(ME) State Plan Marketing To Bring More Hunters Into The Field

Drizzt · December 16, 2002, 05:10 PM

Copyright 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers, Inc.
Maine Sunday Telegram

December 15, 2002 Sunday, Final Edition

SECTION: FRONT; Pg. 1A

LENGTH: 1189 words

HEADLINE: MAINE'S HUNTERS AND GUN OWNERS ARE IN DECLINE;
To bring new hunters into the field, officials plan innovative marketing, including use of the Internet.

BYLINE: DEIRDRE FLEMING / Staff Writer The 2002 deer harvest is expected to set a record. Sales of hunting license should be level w

BODY:
Despite such facts, the outlook for hunting in the state mirrors national trends: It is not the popular pastime it was one or two generations ago And efforts to recruit young hunters - including introduction of the state's first Youth Deer Day - have not reversed the slide. Long-range data show that both gun ownership and the number of hunters are down. The question for state wildlife officials and gun enthusiasts is how to reverse the trend. Innovative measures are planned in 2003 to bring new hunters into the field.

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will boost marketing by targeting new license buyers from data gathered from an online licensing system being introduced next year. George Smith, director of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, said the alliance will push for the passage of legislation requiring town councils to consult with Inland Fisheries and Wildlife before passing firearm ordinances.

"We're hoping Maine municipalities won't see it as a massive assault. It isn't meant to be," Smith said.

The alliance also hopes to see a firearm bill enacted that would protect new shooting ranges from noise ordinances, which can cause them to shut down. "It's a clash over different experiences and values in places where there is the transition from rural to suburban," Smith said.

The battle to reinvigorate hunting here will take more than changing suburban minds.

In the past decade, the number of adult hunters in the nation dropped 7 percent to 13 million, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

While Maine gun dealers may boast of increased sales - particularly since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks - Daniel Webster, co-director of Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, said there has been a general downturn in gun ownership since 1970.

He said 30 years ago half the households in the United States had firearms, and today only about 40 percent do. In Maine, the trends are similar.

In the past decade, the number of hunting licenses sold in the state dropped 6 percent to 211,055. That included an almost 6 percent drop among resident hunters and a slight increase among out-of-state license buyers.

The decline seems small. In fact, at that rate of decline, it would take well over 100 years for the number of hunters here to be cut in half.

But state officials and sportsmen say it will happen much sooner if the trend isn't reversed.

Matt Libby, owner of Libby's Camps in Ashland, already has seen a marked decline in hunting, even in northern Maine. Libby recalls the earlier heyday of sporting camps almost 30 years ago when he took over his family's 112-year-old sporting camp.

"There were a lot of hunters my age, 22 to 39, a few older. Nowadays, it's the same people but they're the same age as me, now in their 50s," Libby said.

Mark Latti, spokesman with Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said within the next 20 to 30 years those 50-year-olds will stop hunting and there will be a more substantial decline.

Meanwhile, many gun dealers in the state report climbing gun sales despite the poor economy.

Derek Sturtevant, customer service representative for Kittery Trading Post, said gun sales there have held steady for the past decade. Sturtevant said sales of new and used guns are down just 2 percent this year from where they were at this point last year.

"It is the one department that, in the face of other retail shortfalls, sort of sustains itself," Sturtevant said. "The shotgun sports department carries the store when the economy is stagnant."

Even small gun dealers, like Howell Copp at Howell's Gun and Archery in Gray, have done well.

"We've been here 20 years and my sales have been up every year since 1983," Copp said.

Norm Giguere, owner of Norm's Gun and Ammo Shop in Biddeford, said his firearm repair business has grown in the past 12 years.

But Webster at Johns Hopkins said he expects there will continue to be fewer and fewer U.S. households with firearms.

"Things could change. If the world became a much more dangerous, unpredictable place, and people felt they had to have a firearm to make them safer, we could see those things change," Webster said. "Firearm sales do typically follow trends in violent crimes, but we've seen a downward trend in households with firearms since '93-'94."

The decline in gun ownership is behind the long-term drop in hunting licenses, Webster said.

But officials at Inland Fisheries and Wildlife see new hope through the Internet. They are excited by the new online system, which will allow them to quickly compile the demographics of license buyers. It is expected to be up and running next year, said budget director Rick Record.

With the new computer system, the department will be able to get that information instantaneously.

"We'll be able to tell how many licenses are sold in Cumberland County, how many residents of Portland are hunting this year versus last year," Record said.

This will mean a whole new way of marketing hunting and fishing, the department's budgetary mainstay.

It is only in recent years that the department has had money to market hunting and licenses. In 1999, the Legislature appropriated $100,000 to Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for marketing. Every year since, there has been money allocated to marketing to help license sales, Record said. He doesn't anticipate that will be cut, even by the new Baldacci administration.

"I'm not the commissioner, but it's my impression that money is safe for the time being," Record said. "We all recognize the value in keeping these licenses in the public mind."

The increase in out-of-state business to sporting camps shows hunting can be marketed here.

The number of nonresident licenses broke the 40,000 mark for the first time in 10 years in each of the past two years, even while fewer Mainers were hunting. So even the sagging economy did not keep visiting hunters away.

Norman "Skip" Trask, the Maine Professional Guides Association's legislative liaison, said his impression in talking to guides this fall is that business at sporting camps has not waned.

"I don't think the (poor economy) kept the majority of people away. Maine has the unique ability for sportsmen to access private land. They have relatively easy access here," Trask said.

Libby said because of the rise in urban sprawl and posted land in other New England states, he has seen more sportsmen from New Hampshire and Vermont at his northern Maine camp in recent years.

"They used to be our competitors," Libby said of those states.

But with resident hunting license sales declining, the number of sportsmen visiting sporting camps will dwindle, Libby said.

He'd like to see his 24-year-old daughter, Alison, and 22-year-old son, Matt, take over the family camp. Both are hunters who have shown an interest in running the camp. But Libby said they will have to change with the times.

"They'll have to promote the rest of the year," he said of the fishing seasons. "And maybe take a loss during hunting season."

MarineTech · December 17, 2002, 09:01 PM

This story really ****** me off when I read it in the paper. I love the contradictions the Press Herald kept coming up with.

Quote:

While Maine gun dealers may boast of increased sales - particularly since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks - Daniel Webster, co-director of Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, said there has been a general downturn in gun ownership since 1970.

Lets see. Who should we believe. The gun dealers that are reporting their numbers, or some number cruncher from Maryland that has his own agenda. I know where my belief is. Where do they get guys like this Webster that has the audacity to say, "Well, all the firearms dealers in that state say their sales are up, but my personal figures show that they're wrong." What color are the clouds in this guy's world?

By the way, the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram is probably one of the least knowlegable papers when it comes to firearms or military topics. I have sent seven letters to the editor in the last 2 years when they published mistakes about firearms or military affairs and equipment. I even offered to proofread stories in the future to correct mistakes for free and gave them my phone number to call if they had questions in a hurry. No reply from them.

Impartial they are not.

Waterdog · December 17, 2002, 10:42 PM

The fastest way to increase hunting, would be to
eliminate cable, satellite, regular TV and video games.

Waterdog

December 16, 2002, 05:10 PM	#1
Drizzt Senior Member Join Date: October 25, 2000 Location: Going Out of My Head at a Rapid Pace..... Posts: 2,511	(ME) State Plan Marketing To Bring More Hunters Into The Field Copyright 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers, Inc. Maine Sunday Telegram December 15, 2002 Sunday, Final Edition SECTION: FRONT; Pg. 1A LENGTH: 1189 words HEADLINE: MAINE'S HUNTERS AND GUN OWNERS ARE IN DECLINE; To bring new hunters into the field, officials plan innovative marketing, including use of the Internet. BYLINE: DEIRDRE FLEMING / Staff Writer The 2002 deer harvest is expected to set a record. Sales of hunting license should be level w BODY: Despite such facts, the outlook for hunting in the state mirrors national trends: It is not the popular pastime it was one or two generations ago And efforts to recruit young hunters - including introduction of the state's first Youth Deer Day - have not reversed the slide. Long-range data show that both gun ownership and the number of hunters are down. The question for state wildlife officials and gun enthusiasts is how to reverse the trend. Innovative measures are planned in 2003 to bring new hunters into the field. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will boost marketing by targeting new license buyers from data gathered from an online licensing system being introduced next year. George Smith, director of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, said the alliance will push for the passage of legislation requiring town councils to consult with Inland Fisheries and Wildlife before passing firearm ordinances. "We're hoping Maine municipalities won't see it as a massive assault. It isn't meant to be," Smith said. The alliance also hopes to see a firearm bill enacted that would protect new shooting ranges from noise ordinances, which can cause them to shut down. "It's a clash over different experiences and values in places where there is the transition from rural to suburban," Smith said. The battle to reinvigorate hunting here will take more than changing suburban minds. In the past decade, the number of adult hunters in the nation dropped 7 percent to 13 million, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. While Maine gun dealers may boast of increased sales - particularly since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks - Daniel Webster, co-director of Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, said there has been a general downturn in gun ownership since 1970. He said 30 years ago half the households in the United States had firearms, and today only about 40 percent do. In Maine, the trends are similar. In the past decade, the number of hunting licenses sold in the state dropped 6 percent to 211,055. That included an almost 6 percent drop among resident hunters and a slight increase among out-of-state license buyers. The decline seems small. In fact, at that rate of decline, it would take well over 100 years for the number of hunters here to be cut in half. But state officials and sportsmen say it will happen much sooner if the trend isn't reversed. Matt Libby, owner of Libby's Camps in Ashland, already has seen a marked decline in hunting, even in northern Maine. Libby recalls the earlier heyday of sporting camps almost 30 years ago when he took over his family's 112-year-old sporting camp. "There were a lot of hunters my age, 22 to 39, a few older. Nowadays, it's the same people but they're the same age as me, now in their 50s," Libby said. Mark Latti, spokesman with Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said within the next 20 to 30 years those 50-year-olds will stop hunting and there will be a more substantial decline. Meanwhile, many gun dealers in the state report climbing gun sales despite the poor economy. Derek Sturtevant, customer service representative for Kittery Trading Post, said gun sales there have held steady for the past decade. Sturtevant said sales of new and used guns are down just 2 percent this year from where they were at this point last year. "It is the one department that, in the face of other retail shortfalls, sort of sustains itself," Sturtevant said. "The shotgun sports department carries the store when the economy is stagnant." Even small gun dealers, like Howell Copp at Howell's Gun and Archery in Gray, have done well. "We've been here 20 years and my sales have been up every year since 1983," Copp said. Norm Giguere, owner of Norm's Gun and Ammo Shop in Biddeford, said his firearm repair business has grown in the past 12 years. But Webster at Johns Hopkins said he expects there will continue to be fewer and fewer U.S. households with firearms. "Things could change. If the world became a much more dangerous, unpredictable place, and people felt they had to have a firearm to make them safer, we could see those things change," Webster said. "Firearm sales do typically follow trends in violent crimes, but we've seen a downward trend in households with firearms since '93-'94." The decline in gun ownership is behind the long-term drop in hunting licenses, Webster said. But officials at Inland Fisheries and Wildlife see new hope through the Internet. They are excited by the new online system, which will allow them to quickly compile the demographics of license buyers. It is expected to be up and running next year, said budget director Rick Record. With the new computer system, the department will be able to get that information instantaneously. "We'll be able to tell how many licenses are sold in Cumberland County, how many residents of Portland are hunting this year versus last year," Record said. This will mean a whole new way of marketing hunting and fishing, the department's budgetary mainstay. It is only in recent years that the department has had money to market hunting and licenses. In 1999, the Legislature appropriated $100,000 to Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for marketing. Every year since, there has been money allocated to marketing to help license sales, Record said. He doesn't anticipate that will be cut, even by the new Baldacci administration. "I'm not the commissioner, but it's my impression that money is safe for the time being," Record said. "We all recognize the value in keeping these licenses in the public mind." The increase in out-of-state business to sporting camps shows hunting can be marketed here. The number of nonresident licenses broke the 40,000 mark for the first time in 10 years in each of the past two years, even while fewer Mainers were hunting. So even the sagging economy did not keep visiting hunters away. Norman "Skip" Trask, the Maine Professional Guides Association's legislative liaison, said his impression in talking to guides this fall is that business at sporting camps has not waned. "I don't think the (poor economy) kept the majority of people away. Maine has the unique ability for sportsmen to access private land. They have relatively easy access here," Trask said. Libby said because of the rise in urban sprawl and posted land in other New England states, he has seen more sportsmen from New Hampshire and Vermont at his northern Maine camp in recent years. "They used to be our competitors," Libby said of those states. But with resident hunting license sales declining, the number of sportsmen visiting sporting camps will dwindle, Libby said. He'd like to see his 24-year-old daughter, Alison, and 22-year-old son, Matt, take over the family camp. Both are hunters who have shown an interest in running the camp. But Libby said they will have to change with the times. "They'll have to promote the rest of the year," he said of the fishing seasons. "And maybe take a loss during hunting season." __________________ "That a free citizen should have to go before a committee, hat in hand, and pray for permission to bear arms - fantastic! Arm your daughter, sir, and pay no attention to petty bureaucrats." Robert Heinlein - Red Planet

December 17, 2002, 10:42 PM	#3
Waterdog Senior Member Join Date: January 6, 2000 Location: AZ Posts: 1,234	The fastest way to increase hunting, would be to eliminate cable, satellite, regular TV and video games. Waterdog