I agree with Obsessed on the costs being high when trying to get your kids into hunting.
JBAGS, you can’t exclude the cost of equipment because it is part of the total cost associated with the hunt. You can’t hunt without equipment. Just like you can’t exclude the cost of golf clubs, shoes, glove, golf balls, tees and only look at the green fees associated with golfing. If you are introducing your kid to a sport you have to decide if you’re trying to set them up for success or failure. If they are using adult golf clubs and they are 10 years old they are not likely to succeed. That is with every sport, take your pick. The problem comes when the costs become prohibitive and people decide not to go. I gave up golfing 20 years ago although I still have all my gear. Not because I didn’t enjoy it but because after having kids I needed to prioritize my time and money. Working on farm projects and other kid stuff took priority. So I gave up golfing. If it wasn’t for grandpa and grandma whose passion is golfing none of my kids would have been introduced to golfing because I have never taken them golfing. Not one time. But their grandparents did and now all of them enjoy golfing. We need parents taking their kids hunting.
When the costs get high enough that they force a choice between dad spending the money on say golf clubs and golf league fees for the summer to play with his buddies or buying his kids new hunting equipment and tags for two days of hunting. He may choose the golfing. That is just an example because anything could take the place of spending the money on hunting if the costs get too high. Paying bills, buying something the wife wants, vacation, you take your pick.
I think most of people on IW really have a disconnect with the average hunter and their mindset. Most are not like us. They don’t think about deer hunting 365. Sure spending two hundred on licenses seems cheap to you and me because we already have thousands dumped into stands, blinds, guns, bows, trail cams, tractors, land, seed, fertilizer, etc all just for deer hunting.
Most guys don’t even start thinking about deer hunting until a couple weeks before the season. Many not until a couple days before. These are the majority of deer hunters in Iowa, not the minority, and we can’t afford to loose them. When the cost gets high enough that the average guy stops to think…is it really worth going??? Then we are on the edge of loosing them and their children. I think we are at that point with a very high percentage of the average hunters in Iowa. Everything has gotten so expensive after the last 4 years. The deer population is down more than half what it was in 2005. Loss of habitat has concentrated the deer onto fewer farms. Then factor in that more guys are loosing access every year due to leasing and land sales. It is easy for guys to get discouraged and quit. None of it is good for the future of Iowa’s deer hunting heritage. While the license fee price doesn’t mean too much to guys like us. I assure you that it certainly does to the majority of guys that deer hunt in Iowa. We need tag fees to stay affordable for the guy that casually deer hunts and for the guy that is busting his butt to get ahead that wants to expose his kids to the sport. Both are important to the future of deer hunting in Iowa.
