The Economics and Politics of Hunting

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John Kerry goose hunting in Ohio. Kerry is an excellent and practiced marksman.

Election Day is TODAY November 2

You may have noticed that the politicians are working overtime to woo sportsmen and women of voting age. It's not hard to understand why:

• There are more sportsmen than people who receive Social Security retirement benefits.
  
  
• About 80% of all anglers and hunters vote.
  
  
• Twice as many people hunt and fish as belong to labor unions.
  
  
• If all sportsmen had voted in the 2000 presidential election, one-third of the people at the polls that year would have held a hunting or fishing license.
  
  
• American sportsmen are among the most prominent and influential of all demographic and economic groups. Hunters are a very large and powerful economic interest group. For a mind-expanding look at the economics of hunting, see the PDF at this link >> Click Here
  
  
• There are no vegans on Mount Rushmore -- but there is Teddy Roosevelt who hunted rats with his terriers in the basement of the White House.
  
  
• Major on-the-rack magazine and TV shows are devoted to hunting.
  
  
• Whoever ends up being President will be hunter and angler. Hunters and anglers also sit on the Supreme Court (and include female members of the Court!).
  
  
• In Virginia, and in many other states, hunting, fishing and harvesting game is considered a right, and that right is written into the State Constitution.
  
  
• The Congressional Sportsman's Foundation and Caucus is devoted to hunting and fishing, and land conservation for hunting and fishing. It is not just a large caucus -- it may be one of the most powerful caucus's on Capitol Hill. Check them out at http://www.sportsmenslink.org/caucus/index.asp