Hunting: Good news delivered in a despicable manner

[Guest guest]

Studies: Interest in Hunting Fading

 

Thu Mar 10, 2:19 PM ET

 

U.S. National - AP

 

By ANGIE WAGNER, Associated Press Writer

 

As a teenager, Bryan Dinkins and his grandfather would

go out before dawn on many a winter morning to hunt

duck. They would quietly discuss school and life while

waiting for the birds.

 

 

 

 

Dinkins, now 40, hasn't been hunting in six years.

He's too busy, he says, and anyway it would take six

hours to drive somewhere to hunt ducks in California.

 

It's a common lament in the new century, a time when

urbanization and hectic lives can get in the way of

hunting traditions. Hunting now is not just about when

to go, but where to go? How much will it cost? And,

more than ever, who will go?

 

" If we think about how the country was explored and

developed, it was hunters, it was trappers, " said

Steve Williams, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service. " If we lost that, I think in some way we lose

part of the American character. "

 

Across the country, the number of hunters declined

from 14.06 million to 13.03 million, or 7.3 percent,

from 1991 to 2001, according to the Census Bureau

(news - web sites) and the Fish and Wildlife Service.

The drop was greater in the West — 9.6 percent, from

2.46 million to 2.22 million.

 

Hunting has survived through generations by fathers

passing the tradition on to their children, and

families bonding during hunting trips. But many people

have given up on hunting, or never tried it at all.

 

The decline in Western hunters came even as the

population jumped. California had the largest drop —

from 446,000 to 274,000, or 38.6 percent — followed by

Colorado, Arizona and Nevada. Washington, Wyoming,

Oregon and Hawaii had slight declines.

 

Most hunters said in the 2001 Census and in the Fish

and Wildlife survey that they did not hunt as much as

they would have liked because they were too busy or

had family or work obligations. The reasons were the

same for those who gave up hunting altogether, another

study found.

 

As the West becomes more urban, with new residents

flocking to cities like Las Vegas and Phoenix,

development inevitably leads to fewer hunting lands.

 

" A generation or so ago, it was still possible to take

a son and daughter out to the country, knock on a

farmer's door and be out in the field hunting in

pretty short order, " said George Cooper, spokesman for

the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.

 

" That's how young people got into hunting. Loss of

habitat due to sprawl and landowner worries about

liability have made that sort of old-fashioned access

hard to come by, " he said.

 

Those who rely on private land often find they must

pay for the privilege, and it can be expensive. Duck

hunting for the season may cost $10,000 on a private

hunting preserve.

 

Eventually, it will be up to children to carry on the

tradition. But a study by Responsive Management, a

public opinion research firm for natural resources

issues, found if people are not exposed to hunting

before they are 16 or 17, they likely will not hunt as

adults.

 

And the more people grow up in urban areas, the less

likely they are to be exposed to the hunting culture,

said Mark Damian Duda, executive director of the

group.

 

" That's the big, broad demographic trend that's taken

its toll on hunting, " he said.

 

Many states are promoting hunting by sponsoring

outreach programs and youth hunts.

 

But the state fish and wildlife agencies that are

working to recruit and retain hunters face their own

threats. Most depend on hunting license sales for

money, and as the number of hunters drops, programs

are cut and jobs are left unfilled.

 

 

 

California is suffering the worst. The game warden

staff has been cut by 25 percent over the last few

years; budgets for wildlife managers have been

slashed; maintenance is lacking.

 

" We had counties where we didn't even have a warden

present, " said Lorna Bernard, spokeswoman for the

California Department of Fish and Game.

 

It's a delicate relationship that hunters and state

agencies share. States depend on hunters to help fund

their conservation projects and to control animal

populations.

 

" Traditionally, the people that have paid for and

cared for wildlife have been hunters and anglers, "

said Steve Huffaker, director of Idaho Fish and Game

and past president of the Western Association of Fish

and Wildlife Agencies.

 

" If we lose that support base, then we're concerned

who's going to be there to take up the needs of fish

and wildlife in the future, " he said.

 

___

 

Associated Press writer Bob Anez in Helena, Mont.,

contributed to this report. Wagner reported from Las

Vegas.

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

That's good news Ozzy. Why do the states want hunting to increase? I

suppose it must be to do with money.

 

Jo

 

 

Hunting: Good news delivered in a despicable manner

[Guest guest]

In some states it is a tourist economy and the hunting is part of it. If the tourists don't come the locals and state hurt for money.

 

Lynda

 

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Jo Cwazy

Saturday, March 12, 2005 12:58 PM

Re: Hunting: Good news delivered in a despicable manner

That's good news Ozzy. Why do the states want hunting to increase? Isuppose it must be to do with money.Jo Hunting: Good news delivered in a despicable mannerTo send an email to -