A report released Oct. 10 by the U.S. Sportsman’s Alliance, National Shooting Sports Foundation and National Wild Turkey Federation should make American sportsmen sit up and take notice. It’s not very encouraging. In fact, it’s downright scary.
The report is a statistical look at the state of “recruitment” of young people who are interested in hunting. If you read much about what our writers have to say about fishing, you’ve probably seen the term, but may not know what it means. For fisheries experts, recruitment refers to the numbers of fish added to a given species each year, usually through migration or reproductive success.
It’s a law of nature that a sustainable population of fish (game, people) must have recruitment rates that exceed mortality to ensure the survival of that population.
Hunting, it appears, is slowly going down the road toward extinction in America and along with it, a myriad of businesses it supports and, yes, the dollars that support outdoors activities that non-hunters also enjoy — such as being able to visit parks to view and interact with wildlife. Hunters’ excise dollars help protect wildlife by funding the states’ fish-and-game agencies.
So negative recruitment of hunters by age groups is particularly alarming (fewer hunters equals less money for wildlife). From 1985-2001, the U.S. annual figure was minus-2.27 percent. In other words, in another 16 years there could be 36 percent fewer hunters than today (if the recruitment rate stays the same). Nationally, hunters today make up only 6.15 percent of the total population (and some people believe it’s less than that).
North Carolina is the 19th-best state for hunter recruitment, with a .76 replacement ratio, but only 4.01 percent of our 16-under youths are hunters and 5.31 percent above 16 are hunters. Best situations for hunters are at Midwestern and Rocky Mountain states (Montana hunters comprise 24.46 percent of the total population).
What’s driven down national interest in hunting? Urbanization is one reason, but a lot of it is political — and deliberate.
Hunting presupposes some type of proficiency with weapons, usually firearms. But some agenda-driven groups and political parties have made their goal the eradication of guns in this country.
When I went to high school 40 years ago, many of my male classmates brought shotguns or rifles in the trunks of their vehicles so they could go rabbit or squirrel hunting once the last bell rang. Today a student who brings an unloaded gun to school — locked in his vehicle — will be a) expelled or b) sent to a psychiatrist.
Anti-gun “leaders,” disconnected from our nation’s heritage, view legitimate firearms owners as the close kin of Appalachian snake handlers. And they’re determined to codify us as crazies, harass and finally stamp us out.
What can you do? Teach a youngster how to responsibly handle a weapon. Teach him or her about wild game and respect for the hunting, harvesting and consumption of it. See if a local school will allow the formation of a students’ wildlife club. Make yourself aware of political candidates’ positions on this issue and vote accordingly. Watch the state legislature’s actions.
If today’s sportsmen don’t step up, hunting in America could disappear within a few short years.
Be the first to comment