A flight of doves breaks above the tree line. Fourteen-year-old Robert Goodall fires his shotgun. The birds continue on their path unharmed.
?Never shoot at the bird,? Robert?s grandfather, Richard Funk, said. ?Always in front of it.?
Robert enjoys going hunting when his grandfather asks him to go along. But the morning?s been slow. He?d prefer something a little more exciting, like football.
?Dove hunting ? you?re kind of just sitting there,? Robert said. ?In football, you get to go hit people.?
Hunters come to Kansas from across the country for a shot at the state?s deer, elk and turkey. But older Kansas hunters are setting down their rifles, and guided youth hunts ? Kansas? go-to method for attracting the next generation of hunters ? aren?t stopping the decline among the next generations.
So the state is now working on a plan that focuses on what it stands to lose: 60% of Kansas? conservation dollars (the rest comes from taxes on firearms and ammunition sales).
?We?re at that point where it?s like, hey, the bells and whistles are going off,? said Tim Donges, president of the Kansas branch of Quality Deer Management, a nonprofit hunting organization. ?We?ve got a problem.?
Hunting?s decline and the results
More Americans are spending time outdoors, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Additional fishing lines are being cast. Would-be wildlife photographers are growing in numbers. But 2 million fewer hunters took to the field between 2011 and 2016.
Kansas has remained popular for out-of-state hunters, with the total number of licenses and permits more than doubling over the past two decades to over 150,000 total. In-state, though, hunting licenses have declined about 14%.
Hunting licenses of all kinds contribute about $28 million to the state?s conservation coffers. Out-of-state licenses cost more, and their popularity has made up for having fewer Kansas hunters. But 2019 was the first in five years where non-resident sales decline, showing there is not a guaranteed way of covering the cost of identity and protecting endangered Kansas species.
Hunting advocates blame several factors: There?s the other entertainment options competing for kids? attention, from sports to Netflix. Plus, more Kansans live in cities, which requires a road trip to bag a buck.
Fourteen-year-old Robert Goodall waits for doves during a youth hunt held at the Jeffrey Energy Center near Saint Mary. CREDIT STEPHAN BISAHA / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
