From: robinson@ac.dal.ca
Newsgroups: talk.politics.animals
Subject: Re: Why Hunters Quit
Date: 16 Apr 92 13:55:24 GMT
Organization: Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

In article <altar.703266920@sfu.ca>, altar@beaufort.sfu.ca (Ted Wayn Altar) writes:
> jsemrad@ems.cdc.com (Joe Semrad) writes:
> 
>>In article <altar.703144584@sfu.ca>, altar@beaufort.sfu.ca (Ted Wayn Altar) writes:
>>|> 
>>|>  
>>|>      What stated reasons do hunters themselves give for quitting?
>>|> Believe it not, not only a few quit, but quite a significant
>>|> number within a short period of time from first starting.  That
> 
>>How does this correlate with other activities?  I would wager that you
>>could find a "significant number" of golfers (or insert any another activity)
>>who quit after shortly after starting for any number of reasons.  Ted, have
>>you ever tried a new hobby only to find, for whatever reason, it was not
>>for you?  In hunting and fishing literature aimed at beginners (as well as
>>many other activities) you often find words to the effect of "don't buy
>>extremely expensive equipment at first unless you are certain you will
>>continue in the sport."
> 
> Let's not imply that our new hunters who quit the game are "failures".
> Yes, it might well be the case that other activities show a similar
> pattern of desertion, but we are not talking about a group of bored
> city folk idly trying out another recreational activity.  In New
> Jersey, there is a hunter-education program that is mandatory.
> People enrolled in a program like this are much more committed
> than simply someone off the street buying a hunting licence.  How
> many people who enroll in a driver education program later give
> up driving?  I know, this is not quite the same.  Well, let's
> try a boating education program.  Again, there is little attrition,
> but I guess you could argue that again this is not quite the same.
> Maybe you are right, but it is equally presumptious to also compare
> our ex-hunters with ex-golfers.  If you got some data, fine, lets
> compare the figures and add to our knowledge.
> 
> 

Well, I don't know about NJ, but here the hunter saftey course was, IMHO, a 
joke.  But then, I think that the driver's test is a joke too.  Now, to put 
that remark in perspective, I have to qualify it.  For a person who has 
never before had any exposure to hunting, the course has lots of useful and 
important information.  For the person who has either read about hunting or 
been hunting, the course is a repeat of most of what you will find 
elsewhere.

Lets take motorcycles as an example.  People buy cheap used motorcycles, 
take the driver's test and then drive.  Accident statistics show that about 
75% of the car/motorcycle accidents that occur, occur to drivers with less 
than 6 *weeks* of experience. Lots of these people (who pick up a bike, study 
the book, and drive) give biking up.  Sometimes because of an accident, 
sometimes because of a close call (or lots of close calls) and sometimes for
other reasons.  Such people are comparable to those who took a hunter saftey 
course (IMO).

Again, speaking from experience, people who've gone so far as to enroll in 
and take the Canada Safety Council course (or the Motorcycle Safety 
Foundation course in the U.S.) either decide biking isn't for them up 
front, and hence don't get involved with it any further, or decide they 
really like it, and continue to do it for quite some time.  It is 
interesting to note that most insurance companies count completion of 
that course as equivalent lots of experience (3 years here I think).  
There are no analogous hunting courses that I am aware of.  The state run 
hunter safety courses don't cut it in my book.

So your contention that people who've taken the hunter saftey course are 
more serious about hunting is not valid.  Certainly not if the course is 
*mandatory*, which it is in most places.  At best, this serves to weed out 
those who wake up one morning and say "gee, I'd like to go hunting today" 
having never been before.  It does not weed out those who are genuinely 
interested but haven't really thought about what it would be like to get up 
and tromp through the woods at 3 am.  Completion of the course does not give 
one any actual hunting experience.
-- 
John Robinson                  Only criminals, tyrants, and cowards have
robinson@ac.dal.ca                 reason to fear the armed, honest citizen.
DOD #0069
Newsgroups: talk.politics.animals