Connecticut Lands Near Bottom of States With Most Registered Hunters

The wildlife population seems to have exploded here in Connecticut. Every day I see a new social media post of a bear, a fox, a Lynx, or a herd of deer galloping through someone's backyard. Environmental betterment has definitely helped, but there's been a serious decline in registered hunters here in Connecticut over the past few decades, has it become a lost art?

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Hunting has never really been for me. I'm a carnivore through and through, but I prefer to remain ignorant about the harvesting part of the process. I respect those who enjoy it on a local level, but despise the big-game hunters who kill an animal for a trophy or pure enjoyment. One of my former co-workers in Hartford used to love hunting and eating squirrel, he even brought some in one day for me to try, but I declined. I've tried venison a few times, but I prefer cow, chicken, or pig.

According to thefw.com, Connecticut comes in at #44 in their list of states with the most registered hunters, and even then, registered hunters only make up 1% of our population. It's even worse for a couple of our neighbors, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island have even fewer registered hunters than us. Our tiny Eastern neighbor has the second lowest population of registered hunters in the United States, poor lil' Rhode Island, you just beat out the most environmentally-protected state in the US - California.

Is it the cost? Strict limits on when and what you can take home? Or has decades of watching Animal Planet and documentaries about how our foods are processed made us more respectful of all lives?