Deer Hunter Populations

[Kmartinson]

8 hours ago, Grouse said:

Shots do not determine how many hunters are in the woods.  The number of hunting license sales is a more accurate figure.  Today there are more than 10 years ago.

Sporting License Sales Summary - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Hunting License Holders

License Year	Resident	Non-Resident	Total Hunting License Holders
2006-2007	521,805	40,445	562,250
2007-2008	521,960	40,459	562,419
2008-2009	554,918	40,986	595,904
2009-2010	524,276	38,251	562,527
2010-2011	519,472	36,480	555,952
2011-2012	533,624	37,155	570,779
2012-2013	544,275	39,895	584,170
2013-2014	551,391	40,347	591,738
2014-2015	549,999	41,974	591,973
2015-2016	547,223	43,065	590,288
2016-2017	528,327	40,920	569,247
2017-2018	532,149	38,897	571,046
2018-2019	506,873	37,575	544,448
2019-2020	552,804	38,697	591,501
2020-2021	563,063	37,550	600,613
2021-2022	539,837	39,980	579,817

Doesn't seem like there are really that many more? 15% increase over ten years. 

[Hock3y24]

decline in shots, and hunters. Too many does. on way home last night they were already herded up in multiple fields their was clusters of 15-20 doe together. 

[suburbanfarmer]

11 hours ago, Hock3y24 said:

decline in shots, and hunters. Too many does. on way home last night they were already herded up in multiple fields their was clusters of 15-20 doe together. 

i would be more than happy to take 4-6 doe. The population of doe is way down where i have access. At best a doe with 2 fawns.. no groups of 6- 8 in 8h or 8n where I can hunt

[LET EM GROW]

Yes. And i believe it has to do with less hunters in the woods, and also more people waiting on bigger better bucks.. LAck of doe tags within certain areas and available land access.. 

[nyantler]

Definitely not the same shooting activity as in years past. Much of it I believe is due to less hunters, but also a different hunting style than years ago. Hunters no longer move through the woods during the day, which used to bump deer and cause more sightings of moving deer. Is that better or worse for hunting? Not sure... maybe it's just different.

[bigpaul]

When I was a kid, the 80's, my dad's camp was packed with guys for the whole first week and had a good sized group of guys there for the following weekends. Between people dying and lack of interest from their kids it is pretty quiet now. This year two friends came up with their boys. My friends didn't even buy a license and never left the cabin and their boys didn't put much effort in but they had fun hanging out at camp. My neighbors camp is the same, just the owner hunted the first and second weekend. Meanwhile I took 4 weeks vacation since bow season started. I didn't hunt everyday but pretty close. I am more picky of what I shoot and I'm happy if I put one deer in the freezer.   

[Doc]

So, it sounds like the majority so far feel that the drop in the number of shots is significant. So what does that mean?

Fewer hunters?.......I have seen a lot of near empty state parking lots where years back they would be filled and cars parked along the road from over-flow.

Different hunter habits?.......I seem to remember a lot more still-hunters who were quick to get walking. It does seem to me that with today's clothing and foot-gear, it is easy to stay on stand for hours and hours. So perhaps it is a situation where everyone is sitting tight, and so are the deer.

Less huntable land?.....So much of my former hunting areas now have houses built there and posted signs. I remember when posted signs were a rare sight. Farmers didn't have the time to be doing such things. That's not the case anymore.

Less actual hunting?.......To me it looks like deer season has become a 1/2 day event for a lot of hunters, and after the first opening weekend. everything goes dead. So there may be a lot of people buying licenses and never using them, or using them in a very limited way. So I am not so sure that a license count is telling the whole story.

Is there a migration of hunters from gun to bow/crossbow?..... This is one that is hard to pin down, but I do know a lot of people who have been scared out of the gun season by all the (unfounded) fears of hunting accidents and fatalities.

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Any other possible reasons?