(I cropped & chopped your post to keep things easier to keep up with.)
Sugar coating terms is one way of looking at it. Another way is using language that the younger (future hunters) can relate to.
A different type of hunter, who sees value in not alienating those who have different views. Using sugar rather than vinager, so to speak.
You fellas understand that the tradition of hunting is in danger of simply falling out of fashion right?
Do you know why it's falling out of fashion? Please, take some stabs at it.
To start with, while I do shake my head a little when I hear people using watered down terms I don't try to correct them I just move on. But here are my full thoughts on the matter. First, no matter how you slice it they are political correct terms in the hopes of not offending someone's sensibilities. And in my view they disrespect what we are doing as hunters. We are not farmers pulling ears of corn from a stalk we are using a weapon to end the life of an unsuspecting animal to put food on our tables or a trophy on our wall (I'll save my distaste for trophy hunting for another day).
There is an old saying about PC phrases, something about picking up a turd from the clean end. In this case it is making believe there is a polite way to kill another animal. There isn't. I don't say kill and gut for shock effect, I just respect what I am doing enough to call it like it is. And, of course, they didn't have those terms when I was taught how to hunt.
And IMO, if they cannot handle the reality that they will be killing an animal and sticking their hands in it's guts out in the field than they have no business hunting in the first place and should continue to buy their meat at the grocery story like all the other squeamish people.
As to why hunting is in danger, that is not a simple question with a simple answer and IMO has nothing to do with what terms you use. But let me lay out a few factors that I see contributing to it.
First, people no longer have to hunt to survive. My parents had to when they grew up or they didn't have meat a lot of times.
Hunting, if you do not enjoy solace in the woods, can be extremely boring especially to the last few generations who are constantly plugged in to social media and video games etc.
Time management. I haven't had the time to hunt in about 3 years. Ok I take that back, my free time has been very limited and since my son is only 7 and not ready to hunt yet I have chosen to spend that time doing other things with him.
The gun debate rages on in this country and there are a lot of kids being taught in schools that guns are evil for any reason.
Kids are also being bombarded with ethical treatment of animals in classrooms.
Hunting land is becoming more scarce and cities are expanding.
My father hunted his entire childhood and didn't hunt again after he got back from Vietnam. He took us hunting and taught us how but he never killed another animal. I asked him why and he said it wasn't sporting if the deer couldn't shoot back but the real answer was he had lost his taste for killing. Being as that there is a large number of people who are of hunting age returning from a war zone I would hazard a guess that some of them feel the same way.
A lot of the hunting I did from the age of 12 on up was by myself with a gun and a dog. How many people would let their kids do that now?
Fathers are remiss to force their kids to go hunting "Hey son let's go hunting tomorrow" "No dad, I don't want to get up that early I'd rather stay home and play battle front" Father shakes his head and laments to his friends that he doesn't know what's wrong with the boy and he can't get him away from those video games. We had an Atari when I was young and I can remember saying something similar once to my dad. His response is the same that mine will be in that he unplugged the video game, threw it in his closet and said "Wake up is at 4am, you'll get your ass dressed and come with me so I can teach you something"
And last but not least, while hunting licenses are on the decline I don't think that hunting has taken as big of a hit as those numbers are showing as there is a growing movement of people that refuse to pay tribute to the king for the right to hunt on their (or their friends) own property. I know many such folks and have even been guilty of it myself a time or 3.