What's the duck hunter demographic in your area?

J

JimG

Well-known member
It's kinda sad, but around here in CT, I am just not seeing too many young guys out there on the water or at the launch. Most of the guys out there are in their 40's and 50's. It's RARE for me to see any guys out there in their 20's.
 
I would say that I see the same thing in the places that I hunt here in Michigan and out in North Dakota for that matter. By the way, are you suggesting that guys in their 40s and 50s are old? Don't say that too loud around here because even old people hear real good on the internet.
 
hahaha.....I'm 47. I don't FEEL old, but I'm now older than when my dad first start started taking me hunting and I thought HE was old then. He just turned 80 and is looking forward to deer season next month.
 
Yesterday I was at the Long Point Waterfowl Unit (Canadian side of Lake Erie), a public, controlled marsh. Of the roughly 40 hunters I encountered I would say it was roughly like this. At least 10 of the hunters were retired. About 20 would be over 35 but still working. Five would be between 20 and 35 leaving about 5 under the age of 20. There seems to be a resurgence of hunting with younger crowd in this area with several father son teams. I will say that not one of the 40 hunters was female.

The board of directors for the Waterfowl Unit is similar in makeup. Two are under 25, two are over 60 and the rest fall in the middle.
 
Jim, I believe the national trend is still on a downward cycle. As our population continues to grow, the number of hunters (I'm including all types of hunting) is steadily declining. For the past several years I have been involved with a youth program that is held at Bosque del Apache NWR. Each year they hold a light goose hunt for our youth and so far it has been very successful. The national wildlife refuge is so large that the visitors who are viewing the geese and cranes or taking photos of them, have no idea that just a few miles from them, the geese are being hunted. Not all NWR's are hunted but his happens to be one that is.
When I look at the young lads who come with their dad's and or mom's to this event, it does make me feel good that programs like this are out there for them. Just one way to continue an "eons" old fashioned way of living that our forefathers taught us.
Almost makes me feel eons old! One of my mentors who took me hunting in 1954 and showed me the "ropes" was born in 1887.
Al
 
I'm 44, and most of the guys I hunt with are old farts like me or older. But I see lots of young guys at the launch and in the field. Assuming that the posters here tend to be on the gray side, one reason we may see mostly folks like us is how we hunt. We're on this site because we love boats.

The folks you are going to see at boat launches belong to the demographic that has enough disposable money to have a boat, motor and trailer, and a truck to haul it. I bet those guys are older on average than the folks hunting walk-in and canoe spots.

That said, even in my rural state, I think interest in hunting and fishing is declining among younger folks.
 
Jim,
Interesting topic. It would also be interesting to see what the demographic on this site is. It's funny how you get a picture of someone in your head after interacting with them on line and if you have the pleasure to meet them in person how different they really are compared to the picture you have in your head. I'm very close to you Jim in that I'm 48 and my dad is 81. I'll go out on a limb here and guess that the average age of those who frequent this site would be in their low 50s.

Rich
 
Good point about the disposable income Jeff. Big water duck hunting is a big dollar game, mostly out of reach for the young guys. That being said, I try to recruit or help a new guy or two every year, partly because it's good for hunting in general, partly because I enjoy meeting new guys. I'm gonna be 50 in a few weeks, my hunting buddies range from 22 to 80-somethings, and I always try to recruit new employees at my office whatever their age. My experience has been that most guys jump right in if asked, they just don't know how to get started on their own. Nothing against the girls, they just don't seem to like the cold, in my area that's the biggest deterrent to getting tham started.

Not everybody was born to be a duck hunter either, so I make it a point to talk with new guys to find out what they might like and cater to that first, once the hook is set we move on to the good stuff. A tried and true method is a trip to the preserve for pheasants, generally does the trick for even the toughest case. Anyway, I guess the point is that if everybody mentored one new hunter every year the downturn in hunter nembers would be reversed real quick.
 
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I am 24 and can remember my dad taking me duck hunting with him when I was about 5 or 6, I have pictures of me trying to hold up a big honker and not being able to lift it off the ground and it was as tall as I was. My dad is 55 and my uncle is 45. My dad through the years does not duck hunt as much as he used to but goes deer hunting all the time. I think that if you compare the difference between deer and duck hunting deer for the most part is less expensive and less work. I used to deer hunt a lot but now I only go 1-2 times a year and the rest of my time is spent upland hunting or waterfowl hunting with my uncle. When we go to the DNR office for a draw I am usually the youngest person in the room by atleast 10-20 years. I don't know what I would do if I could not duck hunt, I cannot sleep at night when I know I am going duck hunting in the morning.
 
I am about 85 miles north of Dallas, Texas. Every season there is a new wave of Younger Hunters (20-26). They all drive New Trucks, New Boats all new equipment. They start out running all up and down the river Gung Ho. Once they see how tuff it is and how slow the hunting can be and they make payments on all the biggest, newest stuff for an off season Im guessing about 5% come back the next season.
 
Interesting post....

I'd say that the average age out here in Colorado would be real close to others' guesses, but I am always seeing kids -and I mean that in the early-teen sense of the word- out and about. Now, I'd add that in my seventh and eighth grade classrooms, I am constantly impressed by the number of kiddos who are just getting into the sport, boys and girls. Just Friday one of my most 'girlie' girl was all a-twitter about how she was going on her first elk trip. That set me back a bit. But in every class of 30 kids, I'll have at least five or six kids self-identify as 'hunters'. But, because they tend to head off and not look back after 8th grade, I cannot say how many of these kids keep it up. But, like I said, they're out there.
 
I was at a lottery drawing the other day for a permit only spot and it was split up about 60 / 40 with more young guys. I'm 30 and was probably right in the middle of the age spectrum there. Unfortunatly most of the younger guys that I run into are pretty much jack @$$es. Not much respect for other people or the game they are after. Hopefully it's a young guy macho thing and they will grow out of it. I guess I should consider myself lucky that my Dad taught respect and humility.
 
Of guys that I usually see out, not counting a few young kids who hunt with their fathers, I am by far the youngest at 26. I have no friends my age locally that hunt, but it is New Jersey...
 
The replies here are not what I was expecting to see. My inclination was there are a lot of twenty somethings hitting it hard nationwide. Here in North Alabama the twenty somethings make up the majority of waterfowlers I see each season, plus quite a few teenagers. Perhaps the demographics in this area are not the norm.

Eric
 
Jim,
I think the younger guys in CT are likely to be goose hunting. It is a way better shot at some good shooting in this area. But it is the norm for me to see guys my age,(40+) or older at the gas station buying Coffee at 4:30 am.
It is just a hard spot in this state when you have a Kill all the Deer you can see limit and the ducks are just not that plentiful. I like the getting out part and so I go even if it is only one bird. But young guys need some reward for the time and gear required. Not to mention the ungodly early hour required to get a good spot and see the first light move. A deer hunt push can start at 10 and still produce.

But I take my son and so does my friend. We show them the dogs and boats and decoys and guns and hope it catches on. Time will tell.
 
If I'm hunting management areas down here, I see a wide range of ages from kids to folk who I would bet are older than my grandparents. Probably half the people I see on public lakes that I hunt from time to time are 20-mid 30's. If i'm hunting the marshes, typically I'll see people mid 30's and up...probably like has been stated, that boats are usually something that comes with money and us young folk have no money hahahaha I will occassionally see another woman at a management area, but I've never seen another woman hunter (unless I took her) out in public water. But overall I would guess half the folk I see out hunting are in their 20's and 30's

dani
 
I volunteer with a few youth hunting programs here in SE Mass and the interest is resurging. Each season the enrollment is growing. The biggest hurdle I see is the young adults have a tough time keeping interested in waterfowling if they dont have a family member or close friend to take them because of the initial cost associated with the basic equipment and access to areas that hold birds. Lets face it, The younger guns are growing up in a X-box generation that thrives in instant gratification. Sitting in a cold, wet, blind hoping the birds will swing in is a tough sell after a few days out and few birds to show for it. The other facet is that everyone at school talks about the "big buck"! Our Bow season coincides with waterfowl season and most of the younger guys and girls have buck fever right now. When I was younger we didn't have the long deer seasons we have now. It was 2 weeks for bow, 1 week for shotgun, and 1 week for muzzleloader. Now they can hunt starting in Sept in CT and hunt thru the end of Jan in RI.
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I am fortunate to mentor 2 die hard young guns that have their priorities straight. They live for everything waterfowl related and are a pleasure to have along hunting. I'm only 48 but it is nice to have some additional muscle when it comes to dragging boats across mudflats, setting up a spread in a muddy field, carrying gear etc. They are also a positive influence on my 14 year old. Until recently his motivation for hunting had me concerned. Now its the 4 of us almost every weekend, I let them do the shooting until they start getting a lil cocky with the remarks.
 
I would say from Hunting Northern Indiana down the Mississippi Flyway to Louisiana it seems everybody hits the first couple of days of season hard then trickle off to hunt bone heads unless bird numbers are heavy in the specific region...I am 34 now and have found friends of all ages hunting the in every state I have hunted...Of course I could spend months in the field if work would permit it...

Now down here in Louisiana it seems to be a religion...Guys are hunting in their sleep down here, of all ages! Though I am not a fanatic, I still have high hopes I will end up tromping through the muck and end up with Mr. Robertson (AKA Duck Commander) asking me if I wouldn't mind sharing this opening in the trees...

A short story of hunting here in Louisiana:

I was hunting a WMA south of where I live during the early teal season with good buddy from work...We got out in the flooded field around 4:30 in the morning to get a spot...I noticed three head lights tromping our way...I yelled out to the guys and told them to come and hunt with us...They kindly stated they would walk about 200 yards further to hunt away from us and wouldn't shoot birds heading our way...I then told them we have hand carved decoys going out this morning and one of the gentleman said "You guys HUNT'N, we'll hunt with you if you don't mind"...Long story short I ran into two older gentlemen, Mr. Graph and Mr. Neely...One the the young age of 81 and the other 75...The older gentleman told me he was worried a little bit about his friend because he had heart surgery last year and rotary surgery about 6 months ago...Holy Crap!..I was worried about myself tromping in gumbo for 500 yards on a cool 85 degree morning until these guys showed up...They had been hunting as friends for over 60 years...We ended the day with the grandson taking his first full limit of teal...Probably have to say it will be one of my memorable hunts I have ever been on...

Regards,

Kristan
 
Stories like that are great to read.........my late uncle sloghed thru Jersey mud until he was 81 and loved every minute of it..............He had a saying
" this ain't sh!@ compared to Omaha beach! LOL........always makes me smile when I think of it...........
 
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