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USFWS Survey: 25% increase in hunters nationwide!

mschultz373

mschultz373

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Source: https://www.outdoorlife.com/conservation/national-hunting-fishing-survey-results/

main quotes:
"The upshot of the 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation is that we probably have more hunters and anglers now than at any time in the past 30 years. This year’s survey pegged the total number of American hunters at 14.4 million, the highest it’s been since at least 1991. Angling participation is estimated at 39.9 million Americans, which is also the highest participation rate since at least 1991."

"Specifically, 11.5 million Americans participated in big-game hunting in 2022, up from 9.2 million in 2016 and nearly on par with the 11.6 million big-game hunters in 2011. At 5.3 million, small-game hunting participation was close to the [5.4 million] reported in 2011."

"Hunters reported spending an average of $837 on annual expenditures, and when in the field, spending $51 per day on average while hunting."
 
I'm sure we all sigh at the prospect of increased pressure, but this is an encouraging trend for our body politic - not only for the health of individuals, but solidifying political support and protection of our right and opportunities to hunt.

Of course with that, I don't see the cost of out-of-state tags decreasing anytime soon...
 
This is important to keep in mind:

So, why is the 2022 survey so aberrant? It’s largely because the latest iteration includes new categories of participants, including motorized boaters who don’t fish and recreational shooters who don’t hunt. It also includes younger participants in some categories, a demographic that wasn’t factored in previous reports.

“The Survey screen provides information about individuals ages 6–15 years old in 2021: 1.8 million hunted and 9.5 million fished. The number of 6-15-year-old wildlife watchers cannot be estimated due to a change in survey screening questions.”

If you remove those 1.8 million young hunters, then the 14.4 million hunters reported in the 2022 survey becomes 12.6 million, more in line with previous surveys. That’s still an overall increase in hunting participation since 2016.

The latest survey also quantified motorized boaters who don’t identify themselves as anglers. And surveyors added recreational shooters to the wildlife-watcher category, inflating that participation rate compared to previous surveys.

Another thing to keep in mind is that as a percentage of the population, hunters are dropping.
 
Curious if it accounts for more hunters hunting multiple states? Is this based on license sold? If Bob hunts 4 different states, is he counted 4 times?
 
Nutterbuster said:
Covid

As somebody in the industry, that's a spike, and highly unlikely to turn into a long-term trend.
Click to expand...
100% agree. I think we're already on the downside of the spike. I'd be interested to see what the numbers say in 2024.
 
MattMan81 said:
Curious if it accounts for more hunters hunting multiple states? Is this based on license sold? If Bob hunts 4 different states, is he counted 4 times?
Click to expand...
My understanding is that OOS licenses are not calculated into Pittman-Robertson or Dingell-Johnson reimbursements. That's why they're so much more expensive.
 
Nutterbuster said:
My understanding is that OOS licenses are not calculated into Pittman-Robertson or Dingell-Johnson reimbursements. That's why they're so much more expensive.
Click to expand...
I have no idea what that means.

So it appears it was done by a survey? They didn't do it by counting license sold is what I read then.
Did anyone on here take the survey?
I don't think the article really said anything. Other than they collected a bunch of obscure data that may or may not be accurate..
Maybe it's just all over my head.
 
Actual sales data the trend is already down Ohio hunting license sales overall are down 27k from the 2020-21 season.
 
MattMan81 said:
I have no idea what that means.

So it appears it was done by a survey? They didn't do it by counting license sold is what I read then.
Did anyone on here take the survey?
I don't think the article really said anything. Other than they collected a bunch of obscure data that may or may not be accurate..
Maybe it's just all over my head.
Click to expand...
Pittman-Robinson is monies that excise tax dollars are given back to state wildlife agencies based on license sales and other things. I've had too many meetings over the thing and forgotten most of it lol
 
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