I grew up in a hunting household in Tucson. My dad and his hunting buddy Don would wait to see if they got certain hunting lotteries for certain game. They always looked forward to their hunting adventures and we looked forward to some yummy meat coming home. My dad even got into a crossbow phase where for a couple of years they only hunted with crossbows. I remember trying to pull it back one time and not even being able to get the bow set. Over the years my dad started going less and less, first it was maybe every other year, then just once in awhile. Now it has been years and years since my dad went hunting.

I tell this story because across the United States, hunting has been in a slow decline. Especially in the last 5 years or so. The COVID pandemic did lead a few more people to either go back to their hunting roots or try hunting for the first time. With talking about meat shortages and being home more, it was a perfect combination to get more people out to hunt and forge for their own food. Over all the the decline has still been too much to combat.

Hunting is still such a devoted and common thing here in Idaho. Even here in the gem state the decline is real. Stacker compared population to amount of residents with hunting licenses from the US Fish and Wildlife Services. Where the gem state 5 or 10 years ago would have likely dominated the top spot, now we sit at number five. About 16.5% of the population of Idaho residents have a paid hunting license according to the Stacker study.

However, calling all ladies! According to the National Sporting Goods Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, in the last decade there has been nearly a 60% increase in registered female hunters across the US. That is a HUGE increase.

With Idaho being the home of Kryptek and Eberlestock, you would think we would still be the dominating state. So what do you think Idaho, Should the gem state yet again reign supreme in the hunting world? Find out more about hunting in Idaho from the Idaho Fish and Game Website here.  

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