Animal rights activists and tree huggers rejoice!

The latest statistics show the number of hunters, not only in the state of Washington but nation wide, has dropped.

I’m sure folks somewhere are having a party figuring all the horror pictures and propaganda they’ve distributed over the years depicting Bambi or some other woodland creature sprawled on the forest floor after being riddled with an AK-47 has finally paid off.

Wrong!

The simple fact is the majority of the dedicated hunters are aging and many of the old-timers have already died off.

Combine that with a lack of interest by members of the younger generations who are too busy surfing the Internet or playing video games and, all of a sudden, there are fewer hunters.

This causes panic among Department of Fish and Wildlife officials because fewer hunters means fewer licenses being sold, resulting in a drop in funding for conservation and wildlife management efforts. This leads to fewer animals in the field resulting in lower hunter success rates, resulting in fewer licenses being sold because hunters get tired of coming home empty handed.

It’s a vicious cycle, truly a Catch-22 situation.

I find it strange that kids are disinterested in hunting, particularly when most of the video games these days involve weaponry of some form or another.

I usually see kids, and adults as well, cramming quarters into the Big Buck Hunter Pro game at Oak Harbor’s Wal-Mart store and blasting away with the plastic rifles at images of deer and turkeys — so why not go after the real thing?

Local organizations like the Central Whidbey Sportsmen’s Association have youth programs and classes on gun safety, but more people need to get out in the field.

Another problem is the lack of areas to hunt in.

As far as I’m concerned, there is too much land with “private property” signs. Sure there are a few folks that will cause damage, but those types aren’t the ones who knock on the landowner’s door and politely ask permission.

In some areas of the country, conservation has succeeded beyond the experts’ wildest imaginations and certain species are more plentiful now than at any time in history. This is particularly true of geese.

Ask any winter wheat rancher what kind of damage the birds do when a big flock settles into a field when green shoots first appear. Any successful wheat rancher is glad to have hunters and it doesn’t take long for the birds figure out it might be a smart idea to go somewhere else — steel shot is in the air!

Snow geese are also a major problem and have laid waste to areas in the sub-Arctic that conservationists say may never grow anything again. They’re also hurting farmers in the Stanwood area which has been opened up to more hunting this year.

Natural selection isn’t reducing the numbers so officials allow recorded calls and increased bag limits in some areas.

Still, enticements won’t work if people don’t get out and hunt.

To me, there is nothing better than watching the sun come up while in a lay-out blind surrounded by decoys. Others may prefer being in a tree stand along a well-traveled deer trail.

If you feel the same way the next time you go out, take somebody that hasn’t gone before.