Officials cite several reasons. The average age of the state's population is increasing.
Fewer people live in rural areas.
There's less dependence on fish and wildlife for sustenance, and youngsters today have more ways to spend their free time. Since 1991, Owens said, license sales have dropped 1.5 percent a year. And outdoor recreation is a driving force in the state's tourism economy, particularly in rural communities. About 26 percent of Kentucky's 3.9 million people hunt or fish or do both. Age is a factor Despite that level of popularity, the same demographic trends that are changing all of America are changing hunting in Kentucky.