Taking hunter education is no guarantee that young hunters will continue to hunt. And while some might assume they would, a new study shows only 44 percent of those who take the classes continue to hunt.
A story today in Michigan Outdoor News reports on the study by Florida-based Southwick Associates which examined the number of hunter ed graduates in 12 states that continued to buy a license during the period from 2006 to 2011. The study found, among other things, that one-third never bought licenses And of those remaining, another third stopped buying by 2011.
Graduates from highly urbanized areas had the greatest drop-out rates.
Read more: Hunter Education No Guarantee
The Outdoor Journal 
Recruitment ties in with opportunity, mentorship, land access…it’s a big concern on all angles, and one we need to see turn around or else…
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Grouse and Trout: It will be interesting to see if the mentorship program in Michigan helps this situation. Right now its too early to tell and not that many really young kids have taken advantage of the program – or should I say the parents of really young kids.
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I think the study is off the mark in another way not listed above…. college and work obligations sometimes interfer with young people desire to hunt.. I know my 22 year old did not hunt the frist two seasons after getting out of high school because he did not get time off to pursue the hobby… now that he has a job with vactions he has hunted the last two deer season and a weekend of turkey season… I also know some college students who are away from home at school may not be able to hunt on break or have classes during seasons… So really it maybe like me who did hunter eduction but did not actualy go hunting until YEARS and YEARS later…Now I hunt every deer season with my mussleloader but it took almost 15 years for me to get it all worked out to do it
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You have a good point Jolynn. I know I took a break in those years and didn’t come back to it for quite a few years.
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