On the brink of major fall hunting seasons, Texas hunters, government agencies and hunting industry representatives met in Austin on Monday to discuss what can be done to reverse the downward trend of hunting license sales.

The meeting was convened by Texas Parks and Wildlife's Hunting Advisory Committee, chaired by former TP&W commissioner John Kelsey of Houston. Compared with many states, hunting remains a powerful Texas tradition. Still, between 1985 and 1996, the sale of hunting licenses declined by 3.6 percent.

Demographics suggest that hunting license sales will decline at an accelerated rate as the population ages. TP&W's Jerry Cooke showed graphs that indicate the state's hunters are aging faster than the general population.

"Demography is the greatest enemy of hunting," said Gary Graham, TP&W's Wildlife Division director. "At some point, baby boomers will lose interest, and that will cause some real problems."

Worse than the loss of revenue from declining license sales is the increasingly disproportionate number of urban Texans who have no connection with the land and who may have a negative concept of hunting. Sixty-five percent of the state's residents now live in the six largest cities.

Many of those urban residents, according to surveys, have a misconception of hunting. Seventy percent support hunting as a game management tool; 90 percent support hunting for meat; 78 percent oppose trophy hunting; and 90 percent oppose hunting for profit.

What that means is that Texas hunters have failed miserably in selling their message to the general public. Because of private property and the hunting lease system, the majority of Texas hunting provides a profit for the landowner.

Without the profit, landowners will not be so protective of wildlife habitat, and the wildlife will suffer. Hunting for profit has been the salvation of Texas' wildlife habitat.

Trophy hunting is actually the ultimate wildlife management philosophy. Trophy animals are mature bucks. In order to maximize trophy animals in a deer herd, managers are taking numerous steps that benefit the remainder of the deer herd and other wildlife, as well.

That message is obviously not getting through to the general public but there is some good news. A spokesman for Academy Outdoor Stores reported that sales growth in that significant sporting goods chain is apparent in all items related to youth hunting.

Vince Bove of the Dallas-based Richards Group advertising company, said the firm's Water Works Wonders advertising campaign is showing positive results for the boating and fishing industries. Both industries are feeling the same declines as hunting and for many of the same reasons.

Ohio and Oklahoma were pilot programs for tracking the influence of Water Works Wonders. Twenty-one of 22 markets tested in Ohio reported increased fishing license sales following exposure to Water Works Wonders.

"The Water Works Wonders message is simple," said Bove. "Time spent on the water connects people. We don't show a fish anywhere in our advertising campaign. Growth in the sport will be motivated by family relaxation and social benefits."

Hunting and fishing share many potentially positive benefits when it comes to family connections. There are no cellular phones (in the ideal scenario) to disrupt a day in the woods with your children or an evening around the campfire with your wife. Since most Texas hunters drive one to five hours to their hunting spot, even time spent on the road can be a connection between families.

Hunters are the original conservationists, the true stewards who support wildlife with their license purchases, their donations and their sweat equity. Hunting needs a national advertising campaign that stresses these positive realities and that campaign could easily originate in Texas.

"Texas is way ahead of most states on this issue," said Paul Schwanenberg, promotions manager from Cabela's. Schwanenberg traveled from the Cabela's headquarters in Sidney, Neb., to attend the meeting.