National Hunting and Fishing Survey.
Here are a few excerpts from the recent 32-page survey report:

Page 9.
In the Mid-Atlantic Region: "The participation rate of hunters had a wider range, from 1% in New Jersey to 9% in Pennsylvania. The State with the most resident and nonresident hunters was Pennsylvania."

Hunting and Fishing trends, 2006 compared to 1996: (Graph on page 18)
Fishing: In our, (Mid-Atlantic), region fishing participation continues to decline. At the 5-year survey, (2001), numbers were down about 10-percent. At the 10-year survey, (2006), a (approximate), 32-percent overall net decline was seen from 1996.

Hunting: At the 5-year survey, (2001), hunter participation numbers were up by 12-percent. At the 10-year survey, (2006) the overall numbers of hunter participation had declined but was still showing a net increase of about 5-percent over 1996.

From 2001 to 2006 there was a 4-percent drop nationwide in hunter participation with the biggest drop being in the mountain region of; Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.  
[url]
http://federalasst.fws.gov/surveys/2006%20National%20Survey%20of%20%20Fishing,%20Hunting,%20and%20Wildlife-Associated%20Recreation%20-%20State%20Report.pdf[/url]

THAT LINK DOESN'T WORK AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE IT WORK.
HELP.....  

--Last edited by Dr Trout on 2007-08-21 09:01:31 --

Interesting that the numbers of fisherman is dropping.  Do you think fishing is becoming to pricey?   dd

I was not able to make bowbum's link work either...

But the information he relates to can be view here ----

http://federalasst.fws.gov/surveys/surveys.html  

--Last edited by Dr Trout on 2007-08-21 12:36:23 --

Thanks Doc for the help.
Rich, I supect it has a lot to do with an aging population and not costs. Fishing and hunting are still bargains by comparison to any other recreation I know of.

I agree that fishing and hunting licenses are bargains, it is the other factors that are going out of control.  The price of gas is a biggie for me.  Here in Erie if you are not running a fairly good size boat (which is also a large investment) you do not have many places to go.  dd