The Outdoor Scene

Beginning Wednesday, Feb. 3, the Women’s Outdoor Wire will be featured as part of The Outdoor Wire.

Readers will continue to receive news and information specifically for women and families except it will come packaged in The Outdoor Wire every Wednesday. I accepted an invitation from Jim Shepherd, publisher of the Outdoor Digital Wire Network and editor of The Outdoor Wire, to write features and blog posts as well as track down products, events and advice for women.

The reason we agreed to make this change is while the Women’s Outdoor Wire boasts some wonderful sponsors, it did not receive enough industry support for us to continue producing it as a separate entity. I’m not pointing fingers either because I am well aware of the numbers and so, too, are outdoor manufacturers and retailers.

Results from the National Survey of Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife-Association Recreation from 1991 to 2006 reveal women continue to comprise a small portion of the overall market. While the number of women hunters held steady from 1991 to 2006, the National Survey indicates fewer women are fishing.

Results taken from the National Survey of Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife-Association Recreation
1991
Women anglers —9.9 million (28 percent of all anglers)
Women hunters —1.1 million (8 percent of all hunters)

1996
Women anglers —9.5 million (27 percent of all anglers)
Women hunters — 1.2 million (9 percent of all hunters)

2001
Women anglers — 8.9 million (26 percent of all anglers)
Women hunters —1.2 million (9 percent of all hunters)

2006
Women anglers —7.6 million (25 percent of all anglers)
Women hunters —1.2 million (9 percent of all hunters)

Though I’ve read a lot of hoopla about the number of women hunters increasing, the jury is still out on that. The National Sporting Goods Association participation survey showed the number of female hunters decreased from 2002 to 2007, though an increase was posted from 2003 to 2008. Some statisticians question NSGA’s web-based survey methodology, though; whether or not there are enough respondents and if survey results are representative enough of the American population to provide statistically significant results. While no survey is perfect, the National Survey is one of the most trusted sources of information on fish and wildlife recreation in the United States.

As far as female target shooters, I dug into those numbers with the help of Jim Cururuto, director of research and analysis for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. According to a Southwick Associates research effort, which was partially funded by NSSF, there were approximately 10.3 million target shooters in 2008. However, Jim reported no gender data is available from that survey but the latest NSGA Shooting Sports Report shows 23.7 percent of those involved in target shooting are female. We should know more soon. NSSF recently funded a large research project through Responsive Management that will provide another source for numbers of target shooters, including women. Results will be available in early March.

Don’t take this journey into the numbers as me throwing in the towel on encouraging women to find health and happiness in the out-of-doors. I’m just keeping it real. Any good marketer knows you have to understand the true situation to develop strategies that will get you to the goal. One of my tactics is to reach a wider audience, which is exactly what I’ll do by writing for women every Wednesday in The Outdoor Wire.

I hope you’ll join me as I profile amazing outdoor women, cover breaking news and unearth the most important information you need to know whether you hunt, fish, shoot, bird watch, camp, hike, kayak, canoe or climb. So make sure you watch your inbox for The Outdoor Wire.

Tammy Sapp

Let me know what you think. Leave a comment here or you can find me at:

Facebook.com/tammy.sapp2
Twitter @TammyDianeSapp
tammy@womensoutdoorwire.com

If you’ve been invited to speak to a local club (or even larger venue), write an article for your group’s newsletter or you’re a blogger, you have an ideal platform to talk about hunters, anglers and target shooters. We can’t wait for the mainstream media to cover how many people participate in these activities, their economic power and contributions to conservation. So, it’s important we take matters in our own hands. The hard part for many, though, is finding basic information about hunter numbers or how much anglers spend. Fortunately, this information is available, and I’m going to provide links that unlock the mystery of where these facts and figures are located.

Every five years the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service releases the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. It is considered to be the definitive source of information concerning participation and expenditures associated with hunting, fishing and other forms of wildlife-related recreation nationwide. You can find numbers of women hunters, how many days saltwater anglers spend on the water and how much wildlife watchers spend in pursuit of their hobbies. It’s a great tool and you can find the 2006 survey here:
http://library.fws.gov/pubs/nat_survey2006_final.pdf

Another valuable resource is found at the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation Web site. A publication highlighting the economic impact of sportsmen sheds light on how many jobs hunters and anglers support, days they go afield and dollars they spend on everything from gear to travel. While our current economic woes have likely affected these numbers, I am not aware of any information that spells out that impact. So, this information at least provides a baseline snapshot. You also can pull up state reports that bring the information closer to home.
http://www.sportsmenslink.org/reports_and_data/Sportsmens-Economic-Impact.html

Target shooters often cringe at how the mainstream media reports the facts and figures related to their sport. If only reporters would use the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s “The Writer’s Guide to Firearms and Ammunition.” While that may not happen, you can benefit greatly from this guide’s detailed information on the economic impact of the shooting sports, safety facts, regulations, a glossary of firearms terms and more.
http://www.nssf.org/media/WritersGuide/

Ever wonder how many people go camping or how many women hike or mountain bike? You can easily find that information in the sports participation reports at the National Sporting Goods Association Web site. You can even see participation trends from one year to the next or over a 10-year period.
http://www.nsga.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3346

These are just a few of the basic resources you can tap into to arm yourself for your next speaking engagement, writing assignment or even a meaty chat with friends. Just remember, you as an individual can make a big difference in getting the good word out about hunters, anglers and target shooters.

Catch up with me on Facebook at facebook.com/tammy.sapp2 and Twitter @TammyDianeSapp.

Last week, I bid farewell to my routine and headed to the Mid-Atlantic Tourism PR Alliance (MATPRA) meeting in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Traveling is a wonderful thing.  Once I recovered from the flurry of undressing and unpacking at airport security, visiting ghastly public restrooms and pondering the questionable history of my hotel bed spread, it really was nice to take a detour from my pig trail.

My goal at this conference was to meet people, participate in a panel discussion and learn about the tourism industry. I’ve attended plenty of meetings in the last 20 plus years – outdoor writer conferences and trade shows, shooting sports summits, and wildlife and hunting conventions, symposiums and seminars. But never a tourism conference.

The two biggest and most obvious differences in the two types of get-togethers is wildlife meetings are mostly populated by men (though there are more women now than in the 1980s). The MATPRA meeting was overwhelmingly attended by women. That was nice. I had so many wonderful conversations while I was there, chats and revelations you can really only share with another female. One woman and I marveled at how when you’re young you get your thrills at rock concerts and parties, but when you’re older, there’s magic in gardening and bird watching.

In addition, based on this experience, tourism conference participants eat much better than the wildlife crowd. At a wildlife conservation meeting, you can expect to be served at least one entrée where the meat resembles a hockey puck in shape and taste. The MATPRA shindig was all about fine dining, and I ate like a beast.

Just as pleasing was the panel discussion I participated in which covered why and how to pitch outdoor travel to women, including hunting trips. The audience included convention and visitor’s bureau staff and travel writers, most of whom were not hunters. In fact, virtually all of the hunters in that room sat on the panel so I was curious to see how the message would be received. And based on feedback, audience reaction mirrored just about every survey I’ve ever seen on this topic – the majority of Americans approve of legal, ethical hunting.
 
The panel covered so much more than hunting, though. Cindy Ross, Mary Burnham, Karen Lee and our moderator Connie Yingling have hiked, paddled, birded, camped and hunted across this country. Most of our remarks centered on the fact that women are a viable outdoor travel market with tips on how to promote outdoor destinations to them.

Connie Yingling, public relations coordinator for the Maryland Office of Tourism, pointed out in her opening remarks that if you read a general travel magazine, you would think the only activities women are interested in while traveling are shopping and spa treatments. However, the Adventure Travel Trade Association reports 52 percent of adventure travelers (those who camp, bike, bird, paddle, etc.) are women.  The National Sporting Goods Association keeps tabs on how many women (and men) participate in each of these sports. You can see the breakdown below.

Another eye opener is the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation (conducted every five years by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service), which reveals many women enjoy wildlife based recreation as well. Of the 87.5 million people who hunt, fish or watch wildlife, 45 million are women. 

Women may approach outdoor adventure and wildlife associated recreation differently than men, though. In general, it seems to me that men are interested in the number of miles they’ve hiked, the category of rapids they’ve paddled or the number and size of fish they’ve caught. Certainly women also relish those types of accomplishments. But our enjoyment is also based in being connected to nature, mastering new skills, rest and relaxation, improving our health and rediscovering who we are.

Something men and women have in common when it comes to outdoor recreation is the importance of spending time with friends and family. In addition, women also spend money on outdoor adventure travel, a fact that hasn’t fallen on deaf ears in the travel industry.

Yes, shopping does rank number one on just about every travel survey seeking to learn what women most want to do on vacation. However, a growing number of women are searching for more excitement than what they can find at boutiques, gift shops and outlet malls. And I predict as the travel industry seeks new business in this tight economy, we’ll see even more opportunities for women to embark on outdoor adventures.

National Sporting Goods Association Study of Female Sports Participation (2007)
http://www.nsga.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3346

Camping (vacation/overnight) - 23.3 million
Bicycle Riding - 17.5 million
Hiking - 13.9 million
Boating, Motor/Power - 13.6 million
Fishing - 11.4 million
Backpack/Wilderness Camp - 5.4 million
Target Shooting - 4.7 million
Kayaking - 2.9 million
Hunting with Firearms - 2.5 million
Mountain Biking (off road) - 2.5 million
Skiing (alpine) - 2.2 million
Water Skiing - 2.2 million
Mountain/Rock Climbing - 1.9 million
Archery (Target) - 1.2 million
Scuba Diving (open water) - 1.0 million
Skiing (cross country) - 0.8 million
Hunting w/Bow & Arrow - 0.4 million
Muzzleloading - 0.3 million