The outlooks is probably worse for upland bird hunters (and maybe waterfowlers too, which pretty much covers everything we hunt with doubles except turkeys) than for other segments of the hunting population. Focus seems to be shifting to deer in many places. Some of that is due to a decreasing availability of game or access to land, but some is also due to a much longer learning curve for the bird hunter. Shooting flying is a challenging skill. Add to that a knowledge of the birds and their habitat . . . and let's not even talk about hunting dogs!
When I was a kid, hunting squirrels and rabbits were the "gateway" activities that preceded becoming a bird hunter. Although numbers of bird hunters have dropped quite a bit, there's been an even steeper decline in the numbers of squirrel and rabbit hunters.
And it's not all related to a shortage of gamebirds. South Dakota has much better pheasant hunting now than they had in the 80's, but there are fewer SD residents hunting pheasants.
On the bright side, there are more kids coming into shotgunning via the scholastic trap and skeet programs. Some of them will certainly take up hunting too.
