https://cpw.cvlcollections.org/files/original/c2feab84e1bad5f9e031f034e28258b9.pdf eb097d0838c88bc8c8852c2118622c1d PDF Text Text Dan Prenzlow, Director, Colorado Parks and Wildlife • Parks and Wildlife Commission: Marvin McDaniel, Chair • Carrie Besnette Hauser, Vice-Chair Marie Haskett, Secretary • Taishya Adams • Betsy Blecha • Charles Garcia • Dallas May • Duke Phillips, IV • Luke B. Schafer • James Jay Tutchton • Eden Vardy ��THE PATH LESS TRAVELED ... to Becoming a Hunter By Dan Decker, Michael Quartuch and Rich Stedman "New York State is open for hunting!" With this official state proclamation, residents and visitors are invited to enjoy the variety of hunting opportunities that can be found in New York. We have generous hunting seasons for many game species prized for food and recreation. We have an excellent record of hunting safety. We have millions of acres of public land. And we have a centuries-long tradition of hunting, which has cultivated a strong base of hunters in the state. While New York has bountiful hunting opportunities, like most other states in the nation we have experienced a slow decline in hunter numbers. Although nearly imperceptible from one year to the next, after 20-25 years, the cumulative effect warrants attention. Since the early 2000s, trends in hunting participation have been analyzed closely and measured carefully by wildlife agencies and leaders of the hunting community. Why the concern? Because a significant decline in hunter numbers has many societal impacts. Perhaps foremost, we depend on hunters to control wildlife populations that if left unmanaged, could reach pest proportions in some circumstances- white-tailed deer being a prime example. Hunters also contri bute to wildlife management through their hunting license fees and special federal taxes they pay on firearms and ammunition. The monies collected are used for research and management of the state's wildlife, such as deer, turkey, bear and migratory birds- species enjoyed by hunters and nonhunters alike. Without this revenue, public wildlife agencies would either need equivalent support from general tax coffers, or have to cut back on such key programs. Financial considerations aside, the decline in hunters may indicate the waning of a tradition that helped keep society mindful of the need for stewardship of wildlife and habitat. 24 From the Digital Collections of the New York State Library �Previous Studies of Hunters and Hunting In addition to caring for wildlife, attention DEC was one of the first state wildlife agencies to detect declines in hunter numbers, when enrollment in the mandatory to the hunting community itself is needed Sportsmen Education (SE) program dropped in the 1980s. DEC wildlife managers wanted to identify why the flow of new hunters was slowing. Working with Cornell University's Human Dimensions Research Unit (HDRU), DEC historically sponsored studies of New York hunters that verified the traditional path to hunting was paved by family encouragement- typically fathers, uncles or grandfathers teaching their sons, nephews and grandsons to hunt. (Editor's Note: see Dad's Happy Place on page 32 of this issue, for example.) The studies showed that family support was important to form a "social world" where all aspects of hunting culture were reinforced; individuals who enjoy the support of family members, especially those initiated into hunting during childhood, are more likely to continue hunting over their lifetime. The research indicated that it took a community to recruit and retain hunters, and while not always the case, normally a rural community was involved. Both new and seasoned hunters genMatt Lindler. NWTF to keep it vigorous in the years ahead. erally lived in rural areas or their families had rural roots and ongoing connections to rural locations where hunting was an important part of the local culture. This research showed that individuals from nonhunting families who began hunting as adults often were challenged by the lack of access to places to hunt. In addition, there was an absence of hunting companions- friends or family members to share their hunting experiences with, to learn from, and to join in the retelling of memorable past hunts. Hunters who followed a "traditional path" into the activity and were embedded in the rural-based hunting culture tended to value hunting as part of their identity, and to stick with hunting as a lifelong activity. Yet, this "traditional" pathway has not produced enough hunters to replace those lost to attrition. Individuals following a "nontraditional path" into hunting (they typically were raised in non-hunting families, lived in urban or suburban areas, and had little or no exposure to hunting as kids) were less likely to become committed, long-term hunters, and often dropped out of hunting within a few years of starting. While there are exceptions to this general pattern, overall, hunting never really became part of their identity. Circumstances Change During the last two decades, state wildlife agencies like DEC and sportsmen's organizations have made concerted efforts to attract new hunters-especially young people and adult women. Manufacturers and retailers of hunting clothing and equipment have targeted these population segments as well. It seems this effort has paid off to some extent: for example, both the percentage and number of women hunters has increased slightly in recent years. Convergence of two other trends has raised hopes of drawing new people into the h1mter ranks. One is the expansion- in some places an explosion- of deer populations across New York and in many other states. Simultaneously, interest in local foods (the "locavore" movement) has emerged with considerable fanfare (see: The Mindful Carnivore by Tovar Cerulli; The R ise ofthe Hipster Hunter by Emma Marris). At a time when deer are abundant in many places, we also have people seeking to meet their animal protein needs locally. This seems like a perfect recipe for people who otherwise might not have considered hunting deer to do so for both food procurement and conservation purposes. A young hunter excited to get into the field. New York State Comervationist, October 2016 From the Digital Collections of the New York State Library 25 �A Robin Kuiper group of prospective hunters receiving trai ning in safe handling of crossbows. Recent Studies of Hunter Recruitment What is happening now with hunting participation? Anecdotal evidence suggests that we may now have more people expressing interest in hunting who do not come from hunting families . They may be entering hunting as adults through "nontraditional" pathways. Recent research conducted by the Cornell HDRU examined the degree to which nontraditional pathways are contributing to hunter recniitment. During the winter of 2015, Cornell researchers surveyed 2014 sportsman education (SE) course graduates who were considered "nontraditional path" hunters. These were adults who had little social support. for hunting, lacked any hunting experience, were female, or were racial/ etlmic minorities. Of these 3,600 people, 42 percent responded to the survey. The results revealed some interesting things about them: • Four out of five were Caucasian; • Women and men were in nearly equal proportion; • Social support was important for those taking a nontraditional path to hunting, with close friends, spouse/partner, and co-worker leading the list of influences in the new hunters' venture into the sport; • Companionship with significant others and friends, enjoyment of nature, procurement of meat, and contributing to wildlife management were identified as important reasons to hunt; and • Impediments encountered largely reflect knowledge that traditional path hunters would usually acquire over years of involvement in the hunting community starting in childhood. They include: ► Complexity of hunting regulations in New York; Access to areas for shooting practice and hunting; ► Costs associated with hunting; and ► Deficiencies in hunting knowledge and lack of experienced companions to help out with equipment ► purchases, field skills, and preparing game for consumption. • Their mean age was 36 years; 26 New York State Conservationist, October 2016 From the Digital Collections of the New York State Library �Future of Hunting? Attracting the next generation of hunters will require concerted efforts. We anticipate relatively few nontraditional path hunters will stick with hunting over the long haul unless they lay down firm roots in the hunting community. Special attention may be needed to keep them involved. If the primary constraints to hunting participation can be overcome, people may remain hunters for a long time- perhaps for life. It follows that if nontraditional path hunters are retained as active hunters, over time their numbers would swell as a proportion of the hunter population, becoming significant in a couple decades, and serving as social support. for other potential hunters. Addressing the challenges to hunting identified in the study might be a worthwhile endeavor to achieve this outcome. Basically, nontraditional path hunters need what traditional path hunters normally grow up with- skill development, access to land, and general social support for their hunting activity such that their identity as hunters becomes well-established. Long-recognized benefits of hunting such as companionship with significant others/partners and friends, enjoyment of nature, and procurement of meat rank high on the list of benefits sought by nontraditional path hunters, just like traditional hunters. Fortunately, contributing to wildlife management also is cited by four out of five nontraditional path hunters as a reason they hunt. The traditional path into hunting often involves mentoring within the family. Perhaps local, state and national sportsmen's organizations, DEC, and even individual hunters or traditional hunting families can figure out how to engage nontraditional path hunters in ways that nurture their hunting interest. Attending to this need of nontraditional path hunters would seem to be a valuable undertaking, considering their potential contributions to conservation and to keeping hunting alive. Thanks to natural resource stewardship efforts undertaken by DEC and other agenc.ies, land trusts, and private landowners, New York has bountiful hunting opportunities. In addition to caring for wildlife, continuing to address the needs of the hunting community will help keep it vigorous in the years ahead. ...u. ! 0 f 8 0 0 £. Dan Decker is a professor in the Department of Natural Resources and director of the Human Dimensions Research Unit (HDRU) at Cornell University, where he has studied hunters, hunting and other wildlife management topics for more than 40 years. Born and raised in the Catskills, Dan enjoys hun ting and fishing. A post-doctoral research associate in Cornell's HDRU, Michael Quartuch has focused on studies of factors affecting hunter recruitment and retention. AVid hunter and angler Rich Stedman is a professor in the Department of Natural Resources and associate director of the HDRU at Cornell University. Note: The authors worked with a team from DEC's Bureau of Wildlife, The National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) is one of several sporting including Kenneth Baginski, Gordon Batcheller, Charles Dente, Melissa organizations making concerted efforts to attract new hunters into the fold. Neely, Michael Schiavone, and Michael Wasilco. 27 From the Digital Collections of the New York State Library � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Journal Articles Description An account of the resource CPW peer-reviewed journal publications Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The path less traveled...to becoming a hunter Description An account of the resource "New York State is open for hunting!" With this official state proclamation, residents and visitors are invited to enjoy the variety of hunting opportunities that can be found in New York. We have generous hunting seasons for many game species prized for food and recreation. We have an excellent record of hunting safety. We have millions of acres of public land. And we have a centuries-long tradition of hunting, which has cultivated a strong base of hunters in the state. Bibliographic Citation A bibliographic reference for the resource. Recommended practice is to include sufficient bibliographic detail to identify the resource as unambiguously as possible. <a href="https://nysl.ptfs.com/data/Library1/Library1/pdf/50874345_V71-N2-2016-OCT.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York State Conservationist - V71-N02-2016-OCT</a> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Decker, Daniel J. Quartuch, Michael R. Stedman, Richard Subject The topic of the resource Hunting New York State Recruitment Extent The size or duration of the resource. 4 pages Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 2016-10 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource English Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. New York State Conservationist Type The nature or genre of the resource Article