Hunting losing popularity among college students

Nicholas Grenke
Western Herald

Over 12.6 million hunters in the US wake up before dawn each fall and go off in the woods in attempts to get closer to they’re primal instincts of nature. Michigan is third largest state in the sale of hunting licenses and some Western Michigan University students take to this calling.

Marvin Grenke/Western Herald - Left to right, Andy Carr, Marvin Grenke, Grant Comley hunting last year in November near Cadillac Michigan.

“I’ve been hunting since I was 12 (years old), I started because my family is a line of hunters and I find it interesting,” senior David Lund said. “I love the thrill of the hunt, it gets my adrenalin going.”

Michigan lead the US in the pursuit of the white tail deer and the hunting of this animal bring in $1.3 billion annually to the state economy according to Michiganhousedemocrats.com. The state also devotes over 8 million acres of land to hunting grounds in both peninsulas for the sport, which doesn’t include private land many hunters own.

“It’s pretty consistent that there are a variety of reasons people hunt,” Deer and Elk program leader Brett Rudolph of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said. “But from the surveys we do, lots of people put the emphasis on spending time with family and friends as the key attraction to the sport.”

But many animal rights groups and people feel shock and disgust hunting. The official People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Web site states that although it was a crucial part of humans’ survival 100,000 years ago, hunting is now nothing more than a violent form of recreation that the vast majority of hunters do not need for subsistence. The Web site also states that hunting has contributed to the extinction of animal species all over the world, including the Tasmanian tiger and the great auk.

“I would agree with PETA that sport hunting solely for sport is wrong, and that you should use every part of the deer,” said senior Alex Phelan, an avid hunter. “But deer overpopulation is a serious matter, people need to realize if you’re driving down the road a deer could smash though your windshield and damage your car and family if the population isn’t managed.

The DNR feels similarly about the benefits of hunting.

“It helps with the process of forest repopulation,” Rudolph said. “Of course the deer aren’t out there eating songbirds, but they’re destroying the songbird habitats.”

As many WMU students move on from high school to college they find that hunting takes a back seat in their lives that are filled by school and work.

“I always took a week off high school to hunt in the fall,” Lund said. “My parents were OK with it as long as all my schoolwork got done.”

Senior Taylor Skelton also realized that college took up more time and energy, and was only able to travel to the woods once this year.

“Since I’m busy with classes don’t get out very much,” Skelton said. “If opening day fell during class in high school I’d take it off, but now [in college] I can’t afford too.”

The majority of hunters in Michigan fall into the above 35-years-old category as times restraints grow and public perception of hunting falters in young Michiganders according to the DNR. In the past year only eight percent of the general population of hunters were in their 20s.

“There has been a lot of focus to drawing youth and females into the sport,” Rudolf said. “But as life becomes more complex, people move away or have new jobs, people don’t get as much free time.” He also said that although 10 percent of the state population hunts very few of those hunters are new.

Although rifle season is over for the white tale season, which runs though Nov. 15-30, archery and muzzle loading season both run until the first of January. This year crossbows regulations have also been loosened to include more hunters. A basic hunting license costs $15 and can be bought online or at DNR offices.

Around the Kalamazoo area there are several public lands were hunters can go. One is the Rolling Hills State Reserve in Marcellus, Mich. that has over 600 acres of land, although you need an appointment. Another place for the outdoorsman is the Allegan State Game Area that occupies over 50,000 acres — although, not all the land is used for hunting.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Dec 3 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
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