What's the # of Trad archers in the US?

[Cal Bergsma]

Hey I was wondering if there is anybody out there who might have some idea how many of todays archers across the US currently are traditional archers vs compound archers ? Is it 10 to 1 ?, 20 to 1 ? Is there a 100,000 or more traditional archers out there in the US ?

[Dave Bowers]

Alot  

[vermonster13]

Which are you looking for, Trad archers or Trad hunters?

[martin guy]

There has to be more than that Cal.

Andy

[**DONOTDELETE**]

There is 20,442 members here alone. there is other trad sites with some members that aren't members here, so there is allot of trad archers out there.

[Benny Nganabbarru]

G'day Cal,

That's a good Frieslander name you have, yes? I've got a bit of that heritage myself.    

Also, there are six traditional bowhunters in Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia!    

Cheers,

Ben

[Bonebuster]

Whatever the numbers, there are many who would love to try traditional archery, but know nothing about it. We have all seen them looking at our bows with a gleam in their eyes.

The numbers are growing. Web sites such as Tradgang are a BIG plus. A big part of trad archery has always been archers helping archers, and through computers we can cover alot of ground quicker.

My guess the numbers are about 100 to 1.

I have hunted public land in Michigan for thirty years, and have only met up with two other hunters carrying anything but a compound.

[vermonster13]

In hunters the number is 100,000 - 150,000 in the USA out of 3,000,000 licensed bowhunters. SO anywhere from 20/30 to 1

[dino]

There are an estimated 20 to 47 million hunter in the United States.  20 million being the every year hunters and 47 up to and including the occassional hunters.  Bowhunters number that I've found are pretty old but are estimated at 5 to 6 million from surveys that I've read and traditional bowhunters have to be a very small portion of that.  Probably around 10% or bowhunters.  Half a million is a fair number. dino

[Cal Bergsma]

Thanks guys for the feedback on this, I am working on something that requires me having at least a rough idea on what the numbers of trad archers vs wheely archers.
THanks

[jimmerc]

Alot And growing every day!!!  

[bayoulongbowman]

300k 700k...esimated

[Colt]

This a true story, no bs. My bear huntin' pard and I were in northern MN a few years ago. He dropped me off on the road and drove off to his spot.

While I was spraying down everything and gathering my gear for my trek in, a game warden drove by, looked at me and waved. That same game warden drove down to my buddy and caught up with him before he trekked in. Of course, the warden checked his liscense.

When the discussion came up about me, the warden said he didn't bother. He figured because I was carrying a longbow, I couldn't possibly be serious.

THIS IS NO BULL.

We laugh about that story all the time.

By the way, this non-serious hunter killed a 270lb bruin that evening.      

[salukijim]

Colt,

What part of MN are you from?  We used to drive up to Itasca County every summer from central IL to fish.  I miss the walleye and pike.

[vermonster13]

Dino, better review your research. Total licensed hunters in the USA is 13,000,000 and dropping every year. My numbers are pretty close up above.

[Colt]

Originally posted by salukijim:
Colt,

What part of MN are you from?  We used to drive up to Itasca County every summer from central IL to fish.  I miss the walleye and pike.

I hunt in St Louis County. Not that far south of International Falls.

[michaelschwister]

I know WI sells 2,000,000 deer gun hunting licences every year, and I think something along the lines of 250,000-500,000 archery licences. Every hunter I know from there also bow hunts.  Of those, only my cousin Karl uses a trad bow.

[George D. Stout]

The answer is not written in stone, so no one can actually say how many traditional archers are up and about.  The numbers nationwide for "licensed" hunters is somewhere between 13 and 15 million.

I would rather think that traditional archery is one of the fastest growing aspects of the sport...check the availability of product versus just ten years ago.  That merchandise isn't made for fun...it's made for demand.  My basic, Wild A.. guess would be closer to 20% of all archery.

It isn't difficult to understand why we aren't getting more hunters in the field.  Look in the mirror.  Wii...Playstation...PDA's...and other technological toys fill the minds of todays youth.
Couple that with selfish, apathetic parents who just don't seem to have time to spend with their kids outdoors, and you have a recipe for decline.
That may be telling us that numbers aren't everything.....it's the quality of the hunters in the field, not the quantity.

[TNstickn]

I dont think you can use hunting licensed sales to gauge the number of traditional archers vs compound archers. A very small number of the total numbers of all archers hunt. More than half of the members of both the archery clubs I belong to hunt. One club is trad only, one is open. I shoot trad only in both. Three other members of my household that shoot but dont hunt, and there numbers still figure in the equation. My son shoots in the JOAD group and they are non hunters (for now). Not to mention the scout groups that shoot regularly. Also, we have a local home school group that numbers in the 60's, plus the archery in schools programs. Fita groups, flight shooting, indoor 3-d, lots and lots of clubs that have absolutely nothing to do with hunting.  

All that said, I hunt, I shoot alot to be a better game shot. I know I'm in a nation wide dwindling population and it sucks to know, considering how much I love the outdoors and archery.

[LostNation_Larry]

A couple of years ago I went through Bowhunter magazine's deer hunting survey and added up all the license sales.  Of course they admit some numbers are and estimates because of the way licenses are sold they cannot be tracked as gun or bow.  I seem to remember the number of bowhunting licenses being 3,000,000.  I use 10-15% for a number of traditional hunters.  I am not sure where I heard this number but it seems to work.  That puts trad bowhunters at 300,000 -450,000.

Find the most recent Deer Hunting reveiw in Bowhunter or any comparable magazine and add them up.