Milford chronicle., 1956-10-05
Game And Fish News

Reports from the field indicate
good dove shooting in central Del
aware. The dove season opened
September Goth and runs to Octo-
Der 31st, with the second half open
ing November 18th and continuing
through November 9th with a
daily bag limit of eight doves.
rs Flocks of dove are frequently
found cleaning the fields from
which forage has been harvested
fu,for silos.
Hunting and Fishing Big Business
Twenty five million fishermen
1nnd hunters spent 3 billion dollars
for 567 million days of sport, and
drove their automobiles 1914 bill
4 nion miles in pursuit of this rec
Ireation during 1866. This is the
d Hsopening statement in the final re-
suits of the nationwide economic
survey which was conducted by the
.nlsurvey firm of Crossley, SD Sur
Inc. The International Asso-
li citation of Game and Fish Commits
Ho sioners requested the U. S. Fish
survey to determine the economic
-fTvalue of hunting and fishing and
9d how important they are in our
IctAmerican economy.
4 Three hun dr. d interviewers
bliworked in every state of the ma
tion, quizzing people in all walks
of life-in cities and rural COM
munities, to obtain a representative
no cross-section of the American
public. Over 10000 homes
were interviewed and only persons
over the age of IL were considered
The results of the survey include
the amounts spent for all equip
ment, travel, lodging and other ex-
J penses resulting from the pursuit
of fish and game and prove en-
phatically that hunting and fishing
are indeed Big Business, and as
: such deserve a great deal more
consideration in our social and
economic scheme than they have
r received in the past.
Some 21 million people fished in
1855. This is Is percent of the ma
~ tion's population over 12 years old
ni These fishermen spent 793,663, ,000
qv for equipment alone. The trips
they took cost a total of $1,047,-
aib701 900 for food, lodging, etc. For
q license fees they spent S37, ,240, 600
even though over million of them
did not require licenses.
aba The army of hunters in 1855 num-
bered almost IL million 90 per-
cent of the population over 12) /;
N nearly 10 million small game hunt
!. ers, Az million big game hunters
= and 2 million waterfowl hunters.
-, They spent s4SS,629,O00 for equip
ls ment, 1851. .0S6,000 on their trips,
and s39,935,000 for licenses and
stamps.
Who got the money?
The butcher, the baker, the can
dlestick maker got it-just about
every type of business having to
do with food, lodging, travel. gaso-
line. and the thousand and one
other items which are essential
to the outdoorsman got their share.
So don't take the back seat, Mr..
Fisherman and Mr.. Hunter! You
are mighty important to your ma
'e tons economy, and it's high time
you and the rest of the country
2 realized it. You outnumber the oil
~ and coal industry, the automobile
industry, the lumber industry, the
tu livestock industry, or any other in
- dustry. You are bigger than the
Army. Navy or the Air Force;
> nearly ten times bigger than all of
them put together. in fact The bill
81 you pay to pursue your sport
rse amounts to far more than is spent
i0 on any other. including our so
gm called national sport, baseball.
91I No longer call yourself the poor
- step-child, Mr.. Sportsman.
.ar Representatives of the Game and
~ Fish Commission and other Del
w awareans were much impressed at
the annual meeting of the Inter
state Commission on the Delaware
River by the premier showing of a
sound color film. The Brandywine-
a Valley at Work. Although the pri-
mary purpose of this film is to
demonstrate how an effective small
watershed association can be set
up, it contains host of good con-
servation principles of interest and
Importance TO many.