Waterfowl hunter numbers on the decline in both the U.S. and Canada

Vince Pagliaroli

Vince Pagliaroli

Well-known member


Article in the recent NY Outdoor News. Bismarck, ND

"In the US the lowest tally since 1962 and in Canada 1966. Together, 1.04 million waterfowl hunters were active in North America during the 2022 - 2023 season."

"The smaller the pool of hunters the more easily we can be dismissed." - Joel Brice, chief conservation officer for Delta Waterfowl.


my 2 cents
Waterfowlers are "endangered" even more so than the birds, and when we go they may steeply decline as well. My hunting years span 1962 to the present. I have been very fortunate/blessed to have been alive during that time, and addicted to the sport & lifestyle. The word sad does not apply to what is happening, for me it's worse than that. Being hopeful for a reverse in the trend is a tough row to hoe.
 
Vince

We've been hearing about hunter decline. I wonder if Canada accounts for disproportionate loss. Probably does. I'd also like to know the hours afield over the years but they don't track that. Would also be interesting to see the public and private acreage usage stats. I'm thinking public lands have shrunk while man hours on public hasn't, at least in some states.

Eric
 
Hunter decline, and living in the gun hostile state of CT. Is the reason I continue to be a hunter education instructor.
Interesting point is that most classes fill up in hours or days.
 
Yeah Mike but how many of those people just want to shoot a deer? Hell, except the class I taught with you, there was never any mention of waterfowl hunting in those courses when I took them!
 
Since the baby boomers are aging it makes sense that the numbers have to shrink. The number of hunters as percentage of population would be my concern. This is all part of the demographic collapse the world is going through.

Will game stocks increase due to lack of hunters leading to increased game limits?

Rick
 
MIKE-SID said:
Hunter decline, and living in the gun hostile state of CT. Is the reason I continue to be a hunter education instructor.
Interesting point is that most classes fill up in hours or days.
Click to expand...

That is an important point. I've been recruiting new hunters since I was a teenager. In the old days it was the NRA safe hunter course, it was easy to find an instructor and get licensed. Then along came CE/FS, with lots of additional time required and inadequate manpower supplied by the state. Beginning back in the early 2000's, a number of potential recruits were lost because they couldn't get in a class. It's time sensitive and people lose interest if they have to wait a year. In conversations with politicians, they point to the "success" of pistol permit classes. Although pistol permit classes may sometimes take a month to get into, the pistol shooting season doesn't open and close for a full year.

With all due respect to you volunteers teaching the classes, the state needs to provide adequate classes for the demand. That is, if they actually want to retain or grow hunter numbers, which I sincerely doubt.
 
SJ Fairbank said:
MIKE-SID said:
Hunter decline, and living in the gun hostile state of CT. Is the reason I continue to be a hunter education instructor.
Interesting point is that most classes fill up in hours or days.
Click to expand...


With all due respect to you volunteers teaching the classes, the state needs to provide adequate classes for the demand. That is, if they actually want to retain or grow hunter numbers, which I sincerely doubt.
Click to expand...


As far as I can tell the state has 2 guys running the program. They do give classes among many other things, many things. But my point is that all the other instructors are volunteers. My opinion is that the state doesn't care.
 
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Doug

Where do you hunt? I have this theory crowds on public are the result of regulations that squeeze more people into smaller areas than in past years, and folks with more time on their hands to hunt. Hunter numbers are shrinking, but more time in the field with less public opportunity equates to greater hunter concentration. Plus, hunters are more mobile than ever so traveling to "hot spots" creates crowding issues that didn't happen 20 years ago.

Eric
 
MIKE-SID said:
As far as I can tell the state has 2 guys running the program. They do give classes among many other things, many things. But my point is that all the other instructors are volunteers. My opinion is that the state doesn't care.
Click to expand...

Hats off to you guys doing it as volunteers. It is not your responsibility to meet the demand for the classes. It is 100% the state, who mandates the classes.

I agree, the state in general doesn't care whether the CE/FS program succeeds. Maybe a few in the F&W department want hunter numbers maintained or grown, but the prevalent attitude is to discourage hunting.
 

Eric,

Per the article.

Canada. "75% decrease from the countries high of 505,681 resident waterfowl hunters in 1978."

"Baby boomers have represented a high percentage of the waterfowl hunting population for the last half century. The median age of a Boomer is 68. Studies have shown that hunters begin to drop at age 70."

Concerning the drop in hunters. "People who try waterfowl hunting but don't stick with it often point to lack of ducks and geese and complex regulations as factors."





my 2 cents
I look at the total number of waterfowl hunters today and shake my head. I mind the time that PA had over a million deer hunters, and most of them were also small game and waterfowl hunters. In many senses Those were the days that will not be seen again and I thank God that I experienced them, the good and the not so good. The dollars from those hunters paid for much of what we have today. Not just PA but in so many other states.

Time was a hunter began by small game and waterfowl hunting to develop skills, safety. learn habitats and ID game. Then one graduated to Big Game. Those days are over, now shoot a turkey or deer first usually in a special season and then done. No amount of courses will replace the way it was for many generations of mentoring. A NY DEC officer told me many times they cannot fill waterfowl ID courses due to lack of interest. If anything waterfowling teaches Patience (something in short supply today) and Observation of surroundings.

With the lack of hunters the birds will only recover IF the habitat is not Improved/Developed, and good luck with that. Also most Fish & Game Departments were run by folks that did hunt and fish, that is no longer the case. Multi Use is now much more the focus

If we loose hunters and conservation in Canada, God help us and the birds. I am very concerned about that cuz our investment is great and the rewards so wonderful.
 
Vince,

I have no doubt there are few people looking to take a waterfowl ID course. With the internet, there are many resources available. Hopefully, many are being mentored as you mentioned. I for one, wish the states would offer more hunter safety courses spread year round, rather than concentrated near hunting seasons. Every potential hunter lost because they couldn't enroll in a class when they wanted is likely several new hunters lost because young hunters tend to gather a "flock" to hunt with. One enthusiastic kid on a texting spree can suck in many buddies. Yeah, the newbies post videos and tailgate shots, but it's better than them being antis.
 
Vince

I hear you. To me it seems as though Manitoba (and other provinces may follow) are handing the reigns of hunting to guide services. There is an imbalance in access there. I envision a future where access is both regulated away and locked up by outfitters. This model does not grow participation, it stifles it. Here in the US we are doing the same. South Dakota, North Dakota, Kansas, and Arkansas are building walls, and it won't stop with them. Territorialism doesn't bode well for conservation over the long haul. On the flipside today's hunters use tech to pursue waterfowl deeper than ever and the constant pressure isn't good either for waterfowl or hunters. I have long been a proponent of increased access and simplified regulations, and still am. But it's the individual states that are piling on the complexity, not the feds. In the end the feds will simply shorten seasons when waterfowl numbers drop. So just how does any of this result in conservation efforts needed to maintain healthy waterfowl populations? I don't think it does and believe hunter numbers are going to drop significantly and with it goes financial support and legislative influence.

Eric
 
It would be interesting to look at regional and state patterns of duck stamp sales or some other measure of hunter participation to see if there are any patterns and compare them based on differences in hunting rules, access, or other differences.

I've seen the data that show that duck stamp sales are down in Maine, and because of our state laws that guarantee access to most lakes and ponds and all tidal waters, combined with relatively little posted private land compared to many other states, I don't think that has anything to do reduced access. Ditto for waterfowl regulations, which have been essentially unchanged except for changes in the

FWIW, the same access issues apply to anglers as to hunters, and angler numbers seem to be increasing pretty steadily here. I'm not sure what the national trend is.



(Edited since my original post cut out my final thought--sorry!)
 
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With the baby boomer generation aging, there will of course be a drop off in numbers. I think another problem is that for decades only half of our children were encouraged to hunt. Hunting was viewed as a father-son activity. This has changed a lot in the last decade or so, we need to continue recruiting young women if hunting is going to survive.


Reduced access is a problem where I live in South Eastern PA. Finding places to field hunt for Canada or snow geese is quite difficult. What was once vast corn fields is now housing and warehouses. Small farms are bought up by "farming" corporations who turn around and rezone commercial or residential. The Municipalities don't care because it brings in more taxes. Additionally, in 2005 a deer hunter took a skyline shot, the bullet traveled a long distance went through a car window and hit a pregnant woman in the head. The hunter was sued, and so was the landowner for allowing the hunter on his property. After that access to private land got tough.
 
Jeff,

I hunted ducks last week in the NW area of the state, Thursday and Friday before bird season. I was shocked to not see one duck hunter in several spots I hit. I know the duck hunters are concentrated along the coast, but not one other hunter? Not for lack of birds either. One location in particular had so many ducks I didn't shoot for fear of spooking them from the area, until the big flock departed. Had four groups of geese come by so close I could have touched them with the gun. The season being closed, naturally. Gunner was not amused by such sportsmanship that morning, and I was only back in his good graces after collecting a pair of blacks and a couple of teal. I have to conclude lack of ducks was not to blame for low hunter numbers those days.

Then came Saturday and our early predictions of poor grouse numbers seem pretty accurate. Not good. I suspect some road hunters will run out of fuel before they fire the gun. Did see a nice buck, a couple moose and a cat. Bobcat or Lynx, it was too far away to tell.
 

I do not think that federal duck stamp sales can be used to decide how many waterfowl hunters there are. Many folks of my generation buy one or more duck stamps and have not waterfowl hunted in many years. They tell me they don't even sigh their stamps cuz they don't hunt. 75% of the volunteers on our DU chapter have not waterfowl hunted in years, yet still buy duck stamps and still spend $$$$$$$ supporting DU, conservation and hunting. This source is not to be ignored. They spend far more than many others because they were taught to pay back, not just disposable income.

HIP registration could be a better indicator but maybe the same as duck stamp sales. Questionable.


The laws and the learning did not deter us, nor low waterfowl populations, those were different times. Waterfowling is a very traditional Sport, and tradition does not go over well these days. Our "social media" was our close knit community of outdoors folks no matter rural or urban the community was large. Mentors were our "influencers" and there was no such thing as Helicopter Parents to "protect us".

With much lower hunter numbers the limits will not reflect how many birds there are, just how many hunters, and that has been the case with the Wood Duck, Black Duck and Eastern Mallard. If there is a solution to the declining waterfowl hunter numbers we had better find it soon.

my 2 cents
 
Jeff Reardon said:
It would be interesting to look at regional and state patterns of duck stamp sales or some other measure of hunter participation to see if there are any patterns and compare them based on differences in hunting rules, access, or other differences.

I've seen the data that show that duck stamp sales are down in Maine, and because of our state laws that guarantee access to most lakes and ponds and all tidal waters, combined with relatively little posted private land compared to many other states, I don't think that has anything to do reduced access. Ditto for waterfowl regulations, which have been essentially unchanged except for changes in the

FWIW, the same access iss
Click to expand...

Jeff

That would indeed be interesting. I hear and believe you on fewer hunters with little changes in access and regulations. Like Charles says some of that trend has to be attributed to an aging hunting population losing members. In my own area I'm seeing reduced access. Some of it by regulation, some by habitat change or degradation. In a paradoxical sense hunter number may be down, but so are hunting opportunities, at least ones where you are not crowded by other parties.

Eric
 
While this thread is developing, I stumbled upon a very interesting discussion. It's long but I'm enjoying it while I wait for the prime contractor to provide some info I need to proceed with work.

Eric

The Standard Sportsman
 
I'm relatively new to waterfowl hunting. Started ~15 years ago as an adult, after growing up mostly fishing and doing a little partridge and woodcock hunting. It's a hard sport to break into if you don't grow up with someone who introduces you to it.

And it would not take a lot more crowding than I see on the more popular waters around me to make me give up on them and spend all my time at more difficult walk-in or paddle-in spots that keep the pressure down. I already avoid them on holidays and weekends. I can't imagine trying to hunt in an area with a much higher population density combined with much more restricted access.

I love November, when most of the duck hunters go Bambi chasing and leave the water to me and a few other cranks.
 
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