What if Hunter Numbers Continue to Decline? w/ Jason Isabelle of MDC | Ep. 136 | The Ozark Podcast

[@DogFacePonySoldier]

The game wardens in my county have made a lot of folks quit hunting. Constant harassment and false accusations. They do this all the time, they’ll show up at your house a day or two after you’ve tagged your deer, they’ll demand you take them to the exact location of the kill, if you refuse they threaten you with fines and even arrest. They then spread lies throughout the community about these individuals who don’t comply and say they are poachers without any evidence of any crime being committed. They are flying drones constantly trying find people putting out minerals or corn on their private property, setting up surveillance cameras on folks private property. It’s just gotten way out of control, to much power and not the brightest tools in the shed either and when they come up on your front porch with their hand on their gun it’s immediately apparent that the situation could escalate very quickly and it’s not a pleasant experience.

[@Meh-hr7gq]

@@DogFacePonySoldier sounds like Tennessee?

[@mybananasareout]

@@DogFacePonySoldier maine as well

[@herboysterman9781]

That hasn't been my experience with any Missouri conservation agent. All have been nice, helpful and pretty laid back.

[@lovetogun3611]

You probably deserve it. 😂

[@DogFacePonySoldier]

@@lovetogun3611 I don’t believe any government agency should have the right to setup surveillance or spy on folks without a legitimate reason. We currently have Missouri Conservation Agent’s running surveillance on businesses such as orchlens and local feed stores, collecting your license plate and if they believe you bought corn, they then begin monitoring you via thermal drone to see if you are baiting deer, no one deserve that type of government monitoring. And then if you own enough land which Myself and many others in my community do, you can kill as many deer as you want, anyway you want, spotlight, corn pile, 🍎 pile , anything after alternative methods and just leave em lay, completely legal, of course most folks around here refuse to participate because they like having deer to hunt. Get educated on what’s really going on in Missouri and then ask yourself self if this is what the men and women who founded the conservation many years go wanted, I believe like many other things it’s a money machine ran by greed and enforced by low IQ individuals who believe they are above the constitution of America.

[@Meh-hr7gq]

Affordable access to decent places that are not packed with hunters is the biggest threat.

[@JeremyGibson-ni5uu]

Exactly half the public land or more is full of non residents come here for cheap tags .

[@Meh-hr7gq]

@ cheap tags you say……that’s terrible. Where is this terrible place? 🤣

[@JeremyGibson-ni5uu]

@@Meh-hr7gq think about the difference it may take a Missouri resident five years to draw a Iowa firearm tag. When a Iowa resident can drive here buy cheap tags over the counter and hunt. They shud have to draw and pay twice wht tags cost.

[@jnorth5689]

The most honorable thing a land owner can do is join a program like HAP.

[@SamLee-ds7fi]

When a deer hunt costs over 2 grand vs buying an entire cow for the freezer for about that price it's getting less accessible for most people

[@huntereutsler8139]

I what world are you paying 2,000 dollars to go hunting. I pay 17 dollars for my tags and like 6 dollars worth of bullets. Maybe 20 bucks in gas for the year of it. Use public land

[@SamLee-ds7fi]

@huntereutsler8139 it depends on your area and situation. Some states don't have any public land for large game. Deer leases can be extremely expensive

[@huntereutsler8139]

@ totally agree there if you are having to lease land it can get expensive I live in Missouri I have 50 acres of private connected to a very large public land plot that I get to hunt although I have hunted and harvested many deer on public here.

[@SamLee-ds7fi]

@@huntereutsler8139 Oklahoma is really good for public land but Texas its pretty scare. Lots of public bird land but not much for deer, hogs, ect

[@darrylfurlong3181]

Buying a cow in January 2025 this was my last yr deer hunting no more for me

[@herboysterman9781]

Keep up the good work! You guys are great. Love to have a local based podcast!!

[@jeremywynn7580]

hopefully numbers drop in my area by 50% be alot more enjoyable lol

[@jeffstagg1591]

Deer tags are high and some states hard to draw

[@adventurousarcher]

Great episode gents! Love this type of content, hearing from local agents is great

[@Robert-n4p1g]

The does in the north missouri have moe fawns then in the ozarks i have never seen a doe in ozarks with three fawns i have in the north several times on different conservation areas

[@codywright9718]

I know it was mentioned at one point but was it ever explained how deer populations are estimated?

[@Brad-h7w]

A bs guess! When they have drones and can do a better job at estimating deer population!

[@jnorth5689]

Not only did they make it legal to use any gun during muzzleloader here they even made a late doe hunt after muzzleloader with rifle. Then after January the DNR hires sharp shooters and goes out at night and kills hundreds around here. The deer population is completely ruined

[@alexandercluster3003]

I hear this all the time but I don’t see it with my own eyes. Anyone! Who is a public hunter will say the same.

[@Yelladog78]

I hope hunter declines are real maybe they'll affect my area one day and it won't look like a pumpkin patch every time you go to the woods

[@teddylowe4018]

So much private and posted grounds, it's really hard to get a place to hunt without owning big lots of land. The younger generation don't wanna go out and beg just for a place to hunt. That's the problem in Arkansas.

[@DaltonBrake-g5d]

Our 5 acres is pretty dang good dosnt take much

[@zebwalton979]

Here’s the issue. As a hunter of over 50 years, I’ve witnessed land consolidation among large corporate farms. One used to be able to get permission to hunt so long as you respected fence/gates and didn’t shoot the cows. Now… well now ‘farmers’ own thousands of acres (my neighbor farms 14,000 acres) thanks to government (taxpayer subsidies), and won’t allow ANYONE to hunt. Many state that they hunt all of it and even though there’s far more deer than they’ll ever harvest, they still say no. It’s their land and I respect that. I will not trespass. This poses challenges to the growing deer population. Times are changing. Land ownership has become unaffordable for most with a select few owning more and more. I don’t think those landowners should get paid for allowing walk in hunting either. Between CRP, price supports, insurance, USDA grants… we’ve already overpaid them to acquire all the land.

[@mybananasareout]

Big game hunting is basically a gentleman’s sport now. 1k for an average gun, 2-300 camo, $60 boxes of ammo and time off work. At a minimum. I go into the woods with 10k in gear. That is why there are less hunters.

[@taylorharbin3948]

Cost and restrictions are why I switched to crossbow, which can be done for a lot less.

[@alexandercluster3003]

It’s plenty of hunters.

[@Treyno94]

You don’t need expensive gear to kill a deer though… just bought a gun for $600. You don’t really need camo to deer hunt tbh. I think a lot of people are under the impression you have to have the best gear to kill a deer

[@mybananasareout]

@@Treyno94 That is more true here in Maine but back in Cali lack of land access meant that you were paying for that. Also a rig capable of long distance cross canyon shots, ammo to practice, time off work, gear to walk in miles and miles and sleep outside most places in cali are no ohv. It adds up fast. A non entry level gun set up is 2k.

[@DaltonBrake-g5d]

Well I wouldn't consider whitetail big game lmao. But regardless a cheap savage in 308 is about 300 bucks some brown carhart can be had for idk say 300 also. And we'll that's all you need really need hut ammo and ur looking at 1 1.30 a shot for factory ammo. What's so expensive about it

[@bradcooper6485]

Have any deer ever died from CWD?

[@huntereutsler8139]

Many

[@chrisgilman33]

@@huntereutsler8139 Wrong there are confirmed cases but no confirmed deaths from CWD. It takes years for CWD to actually kill a deer. EHD should be at the front of the line for MDC to spend or money on. Most deer dont even live long enough to die from CWD

[@chrisgilman33]

Not true

[@huntereutsler8139]

@@chrisgilman33 what isn’t true?

[@Robert-n4p1g]

I live in louisiana and i have hunted in missouri at least 7 different times and you guys do a great job i just hope you guys do not raise the prices to high on nonresidents to make up the money lost from lack of hunters

[@ryanfarmer5155]

Move the damn gun season to later November in Missouri. Start following Kansas with NR draws, I am a NR and own a farm in Missouri. Missouri could honestly be the best state in the US for Whitetail with a few minor tweaks, build it and they will pay and come.

[@alexandercluster3003]

It’s no hunters though. Recruit more hunters that fixes everything.

[@Treyno94]

Why move it to later November?

[@JeremyGibson-ni5uu]

We don't want out of state hunters ther part of the problem flood in on public land so residents don't have a place to hunt.

[@Meh-hr7gq]

@@Treyno94 let the big ones get through rut so they are harder to find is my guess.

[@Treyno94]

@ well that’s no fun lol

[@jamesculpepper4055]

Farm purchasing cooperatives for multiple use is one answer. Documents drawn up by atty who knows local coop law.

[@keyzjingle7573]

As a public land hunter I wish there was more publicly available land to hunt. But let’s be honest if I could afford 100acres I wouldn’t let anyone else hunt on it either. So I’ll keep saving and try to find a good piece of land

[@Hunter-e8i6l]

Have the out of state hunters that lease 2-3k acres shoot a doe before a buck

[@ShaneBolerHunting]

Let me tell you, Hunter numbers in Mississippi are not declining!!! Especially turkey hunters, it increases every year on public land

[@theozarkpodcast]

Bring 'em up to the Ozarks!

[@JohnA-sd7ug]

One big problem is they have commercialized hunting so much that it has became a rich man’s sport, instead of a sport for all people.

[@theozarkpodcast]

What do you feel like they’ve done to commercialize hunting?

[@toddschmutz-qx8wm]

It’s not hunter decline!!! It’s conservation removing the deer because they think it’s CWD. So hunters are going elsewhere!

[@jefferygodfrey9400]

Its cheaper to go too the grocery store and bye a steak

[@jeffjames9568]

I dont believe them man theres never been more people hunting

[@theozarkpodcast]

Every piece of data would disagree with you BUT I do think there are areas that tend to feel overcrowded, no doubt!

[@jeffjames9568]

@ everywhere i hunt lol

[@jeffjames9568]

@@theozarkpodcast IDK missouri still had a record deer harvest last year with less hunters , that seems weird

[@lesterakalezer9891]

Might not be a bad thing cuz I havnt been seeing shit all year😂

[@lawrencewestbury3162]

When compared to most recreation and entertainment investments isn't hunting likely more a sport of opportunity/priviledge and deminished returns than many others?.. I hear people say take someone hunting but I doubt that includes an open invitation or key to the gates?.. In modern society hunting is for the most part just another hobby and comparibly expensive, limited, and even anti-social.

[@jasonmobley9988]

Go to any public land and tell me if it looks like Hunter decline. More than ever!!

[@Monster_2_82]

youth only seasons are discrimination

[@elijahowens8507]

Hard to find a spot to deer hunt. The big land owners are asshole that won't let no body on their property and most the small landowners are leasing their ground for crazy high prices. I think the missouri wildlife is over hunted anyway

[@nathanbriner32]

Good, decline. Nobody wants to pull up to some public land just to see Tom, Dick and harry and their out of state friends Larry, Moe and Curly.

[@JusticeServed713]

It will not drop in my family I lromise