we are a dying breed

[sam5570]

well i guess this makes it official we are a dyeing breed. the virginia dept of game is going state wide having public meetings asking what to do to get the younger people intrested in fishing. the bottom line here is they or loosing a lot of money yearly because not many fishing licence or sold. our trout stocking has got to improve but thats just a small part of it. the younger generation just not intrested in fishing or hunting or playing golf. some golf courses have closed because old members dyeing out and no new ones signing up. i did not attend but talk to some folks who did and i am not surprized that the average age of a person who buys a fishing licence is 48 years old. i guess this is the bad part about computers and cell phones and video games. i could go on and on about what was discused on how to fix the problem, and all i will say is you guys out there between the age of 17 and 40 you don't know how much fun your missing out on. you dad's that have kids under 17 take them fishing and hunting when you can. i always said there only one thing i would rather do than eat and that is fish.

 

[forgeblast]

Re: we are a dyeing breed

Advertise that there is wifi in the woods? But seriously not sure what to do, it has to start young and they have to want to do it. My little one is four, we fish, she wants to sit in the treestand with me this year, and loves being outside. But I have, from the time she has been able to go into one of those backpack carriers, had her outside. Many kids these days do not want to fail, which means they will not start something new. Possibly having free fish days, with equipment etc and experts to teach them would go a long way.

 

[Buppies]

Re: we are a dyeing breed

Sam you are correct the younger has no interest in hunting or fishing. Golf coarses are dropping like flys and really do not know how to fix it. The construction industry is also going to be hit hard by the lack of young people to learn what the older ones can teach them. Thanks for bringing this up

 

[dave1949]

Re: we are a dyeing breed

There are many people who enjoy the outdoors in various ways but don't fish or hunt. Some have proposed a voluntary fee paid by bird watchers, hikers, etc. to make up for lost license revenues.


Good article on this topic:
Paying for State Wildlife Conservation | Northern Woodlands Magazine

 

[Western]

Re: we are a dyeing breed

I say lower the fees, even if you have to cut some department excesses. I know here in Texas, our wildlife department sends the "management" on "business" trip meetings, to Las Vegas, Hawaii!! A total waste of $$ IMO.

Golf is well and strong here, but again, the price can get in the way.

 

[MossRoad]

Re: we are a dyeing breed

Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day.
Teach a man to fish and he'll be gone for the whole weekend.

 

[jinman]

Re: we are a dyeing breed

Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day.
Teach a man to fish and he'll be gone for the whole weekend.

But as a dyeing breed, he'll be easy to spot with his brightly colored clothes.

 

[oldballs]

Re: we are a dyeing breed

I grew up when fishing and hunting was pretty simple and not very expensive. One didn't need a rule booklet and a bunch of permits, or membership. My Dad and I hunted rivers and forests at will. A single shot rifle and a shot gun between us for squirrel, rabbits and ducks. Not so today. We ate what we bagged. I never changed with the times and have rarely been fishing/hunting since. Our two guns hung on a rack in our (my sister's too) bedroom. My kids plinked around our rural property years later. But the city engulfed us and that was the end. I guess I could have pursued it, but just didn't.

 

[dmccarty]

Re: we are a dyeing breed

How about reducing license fees and simplify game and fish laws? The danged laws are WAY to complicated and one needs to be part biologist and Wildlife Officer to go fishing and hunting.

I know golf is dying out as well. The golf communities and clubs are suffering because of lack of members. The lack of members might be cost related but I wonder if it is also time related. I know some people who golf, but not many, and I don't think they go very often. With so many work and family time pressures I know I don't have time to golf or do much else for that matter. Before we had kids, I was on the lakes in my kayak at least once a week but I don't have time for this now and I have not been on the lakes in over a decade.

The sad, pathetic fact is that I am so busy I have only been able to go deer hunting a few times since we owned our place. All I have to do to hunt, is grab the rifle and coat and step on the porch! Course, the coyotes have really taken a toll on the deer heard so there is not much to hunt. I saw four deer in the yard the other night which is the most I have seen in years. We used to see 7-9 deer all of the time. Of the four, one was a fawn and maybe two of the does were over two years old.

Both of my kids have been fishing. One does NOT like it and the other only sorta likes it. The one who likes fishing has high expectations after fishing in FLA and fishing up here without a boat is not easy on our local lakes. Both kids have gone hunting but only one really shows any interest.

The kids really are Information Age Kids. They are glued to iPods, Kindles and computers all of the time. Over the summer the kids visited their grandparents and they all went to Key West. The kids just wanted to play on the computers. Partly this is just being kids, I know I would not have wanted to go to Key West at that age, but the computers provide them something to do and connections to their friends even when hundreds of miles from home....

Later,
Dan

 

[NorTracNY]

Re: we are a dyeing breed

So how many of you over 40 used to go out fishing on your own or with a friend when you were 8-10years old. How many parents let their 8-10 year olds go leave their house alone anymore. I see baseball dying for much the same reason. I used to play pickup ball lots as a kid. I only see kids playing as part of a league now.

 

[gwdixon]

Re: we are a dyeing breed

There is a certain excitement and adrenalin rush to fishing and hunting. It seems to be an instinct in human nature to want to have that feeling. Heck, even golf can do that when you hit a particularly good shot or sink a long putt. But it takes time, equipment, special outfitting, persistence, practice, enduring a measure of discomfort (cold, windy, hot), and etc.

Kids today get that same stimulus from playing video games or phone games. This can be done in complete comfort in the house or in a car. The days of "being out in nature" or even observing the outdoors while in a car is not happening when one's nose is in a video game. Plus, when one tires of the game just hit "Save" and pick it up later. Hard to do out in the woods.

Admittedly, I have played "First Person Shooter" video games on my computer even at my advanced age of 66. It is usually when I'm ill or the outside weather is severely prohibitive. But there is still that thrill of the hunt.

My biggest concern is that the lack of interaction with nature will result in a misunderstanding of those that wish to hunt and fish. There will be laws prohibiting such activities in the future as those kids grow up, vote, and elect like-minded representatives.

I can tell you that here in California it is happening now. The voters in large cities that only see talking cows on TV and have a anthropomorphic view of animals are leading the demise of hunting and fishing in this state. $100 hunting license and $90 fishing license fees don't help one bit.

 

[dmccarty]

Re: we are a dyeing breed

So how many of you over 40 used to go out fishing on your own or with a friend when you were 8-10years old. How many parents let their 8-10 year olds go leave their house alone anymore. I see baseball dying for much the same reason. I used to play pickup ball lots as a kid. I only see kids playing as part of a league now.

That is a spot on observation. Kids are not allowed out unsupervised so if they are playing sports, they are on teams which requires the parent(s) to take the kid to practice and games, leaving the parent(s) with no time. On the other hand, there are so many sport leagues for kids today compared to when I was a kid. I had football starting in 5th grade. Today the kids are playing sports at 4-5 years old. Then there are travel leagues which we did not have as a kid which takes up even more of the limited family time.

People are also locked into their houses more. We just do not go out and know the neighbors today. I remember after Fran went through Raleigh, EVERYONE was out in the streets because power was out and there was nothing to do INSIDE the house. Plus it was hot in the house and cooler outside. :laughing: Once the power returned everyone disappeared back into the houses.

Later,
Dan

 

[Turbys_1700]

Re: we are a dyeing breed

Kids today have grown up in the digital age and would rather play video games than do something "real"...
I see the same trend in lot of areas...
Fewer kids playing baseball, football, ect...
Fewer kids bowling, hunting, fishing, ETC...
Trends change and time moves on...
It is a shame that many children today do not know the joys of digging for worms, fishing with a cane pole, bouncing a ball off a wall etc...

 

[MossRoad]

Re: we are a dyeing breed

But as a dyeing breed, he'll be easy to spot with his brightly colored clothes.

Yep. I thought this thread as going to be about an alpaca farm or something....

 

[forgeblast]

Re: we are a dyeing breed

Then when you look at us "adults", we are just as guilty. When was the last time you were involved in a group discussion with adults without someone having a Cell Phone in their hand?? Very sad.

How true!!! I cannot wait for this Saturday to go archery hunting and spend 5 hours in a stand surrounded by trees and no electronic noise.

 

[Baby Grand]

Re: we are a dyeing breed

But as a dyeing breed, he'll be easy to spot with his brightly colored clothes.

Rimshot
We'll be here all week - don't forget to tip your waitress d;^)

 

[Redneck in training]

Re: we are a dyeing breed

I think Air conditioning is the culprit. People spend too much time isolated in the house. In the old days before AC people sat on the front porch, sipped sun tea and talked to strangers walking on the sidewalk. People were used to be outside. Even when they do physical activity they do it in a gym paying for it instead walk outside for free.
They will not go hunting. There are bugs.
I never hunted. I spend most of my adult life in the city but I enjoy being in the country and in the woods. Our son is a hunter though. He told me he will get me hook up on hunting when I retire next year. If not with a gun then with a camera.
Iowa has the same deer problem as many other states. Every vehicle we ever owned had colision with a deer at some point. I remember a side column in the local paper perhaps 10 years back saying DNR wanted to sell 50000 deer licenses but there were only 25000 takers.