The National Shooting Sports Foundation spends a tremendous amount of energy advocating for sportsmen’s rights and promoting hunting’s economic, ecological, and sociological value. To accomplish this, the organization stresses education and research to correct the misinformed rhetoric leveled against hunting, offering clear data that details the positive effects of pursuing game.
According to a recent report issued by NSSF, in 1900 the US’s white-tailed deer population had dwindled to a mere 500,000, but today—thanks to conservation initiatives funded by hunting—upwards of 32,000,000 deer now roam this country. Likewise, during that same period, the number of rocky mountain elk swelled from approximately 41,000 to 1,000,000; wild turkeys from 100,000 to 7,000,000; and pronghorns from 12,000 to 1,100,000.
The resurgence of these species testifies to the North American Model of Conservation’s effectiveness and proves hunting is our nation’s greatest proponent of wildlife management. Since 1937, when Congress passed the influential Pittman–Robertson Act, sportsmen have paid more than $14 billion in taxes, providing the funds needed to revive and steward game nationwide, an accomplishment unrivaled by any other such effort.
The NSSF notes that each year the sale of hunting licenses generates $1.42 billion for conservation, in addition to revenue from duck stamp purchases, taxes on sporting equipment, and other outdoor-related fees. In total, hunters and anglers annually supply $2.9 billion (more than 75 percent of the national sum) for US conservation efforts.
Keep this in mind the next time someone asks you, So why do you hunt?
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Cover photos: Thinkstock/dmodlin01