman]

Goose hunting has improved greatly since I was born.

Yep, tons more geese here in WA than when I was a kid.

 

[rustednuts]

AZ coues deer are thriving. Maine deer herds are in much better shape.