Hunting, and to a lesser extent fishing, are on the decline in Michigan _ with a particularly alarming drop in hunting that's only going to get steeper, as the baby boomers who have driven the sport for decades age and drop away.
This could pose a crisis in how Michigan funds its wildlife and habitat programs; have a huge, negative impact on the state's economy, and raises the specter of deer overpopulation, accompanying animal diseases and increases in car-deer accidents.
From a high of 785,000 deer hunters in 1998, the number of licenses sold for Michigan's firearm deer-hunting season last year was down to 621,000 _ a nearly 21 percent decline. And those remaining hunters are graying, with most in their late 40s to late 60s, according to a demographic analysis conducted by Michigan Technological University. By 2035, projections are that the late-'90s rate will be cut by more than half.
That group of hunters will continue to decline and then reach a dramatic collapse as age forces them out of the woods almost collectively, with nothing near adequate replacement numbers behind them in younger generations.
That matters whether you love, loathe or are indifferent to hunting and fishing. License fees and surcharges on hunting and fishing gear purchases fund most of the wildlife management and habitat preservation and restoration work done by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. And hunting contributes $2.3 billion annually to Michigan's economy and supports more than 34,000 jobs, according to the DNR.
"People who hunt and fish in this state have really paid for conservation in this state, over a very long time," DNR Director Keith Creagh said.
Michigan's highly lucrative hunt, for decades, has been driven by one population cohort: white, male baby boomers, said Richelle Winkler, an associate professor in Michigan Tech's Department of Social Sciences and author of the hunting demographics study.
"Those hunters, those people in that generation, have participated in hunting at very high rates throughout their whole life, compared to other generations," she said. "And there are a lot of them."
Younger people are still getting outdoors _ they're just not hunting. State park attendance and trail usage are at all-time highs, and activities such as bird-watching, paddleboarding and kayaking are soaring.
Looming in the demographic data on hunters is an upcoming wall _ an age where the physical rigors of hunting lead to a near-complete dropout. Historically, it has been around age 70, the data shows. While passionate baby boomers are pushing that wall farther out, a point will come where they have to hang up the hunter's orange for good.
James Wandrie has hunted for most of his 73 years, and has no intention of stopping soon. But as he readied last week to head north to Port Hope in the Thumb for a few days of bow-hunting before switching it up for the opening day of firearm deer season Thursday, he acknowledged that accommodations to his age are becoming required.
"I've got bad legs," he said. "I may have to get rid of my tree stand. I'll see how much problem I have getting up into it. If I have too much problem, I'll just hunt from the ground."
Wandrie is part of the demographic that has been the lifeblood of Michigan wildlife and ecological management: white, male, baby boomers who hunt and fish if not every year, most years.
While the DNR is expanding educational, social and mentoring opportunities to draw in younger hunters and women _ a group that's actually on the rise from its near-nonexistent numbers of the past _ the challenge to sufficiently replace the older hunters dropping out is difficult.
Branch County hunter Tony LaPratt has built a career out of creating optimal hunting grounds for others. His Ultimate Land Management company has improved conditions on the ground at 1,800 hunting camps in 38 U.S. states since the mid-1980s, he said.
"I come in and show them how to build buck beds, doe beds, fawning areas, make food plots more attractive to the deer," he said.
LaPratt, 57, increasingly notices a particular clientele.
"Who's hired me the most are grandpas," he said. "They are hiring me because their grandkids don't want to hunt with them, because they're not seeing any deer. In the old days, we would hunt for days to see deer. Now, everybody wants to see instant deer."
Kids can hunt. Do they want to?
Kevin Donley can relate. The 56-year-old from Pleasant Ridge grew up "a Detroit city boy with no understanding of hunting whatsoever, no exposure." A girlfriend's dad when Donley was in his 20s got him hooked. He now hunts deer, turkey and pheasants, and has bow-hunted other animals across the country, from bear to moose to mountain lion.
"It was a great way to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life," he said. "A chance to see hundreds of animals a year, being in nature, seeing it wake up, seeing it go to sleep."
Donley is now married with four children: three boys, ages 15, 13 and 11, and a 9-year-old daughter.
"They weren't born on a farm or had any knowledge of the woods, but they have a dad who's very into the outdoors," he said. "They grew up with me going on hunting trips."
Seeking to instill that love in his kids, Donley bought 80 acres with a hunting cabin in Jackson. He calls getting them into hunting "a work in progress."
"I grew up seeing this change _ one or two generations removed from the field, the instant-gratification generation," he said.
"They need constant stimuli. And then there's the anti-hunting push they hear, too."
Donley said he lets his kids bring their technology with them into the deer blind.
"I let them play their video games," he said. "And when there's a deer in the area, I give them a nudge."
The reaction of Donley's kids has been all over the board. His oldest boy has bagged two bucks and loves it, he said. His third-oldest son took a deer at age 8, but got grossed out seeing it gutted in the field. His youngest daughter took a shot at her first deer at age 7. "She mostly likes to wear the camo and get her face painted," Donley said.
Donley's second-oldest son, however, "after three years decided he'd rather go fishing," he said. And "he's in Fortnite world," referring to the wildly popular online video game.
The State of Michigan is trying to help. In 2012, it removed the minimum age to hunt, which had previously been 12 years old, to no lower age limit, provided the young hunter is with a mentor over age 21. Mentored youths under age 10 can get a combination spring and fall turkey license, deer and small game license, fur bearers trapping license, and fish for all species for only $7.50. Those licenses would cost more than $60 for an adult.
The emergence of the crossbow has also been a boost to youth hunting, Donley said. "There's no big bang; there's a scope on it," he said. "An adult can set the bow and hand it to them. It's very accurate."
Donley said he knows the story of the Michigan hunt's decline, and the inescapable demographic wall looming out there for the largest group of hunters. But he remains optimistic that as younger people are exposed to hunting, "there's a chance we might not lose them."
"The young kids don't know where their food comes from," he said. "But as they get older, and more conscious about it, knowing that their (hunting-harvested) food doesn't have chemicals, preservatives, can have a real appeal. The whole farm-to-table translates well to field-to-table as well."
