Kenneth C. Crowe II reports in the Times Union that almost three times as many people took New York state's mandatory hunting licensing test, and license payments nearly tripled. An analysis by the Rockefeller Institute of Government tracked the increase in hunting interest. This year 56,603 people completed the Department of Environmental Conservation online hunting course compared to the average of 20,000 that do so in an average year. “We’ve had about three decades-plus decline, not just in New York, but in the United States as a whole, in hunting,” said Laura Rabinow, deputy director of research for the Rockefeller Institute. “To see a reversal, even if nascent, is really surprising and interesting. The next question is, “Is this a result of the pandemic and people shifting toward more outdoor activities in general, hunting being one of them?” Hunting stores also said they saw more customers who wanted to get outside. “It’s got to be triple. New hunters and people wanting to do archery,” said Mick McGuinness, owner of Brown’s Archery Shop in Schenectady. Rabinow said women accounted for 35 percent of the training and licenses this year, compared to the national average of about 10 percent. “We will be getting more information about race and ethnicity in terms of participation moving forward. We don’t have that now, but that’s one of the new things they’re building into the system,” Rabinow said. Read more about this story in the Times Union.