What To Do About Shrinking Numbers Of Hunters And Fishermen
July 26, 2007
Representatives from 23 states and four Canadian provinces gathered recently in Flagstaff, Arizona to discuss recruitment and retention of hunters and fishermen. The event was hosted by the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
Many things were discussed and those in attendance reviewed facts and figures provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on downward trends in license sales.
Here’s what AZCentral.com listed as the major reasons discussed as to why recruitment and retention was low.
Some of the reasons discussed at the meeting were complex rules and regulations, reduced hunting opportunities, age restrictions, a lack of encouragement or help for older hunters, increasing urbanization of the population, rising license and permit costs, difficult access to recreational lands and a perception that hunting and fishing is cruel and inhumane.
One in attendance had this to say and I couldn’t agree more.
“We try to placate the public by becoming invisible,” Keck told the group.
“And hunters are passive as to why they hunt. We are terrible at selling the product we have. We need to sell the sizzle of hunting and conservation.”
Maybe that has something to do with why I do what I do. But all too often I feel like I am talking to myself out in the wilderness somewhere. Hunters are for the most part passive and are difficult to engage in conversation, particularly in a public forum.
I think for too long we have felt the need to “placate the public by becoming invisible” but those days are history. We are being forced out of our silence by those active enough to want to shut us down. We can’t continue down this same path or it will be too late.
No longer should we have to remain quiet or apologize to people because we hunt and fish. We have much to be thankful for and proud of. Our billions of dollars over the years and conservation efforts have provided this country with a bountiful wildlife population and that’s something we should be telling the world about. Our entire package of monetary support and understanding the need to conserve our wildlife for the future is what has gotten us to where we are today. Tell that to the wildlife viewers, some of whom seem not to understand or care.
Thank God for the few activists we have that have worked diligently to keep hunting and fishing alive and well. But they can’t do it alone. We all must speak up now. We all must get involved and no longer remain “out of sight, out of mind”. We’ve done a lot. Let’s let the rest of the people know what a great contribution we have made to our country.
Tom Remington
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Wow, I didn’t know this conference was happening. What a great thing.
I think you are exactly right in your conclusions too. I’ve said much the same things on the blog I write. The only way to make sure hunting and fishing exists in the future is to work together. If we all speak as one, our voice will be much louder.
But how do we get more to open their mouths and speak up? That’s the trick. I don’t think I’ve found the answer yet. Although I am certainly exiting to see more and more bloggers on the Internet discussing issues that effect us all. It’s a start.
I’m not sure how we get people to speak up either. Or how we get them to realize that their behavior has consequences for the image of hunting as a whole. I guess we just have to keep talking and hope that more and more hunters and outdoorspersons start listening.
I belive we have to start in the home. I realize there is very few family dinners where all the family sets together and discuss things but we have to take the time and instill in our children that hunting is not cruel or inhumane.
Humans are predators and it is a natural act for a person to hunt and fish. Hunting is a proven method of population control in the animal world. Hunting during set seasons is the reason we have a healthy huntable population of animals.
Harvesting of Elk or Deer or Bear is the very reason we have them in record numbers today.
Isn’t it amazing how many things in life fall back on the roots of home?
We need to be visible, but sensible about what we show off. It’s been a “rant” of mine for many years, the fact that hunters need to be very conscious of our image and public relations. It doesn’t mean being invisible or hiding what we do, but it does mean being considerate of the sensibilities of the non-hunting public.
We get a lot of publicity for our sport. But it’s almost always for the wrong things. Poachers get coverage. Slob hunters who shoot themselves or their buddies get tons of coverage. But the ethical hunter, the quiet one who’s out there doing the right things for the right reasons… he’s never going to be front-page news.
Maybe this is already going on somewhere, but I find that hunting and outdoors news is almost always something that sportsman have to “pull” from the web and other media resources. Even our online news sources like News Hound and News Wire are more about collecting news that’s already out there, then letting sportsmen come find it.
What if we started “pushing” more out there. For example, what if there were a site or two out there that collected hunting news and information, then pushed that info out to the media outlets in the form of press releases…sort of an outdoors A.P. And instead of sending these releases only to “friendly” media such as other outdoors websites or hunting magazines, these releases went right out onto the “real” wire? Don’t wait for them to come to us, let’s go to them.
I’m brainstorming now, even if it’s not much more than a drizzle… but I don’t wanna take up the whole comments site with my harebrained ideas. Just some thoughts, though.
Phillip, I think that is an excellent idea and that is what Skinny Moose Media is all about. Our problem is finding those people willing to collect the news and push it to the main stream. Main stream media tends to be a little standoffish regarding online blogs so pushing news from blogs to main stream media is unlikely at this stage in the game. But our goal is to credential our bloggers to become a viable news source and get out there and get the news and that at the end of the day the stories aren’t printed on paper but in the form of blogs.
But I agree, we need more people speaking up and writing online is a great way to be heard. We just need more people doing it and to get those to stop hiding in the forum based communities and come out and voice their opinion in a polished blog article. I think the Hog Blog is a great source of information and if we could find hundreds or even thousands of those type of blogs online we would be able to be heard a lot better. The younger generation loves getting online. So if they aren’t sitting down for dinner with their families then let’s take the fight to the Internet where they are soaking up information.
Phillip,
I think the news service thing is a great idea.
I also have ranted about the need for image management among hunters. It takes so little to create a good impression and it angers me that more hunters won’t be or aren’t more aware of the image they present to others.
“We try to placate the public by becoming invisible,†Keck told the group.
“And hunters are passive as to why they hunt. We are terrible at selling the product we have. We need to sell the sizzle of hunting and conservation.â€
I couldn’t agree more with this statement. For years I have been advocating making it easier for hunters, write simpler rules, allocate more hunting land, including suburban areas. And finally we need to put the fun and thrill back into hunting, instead of the tiresome age-old humble pie mantra.
Phillip has a good idea. I have been doing something like that for a few years now. The major problem I am facing is that most media outlets quite simply not interested in portraying hunters in a good light. But this has not kept me from trying and keeping at it.
-Othmar Vohringer-
[...] Arizona Fish and Game Department recently hosted a symposium where representatives from 23 states and Canada met in Flagstaff to discuss ways to recruit and [...]
[...] Arizona Fish and Game Department recently hosted a symposium where representatives from 23 states and Canada met in Flagstaff to discuss ways to recruit and [...]
[...] Arizona Fish and Game Department recently hosted a symposium where representatives from 23 states and Canada met in Flagstaff to discuss ways to recruit and [...]