The map, above, shows the percentage< of the adult population that hunts in each region of the U.S. (Source: 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation).
Remember that half the people in the U.S. are women (91% of hunters are men), many Americans live in urban areas, about 12 percent of the folks in America are immigrants, and over 13 percent are black, and that 96 percent of hunters are white, and you will see a simple truth: a lot of white men hunt!
Look at the graph below and you will see another simple truth: most of the decline in hunting in America has been in the area of small game hunting, not big game.
What's going on there? Simple: changed farming practices means less rabbit, less quail, less pheasant. And less small game, means less hunting for that game.
If we want more hunters in America, we need to start focusing on improving habitat for small game!
The U.S. has over 12 million hunters, and of these over 10 million are big game hunters. To put this in perspective, the U.S. has eight times more hunters than all the active duty military personnel in the Army, Navy, Marines, Airforce and Coastguard combined. We have six times more big game hunters than all the active duty military personnel of the U.S. combined.
Some years back I started the "First Church of Field and Stream as a joking reference to the fact that I tend to hunt (unarmed and with dogs) on Sunday.
And yet, if you look at the numbers above, I think you will find that the joke is on me. It turns out that the First Church of Field and Stream is already one of the largest churches in the U.S.!
Even if we toss out the anglers (a mighty toss!), there are more big game hunters in the U.S. than there are Jews, Mormons, and Church of Christ members combined. There are more big game hunters in America than there are Presbyterians or Lutherans. There are more hunters in America than there are Methodists.
If we add anglers back in (it is the First Church of Field and Stream, after all), we find hunters and anglers are a congregation of 33.9 million, which is more than the Methodists, the Lutherans, the Presbyterians, the Episcopalians and the United Church of Christ combined.
Let us prey, indeed!
And let us give Thanks for this world, and this nation, that Good Original Design has made.
3 comments:
Where I live the days of pheasant, bobwhite, and rabbit shooting are over. They have been replaced by ruffed grouse, woodcock, and squirrels.
Coonhounds can now tree a raccoon within a half hour of being turned loose, and those people who still trap, get lots of foxes every winter.
Small game is not over because agricultural practices have changed. It's just that the species have changed.
I say this as someone who always see his home state marked clearly within bobwhite range maps but who has never seen a wild bobwhite in his state.
I have seen wild pheasants here-- even some with chicks. However, the range maps always say they don't live here. The truth is pheasants are stocked by landowners and some of them do go wild and successfully breed here. The main reason is that pheasants go wild easily, and bobwhites get tamer than chickens in captivity.
7% hunt in Michigan? More like, 7% DON'T hunt!
Or maybe that's just where I live.
It should be a tenet of the Church that one always carry a blade while engaged in an outdoor activity. This could be useful in the UK where carrying a knife is generally illegal, but religious exceptions (such as for Sikhs) apply.
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