The Draw: The Hunting Way of Life is Worth Fighting For

Why do we hunt?

Not for the rack on the wall. Not for the likes on a photo.

We hunt because it’s who we are.

It’s the years that turn boys into men and strangers into brothers.

I was born and raised in Montana. Hunting wasn’t a hobby — it was the air we breathed. My earliest memories are riding in my dad's old red pickup with him, rifle in tote, watching the sun come up over the Highwood Mountains. Those days shaped me more than any classroom ever could.

Mark Twain once said, “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”

Hunting survives kids one at a time.

As a dad of four daughters, I live by that. I’m always scheming new ways to pull them away from screens and into the field. Because hunting survives one kid at a time. Their eyes light up the same way ours did when we shot our first deer or arrowed our first bull.

But here’s the hard truth: the serious big game bowhunter is becoming a rarer breed.

• Hunter numbers in the U.S. have dropped from 16.8 million in 1991 to roughly 14.5 million today.

• In the West, bowhunter participation has declined 12–18% in the last decade.

• The average age of a hunter is now 47 and climbing.

Kids are trading tree stands for TikTok.

Public land access is under constant pressure.

And every time a major hunting brand sells to corporate interests, the question hangs in the air:

Will they still fight for us, or will they quietly go neutral when it matters most?

The real fight is keeping the gates open for the next generation.

We can’t afford to divide the camp over small stuff — public vs. private, Mathews vs. Hoyt, mechanicals vs. fixed.

Those arguments are noise.

The real fight is keeping the gates open for the next generation.

So how do we protect this way of life?

1. Take a kid hunting.
One morning in the field is worth a thousand lectures. Find someone, your own kid, a neighbor and impart to them the same thrill of the outdoors that you had.

2. Stay involved.
Volunteer with clean organizations like Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation or Mule Deer Foundation. Search out organizations that have put the hunter's best interest in the foresight of their organization, no smoke and mirrors.

3. Vote. Vote for leaders who actually hunt — or at least respect it. Montana is a huge outdoor recreation state. Seek out candidates that are on board with preserving our best interests.

4. Support brands that walk the talk. When you buy from companies still owned by hunters — not corporations — your dollar does double duty. It funds gear you love and the fight to keep hunting alive.