Posted: 12.13.2010

Hunting's popularity has been waning across
the country as suburbs consume the countryside, hunters age out of
the sport and kids plug into texting and Facebook instead of bows
and rifles.

Fewer hunters mean less revenue for state conservation agencies.
Now officials nationwide are scrambling to preserve hunting
traditions __ and the billions of dollars they generate __ before
they fade away for good.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates 33 states saw
declines in hunting license sales over the last two decades. The
sharpest drop was in Massachusetts, which has seen a 50 percent
falloff in hunting license sales during that time.

Nationwide, the wildlife service estimates that overall hunting license sales fell
about 8.5 percent nationwide between 1990 and 2009.

« back to news articles