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

When Virginia hunters who had not purchased a license in 2008/2009 were asked in a telephone survey why they didn’t, their answers came as a surprise. Twenty-five percent of respondents said they hunted but it was on private land, and thus they were exempt from purchasing one.

Virginia regulations do allow hunting on private land without a license in specific situations, and hunters take full advantage of that opportunity. That same telephone survey revealed 46 percent of the hunters Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) thought had lapsed were actually hunting on private land.

This is alarming news because it means the agency is losing funds, which could be used for conservation work, in two ways. The first is the obvious loss of license sales money from private land hunters who qualify for an exemption. The second way is less apparent, yet extremely important to VDGIF funding. Fewer licensed hunters means the agency qualifies for less money through Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration. This program authorizes hunters and shooters to pay an excise tax on firearms and ammunition that is apportioned back to the states based on a formula that factors in the number of licensed hunters. Bottom line, those who don’t buy a hunting license reduce federal matching money for VDGIF’s wildlife management and habitat improvement projects.

You’re one of the first to hear about these new research results from Virginia. The reason is I am involved in a marketing communications project with VDGIF. Working with partners such as Mile Creek Communications and Southwick Associates, we assessed current factors affecting hunting participation and license sales in Virginia. Then Responsive Management conducted focus groups and a telephone survey to better understand why some hunters don’t buy a license every year.

We’ll use this information to develop communications messages and strategies aimed at bringing Virginia’s lapsed hunters back into the fold. Year one of this project was funded by the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Hunting Heritage Partnership, a program that awards grants to support state-level hunter recruitment and retention programs.

The focus groups and telephone survey unearthed a treasure trove of information VDGIF can use to improve its products and services as well as market those opportunities to Virginia hunters. We learned why Virginians hunt, who they hunt with, what they hunt for, how often they hunt and what types of licenses they purchase and how often they’ve purchased a license in the last four years.

The survey also revealed factors that affect their enjoyment of hunting. Survey respondents told us not having enough time, work and family obligations were the top factors that took away from their enjoyment of hunting.

However, not having enough places to hunt and not having enough access to places to hunt were among the top four factors that strongly took away from lapsed hunters’ enjoyment of hunting in Virginia.

We first heard about their dissatisfaction with public land in the focus groups. Participants said they perceived much of the available public hunting land to be overcrowded with other hunters.

In needs to be said that providing hunters with a good experience on public lands is no small task because this group is not a homogenous blob. Hunter expectations vary greatly. Some hunters want a wilderness experience while others want to see a lot of game or have a chance to bag a trophy. VDGIF has its public land management work cut out for them whether they’re trying to attract those Virginians who aren’t buying a license because they’ve dropped out of hunting or not buying a license because they’re hunting on private land.

While there are no easy answers when it comes to managing public lands, this market research project does make several points abundantly clear. Wildlife agencies must understand their customers. They must provide products and services their customers want. And they must be more aggressive about reminding Virginia hunters to buy a license so they don’t miss sharing the hunting heritage with friends and family, connecting with nature and, of course, helping pay the bills of managing wildlife and their habitats.

Leave a comment here or you can reach me at: tammy@womensoutdoorwire.com, Facebook.com/tammy.sapp2 and Twitter @TammyDianeSapp.

Wildlife photographer Stacey Huston recently remarked on Facebook that she’s seeing more people hunting this year. And statistical evidence backs up her observation. A study conducted in 2008 by Responsive Management shows participation in hunting is on the rise. While some might contend the increase is in spite of the economy, studies show participation is increasing because of the downturn.

After reaching a peak in 1982, hunting license sales have been on the downward slide since then. However, researchers noted three exceptions to this overall national decline - 1992, 1999 and 2004.

To figure out what was behind this, Responsive Management analyzed 43 variables that might affect hunting license sales. They looked at everything from average monthly temperature, consumer prices, Dow Jones Industrial Averages, median income, new housing starts, housing and population densities, and population by age groups.

Of all the variables examined, only two really correlated to hunting license sales on a national level. The greater the proportion of people aged 65 to 69, the more likely hunting license sales will drop. In addition, a higher rate of housing starts also is tied to declines.

Why?

According to Mark Duda, executive director of Responsive Management, the age factor is easily explained.

“As people age, they are less likely to participate in hunting or have a need to purchase a license; the decline in hunting with increasing age has been documented in numerous participation studies,” Duda said. “The significance of the housing starts factor is not so clear; the data simply show that hunting license sales have declined in times of rapid growth in housing starts.”

Duda said one reason might be the number of hunters who work in construction and related trades. A 2007 survey showed the top occupational category for employed hunters was “construction/carpentry/plumbing/electrical/craftsman,” a category that strongly relates to new housing construction. Thus, in times of increased housing starts, it may be that many hunters have less free time to hunt. This theory is supported by the fact that “work obligations” is one of the most common reasons cited by hunters for not hunting or not hunting more often.

One question remains. Is having more time to hunt the only reason for the increase in participation or are hunters also trying to put food on the table? Those hunters who have been interviewed about this are split on whether or not this is a motivating factor. However, none of the other economic indicators in the 2008 study correlated strongly to hunting license sales, which could suggest the increase is due to having time to hunt rather than hunting for meat.

Fishing is seeing similar gains in participation. In 2009, there’s been a 7.7 percent increase in the number of licenses sold compared to 2008.

While it’s hard to find a silver lining in this dark economic cloud, knowing that people are spending time afield with friends and family is a bright spot.

On another note, Jim Ferguson, host of the Great American Outdoor Trails Radio Magazine was kind enough to invite me as a guest on his show. It will be available for download Friday, Dec. 11 by 10 a.m. CST at www.outdoortrailsnetwork.com. Plus, you can hear Jim’s show on 100 stations from Friday morning at 5 a.m. in Guymon, OK on KGYN until the last airing Sunday at 4 p.m. on KKBJ in Bemidji Minn.

Until then, stay in touch at Facebook.com/tammy.sapp2 and Twitter @TammyDianeSapp.