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.

The results from questions posed at anglersurvey.com and huntersurvey.com about pink outdoor gear are in and when the dust settled, it appears that color alone may not woo women who are shopping for equipment.

In addition, there were not huge differences between men’s and women’s responses. However, there was a disparity in the numbers of men and women who took the survey. More than 2,500 men logged into anglersurvey.com with only 148 women participating. The hunter survey showed stronger numbers with about 190 women and 3,500 men taking part. I’m not surprised, though, because even in this day and age more men hunt and fish than women. Of the total number of anglers, 75 percent are men while 25 percent are women. The difference among hunters is even more striking with men comprising 91 percent of all hunters and women only 9 percent.

What I am surprised about is while there are 30 million anglers versus 12.5 million hunters, more people took the hunter survey than the angler survey. Rob Southwick, president of Southwick Associates, attributes that difference to the hunting press doing a great job of getting the word out and hunters being more apt to see the need for collective action.

Taking a look at the angler survey first, it’s apparent when buying outdoor gear (such as rods and reels, firearms, binoculars, coolers and similar gear) men and women prefer black. Pink is way down on the list after camo, brown/tan, blue, gray and green. Interestingly, the same question revealed about a third of men and women don’t give a rat’s fanny what color their gear is. In a separate question, slightly less than half of men and women say color of outdoor products doesn’t matter when purchasing outdoor gear.

One difference I noted is what men think of pink versus what women think. Half the men said they believe women are more likely to purchase pink outdoor gear unrelated to breast cancer, while only 40 percent of the women responded that way. However, it’s important to note because far fewer women took the survey, it introduces variability into the results. Simply put, there may not be a big statistical difference in the results.

Half the women who took the survey believe offering pink outdoor gear is a condescending way to market to them, while only 46 percent of the men believe that. Again, statistically there may not be a big gap between how men responded versus women.

The majority of men and women agree pink outdoor gear that supports breast cancer awareness promotes sales and more than 80 of men and women concur pink gear offered to promote breast cancer awareness is viewed positively by women.

Hunter survey results were not that different than angler survey outcomes.

When it comes to color the majority of men and women said they prefer camo, then black. Green and brown/tan also were popular. However, approximately 20 percent of men and women said color doesn’t matter. And only about 15 percent of women preferred pink.

Similar to the results of the angler survey, half the men said women are more likely to purchase pink outdoor gear unrelated to breast cancer while only 40 percent of the women said they believe that. A bigger sample size of female respondents would have allowed us to draw conclusions with more confidence.

47 percent of the women taking the hunter survey said they believe offering pink outdoor gear unrelated to breast cancer is a condescending way to market to them, while 42 percent of the men believe that.

Three quarters of men and women who took the hunter survey believe pink outdoor gear that supports breast cancer awareness does promote sales and more than 80 percent of men and women indicated it’s viewed positively by women.

Overall, it appears pink is effective when used to help support finding a cure for breast cancer but may not be important otherwise. While we didn’t test this, my gut tells me women (and men) are more concerned about gear fit, performance and value and less interested in what color it is. However, if pink provides a welcoming entry point for women to try hunting, fishing or shooting, I can heartily embrace that. And I also can understand those who wouldn’t touch a pink firearm with a 10-foot pole. What we can all agree on is the debt we owe to the many strong women who paved the way for today’s female outdoor enthusiasts to be exactly who they want to be.

This has been an interesting project and I really hate to see it end. Please join me in thanking Rob Southwick and Donna Leonard of Southwick Associates for their help and willingness to share their knowledge.

In this post, I’m sharing a sampling of exclusive survey results from women who hunt and target shoot. You have never seen this data because it was specially pulled for the Women’s Outdoor Wire from Southwick Associates’ March 2009 hunter survey. See how you stack up against those women who took the survey.

What is the average age of hunter survey respondents?
Under 18 – 0%
18 to 24 – 5.08%
25 to 34 – 27.44%
35 to 44 – 29.54%
45 to 54 – 24.43%
55 to 64 – 10.36%
65 and older – 3.16%

Did you hunt this past month?
Yes – 15.38%
No – 84.62%

Species Sought in the past month by respondents who hunt.
Deer – 11.13%
Elk – 0%
Turkey – 53.94%
Waterfowl – 7.65%
Small Game – 16%
Dove – 4.81%
Upland Game Birds – 7.54%
Predator/Predator Calling – 12.23%
Varmint – 0%
Coyote – 19.09%
Bear – 0%
Moose – 0%
Prairie Dog – 0%
Other – 24.39%

Did you target shoot last month?
Yes – 44.58%
No – 55.42%

Target shooting activities by respondents who went target shooting.
Rifle shooting (plinking, benchrest, tactical, cowboy, etc) – 42.64%
Handgun shooting (plinking, benchrest, tactical, cowboy, etc) – 39.37%
Bow/archery – 44.48%
Air rifle – 8.65%
Shotgun – 30.06%
Sighting rifle or muzzleloader – 26.25 percent
Other – 2.71%

Did you purchase any hunting or shooting items last month?
Yes – 35.62%
No – 64.38%

The primary purpose of the purchase was:
Hunting – 53.14%
Target shooting – 20.39%
Self defense – 9.92%
Gift – 8.34%
Other – 8.22%

What survey respondents reported buying:
Firearms – 9.17%
Ammunition – 28.09%
Blackpowder – 0.29%
Bowhunting – 12.03%
Game Calls – 13.94%
Hand loading – 0.61%
Optics – 0%
Hunting apparel – 18.55%
Hunting accessories – 8.66%
Shooting accessories – 8.48%
I did not purchase anything - 0.17%

Types of stores where hunting equipment was purchased:
Gun shows or expos – 5.2%
General sporting goods (Sports Authority, Dicks, Academy) – 15.7%
Local shop (bait tackle, specialty fly shop) - 18.7%
Mass merchant – (Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Sams Club) – 51.1%
Outdoor specialty store (Bass Pro, Cabelas, Gander Mountain) – 58.1%
Printed catalog – (Bass Pro and Cabelas) – 6.4%
Used - 0.4%
Web site (Cabelas, Bass Pro) – 5.0%
Other – 12.9%

For those women who desire more choices when shopping for hunting and shooting equipment and apparel, this type of information is exactly what the industry looks at when making decisions. Manufacturers and retailers aren’t going to deliver what we want based on a gut feeling. Business is business and it requires hard numbers to measure demand. The good news is this data is being generated. The bad news is the number of women who take the survey is miniscule compared to the number of men.

If we’re serious about wanting more retail choices, we’re going to have to prove it. I recommend you visit www.huntersurvey.com and share insights about your purchasing habits. If you’re an angler, you can do the same at www.anglersurvey.com

Results of the surveys are used by wildlife agencies and sportsmen’s groups to protect and enhance hunting opportunities. Also, your participation will help the industry develop new products and improve services.  As a bonus, every month you complete the survey, you can win one of five $100 gift certificates to the sporting goods retailer of your choice.

So go ahead, make your wishes known.

And don’t forget you can catch up with me on Facebook at facebook.com/tammy.sapp2 and Twitter @TammyDianeSapp.