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The growth in big game sport hunting in North America continues to be phenomenal compared to other field activities. This is important because it provides wildlife and habitat stakeholders and conservation revenue. Let me describe that growth, compare it to other outdoor activities, describe some of its characteristics and point out what it means to wildlife conservation as one of the ultimate forms of sustainable use. Phenomenal Growth Big Game Hunting is the hunting of large species like deer, turkey, moose, bear, caribou, pronghorn antelope, sheep, elk and goats. It has a growth rare of 5% in the USA. Consequently there are more licensed big game hunters in the United States than at any other time in recorded history -frankly, more than ever before and their numbers are increasing faster that any similar activity. Big Game Hunting is more popular than it has ever been. This rate of growth exceeds the population growth rate of humans in the USA. The rate of growth that has made big game hunting more popular than it has ever been is not new. It is a trend that began with the licensing of hunters nearly a century ago. The total number of Big Game Hunters in the USA have tripled since the 1950's and doubled since the 1970's. Comparison Today the growth rate stands it apart in a class by itself. It exceeds all other categories of hunting such as waterfowl and small game and activities like fishing and wildlife watching. Nothing else has a growth rate as high as 5%. In the last 5 years survey period (1991-1995) wildlife watching declined 17%. In fact wildlife watching growth has been negative and declining in numbers in each of the three five year period surveys over the past 15 years. Fishing, with its great number of participants is also declining. (Negative growth). Big Game hunting is the only category of the National Survey that equals or exceeds the U. S. population growth rate. In the great competition for time today most other activities are in decline. Characteristics 81% of all U. S. hunters today hunt big game. It is the largest category of hunters by far and the percentage of hunters that hunt big game is increasing. It is flourishing and increasing dramatically in the face of stable to declining overall participation rates of other hunting categories. Based on a recent analysis performed by Responsive Management under contract to Conservation Force in collaboration with Dallas Safari Club, " big game hunting is the future of hunting in the United States." (Total hunter expenditure was 61 billion U. S. Dollars per year in USA in 1996.) The average big game hunter is also spending more time in the woods than ever before. The amount of time the average big game hunter is spending in the woods is up 20% .Big game hunters spend more time afield then all other categories of hunters, saltwater fisherman and even wildlife watchers. This is amazing when you consider the shortened hunting seasons to accommodate the increasing number of big game hunters compared to fishing and wildlife watching that have no such narrowing windows of time. Big Game Hunters are not just the largest number of hunters. They make the largest financial contribution to the U. S. conservation system as a group and they make the largest financial contribution per capita, or per individual participant. Ditto Canada according to a recent survey by the British Columbia Wildlife Federation. If you could choose which category of your conservation funding base would increase, wouldn't you choose the category proven to be able and willing to pay the most? Well, that is what we have thanks to the phenomenal growth in big game hunting. |
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