The thought has occurred to me and probably some of you that this year maybe more than ever before might be the most important year or better stated the most opportunity to advance the sport for generations to come. I could go on and on about my opinions of the handling of COVID and how our lives have been negatively impacted by it... But this post isn't for that - this post is about growing the sport and reintroducing people to the outdoors in general. Here are a few reasons I think this is the best opportunity to advance the sport: 1. Hunters and non-hunters alike have experienced food insecurity in one form or another over the last 6 months due to COVID. Many people who had probably never experienced such a thing had to experience it for the first time when they went to the grocery and saw price increases or even lack of produce/meat/supplies etc. Go hunting, foraging and fishing for your own groceries - the time to make this plea has never been better. Whitetail, turkey, quail, morels, duck, catfish, trout etc. etc. 2. Get in the woods and clear your mind... It might be the best kind of therapy invented and relatively speaking it's free. Go sit in the woods for the first time - 20 feet up or in a foldout chair on the ground and watch the woods wake up. Watch the birds fly and chirp, squirrels forage for acorns and whitetail meander under your stand - none of them with a clue of your presence. If you remember why you became a hunter you can train yourself and others to appreciate this about every single hunt. I think folks mental health is really important right now and an activity such as hunting might save a life or two... 3. What else are people going to have to do? A lot of people spend time in the fall watching college and pro football - college basketball etc. Some or all of these seasons are in jeopardy. Look at what happened to the cycling industry this spring/summer? You walk in a local walmart or sporting good store and you will be hard pressed to find a bike in the store. The inventories were decimated due to people having nothing else to do and spending more time outdoors. The hunting industry has a huge opportunity to capitalize the same way as this public health crisis lingers on. I realize I'm preaching to the choir on this topic - but over the last couple years I've made the effort to get new hunters or even people who had walked away from the sport reengaged. Even if I just take them out for 1 or 2 hunts they get to experience it and that is very important! Just hope some of you will consider and make an effort to do the same this Fall. I think we've got the opportunity to control the narrative moving forward. Growing the sport will help our effort - but one day later in time we might just be able to point to 2020 as the year that the anti-hunters lost the battle...
1000% agree for all of the reasons stated above. I anticipate a few extra vehicles in the public land parking lots this fall.
As someone who works in the hunting industry I can tell you we are seeing a huge increase this year I demand. All the archery shops I talk to are seeing new faces come through the door! It’s an exciting time for the sport of hunting for all the reasons listed above, hopefully some take the sport up for life and not just because there is nothing else to do! Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Hoping its not, but kinda expecting, a mess of yahoo's and eager conservation officers doling out tickets/stopping folks every time the enter /exit the woods...
I'm definitely expecting to see people in the woods where I hunt this year. Maybe it will get the deer moving, LOL!!
I wonder if there is an uptick in hunter safety course registrations? Required here in New England states.
I know here in NY they made safety and bow course available online for the first time. The experience went from 16hrs a course to 4hr for each.
I've taken the course 4 times now and sadly you don't learn much either way. When I took it as a kid it was the best. We actually tracked blood (fake) through the woods. Brought our own bows and got tips and focused allot on safety. For my nephews it was two nights of a old timer regaling us with stories and anecdotes. My oldest (3 years ago) it was 4-8hrs of online HW then 2 4hr classes of nonsense.
I get it but if it came down to really having to hunt for your food, America would not be the most obese country in the world.
Pretty much same here! I took it in the summer of 1990, and we blood trailed, just as you mentioned. I took it again with my son about 7 years ago and it was a good ol' boys club. lot's of bragging and quiver sniffing.
