The number of licensed hunters in Pennsylvania has been on a steady decline for the past decade.

According to a recent survey done by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, there are about 150,000 hunters annually considered to be in a churning state.

That is, they buy a license one year, but not the next.

With 929,522 hunting licenses sold in 2010, that means about 16 percent of the hunting public drifts in and out of the sport here.

For members of the Game Commission's board, that could be a cause for panic.

As total hunting license sales decrease, the agency needs dedicated customers — not drifters.

Commissioner Jay Delaney looks at another part of the survey and sees great hope.

Of those Pennsylvania resident hunters surveyed who bought licenses in 2009 but not 2010, 83 percent said they still consider themselves Pennsylvania hunters.

"To me, that's really encouraging," Delaney said. "If that's their attitude, then I think it means we have not lost them."

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With its new Human Dimensions Division operating, the Game Commission plans to see how it can retain existing hunters, and possibly attract new ones to the sport.

"As I have said all along, the Game Commission has nationally recognized experts on almost every game and non-game species in the state, but no one who understands the hunters," Commissioner Ralph Martone said.

That's critical for the agency's survival, according to Delaney.

"I don't think anyone can run a business and not listen to their customers," he said. "But we, as commissioners, have to temper that. We have to listen to the hunters and to the biologists and strike a balance that's good for the resource and for our customers."

At the commissioners' meeting earlier this month, Coren Jagnow, who heads the Human Dimensions Division, and Joe Neville, director of the agency's Bureau of Information and Education, presented the results of a survey of 1,968 lapsed hunters — hunters who bought licenses in 2009 but not 2010.

The goal was to find out why they didn't buy in 2010.

Nothing jumped out as a "magic bullet," according to Ron Weaner, president of the board of commissioners.

In fact, Martone said the survey raised more questions than answers.

But there were some common themes.

The leading factor cited as a reason hunters did not buy licenses last year was a lack of game.

No game species were identified, since the survey didn't ask for that information, but Martone, Weaner and Delaney all said they would guess deer would be on the list.

"Deer play a role in everything connected to hunters and the PGC," Martone said.

Would the commissioners entertain the idea of allowing the herd to grow if hunters say they're quitting because there aren't enough deer?

"We've been doing that already in some areas where the habitat can withstand it," Delaney said. "I wouldn't sacrifice our forest to put too many deer out there."

If some hunters were thinking pheasants when they said they quit due to a lack of game, Delaney said they're in luck.

The Game Commission already was planning to double its annual pheasant production from about 100,000 to 200,000 birds next year.

Interestingly, the survey indicated that a lack of game was more of a factor for older hunters who quit than younger ones.

It was the leading factor among hunters age 35 and older.

For junior hunters up to age 16, and for adult hunters age 17-34, the top reason they quit was because of a lack of personal free time.

Delaney said he understands that position.

"When I think back to when I was raising my family, that was probably the period when I hunted the least," he said. "And kids today are busier now than when I was raising mine."

What the Game Commission can do about this situation is unclear.

"There is little we can do right now to create more 'time' for lapsed hunters and hunters in general," Martone said. "There is very little room to adjust season lengths right now.

"Obviously Sunday hunting would help create more time afield, but that is not within the authority of the Pennsylvania Game Commission."

Other leading reasons why hunters quit include:

• Not enough places to hunt.

• License costs and personal financial situations.

• Family and work obligations.

A loss of interest in hunting was cited as the second-leading reason junior hunters quit, and then was only cited among the top reasons by hunters age 17-19 and seniors 65 and older.

When asked what would encourage lapsed hunters to come back, their answers essentially mirrored the reasons they quit.

Hunters over 35 cited higher game populations as their leading enticement.

"This may be influenced from the past when small game numbers and deer numbers were at an all-time high," Martone said. "These could be hunters looking for the good old days."

Hunters under 35 mainly said they need more personal time. Having higher game populations ranked a close second.

Other leading enticements cited include:

• Opportunity to hunt on Sundays.

• Invitation by a friend.

• Being asked to go by a child or grandchild.

• Longer hunting seasons.

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Commissioner Weaner said he wants to see more work done to gather vital statistics on lapsed hunters.

Whether that will give the agency some direction remains to be seen.

"My personal opinion is that hunters lapse for many and varied reasons," he said. "Lifestyles have changed in the last 50 years, and hunting is just one of many recreational pastimes available to people.

"I do not think that there is a magic bullet that will suddenly entice people to buy hunting licenses. The PGC has already bent over backwards — youth seasons, mentored hunting, crossbows, Saturday bear opener, etc. — to encourage more people to hunt and has met with limited success.

"I am still interested in retaining and recruiting hunters, and think it is very important. The simple fact is that some people will not hunt year after year no matter what we do."

Delaney said he believes reversing course will take efforts by the Game Commission and the hunting public alike.

"All sportsmen need to share in the responsibility to keep our sport going," he said.

P.J. Reilly is the Sunday News' outdoors writer. Email him at preilly@lnpnews.com.