Muzzleloader Harvest Sets a Record

By Jim Low, Missouri Dept. of Conservation

First posted on 12-06-2007

“They were duck hunters, and all duck hunters are at least a little flakey. Some living near the River tend to abandon hearth, home, and reason around mid-October and usually regain their sanity barely in time for last-minute Christmas shopping.”-John Madson, Up on the River

With the Antlerless Portion of Firearms Deer Season still ahead, Missouri’s firearms deer harvest already is in the top five of all time.

JEFFERSON CITY-Favorable weather and an abundance of tags left over from the November Portion of Firearms Deer Season enabled Missouri hunters to check a record 13,372 deer during the Muzzleloader Portion Nov. 23 through Dec. 2. The strong showing boosts the running tally of this year’s firearms deer harvest into the top five of all time.

Missouri Department of Conservation Resource Scientist Lonnie Hansen said unseasonably warm weather during most of the November Portion of Firearms Deer Season limited deer movement and, therefore, their visibility to hunters.

“I heard from lots of deer hunters who said they didn’t see as many deer in November as they usually do,” said Hansen. “When the muzzleloader portion rolled around, there were more people out there trying to fill deer tags, simply because they weren’t successful in November.”

He said deer were more active during the Muzzleloader Portion because the weather turned colder after Thanksgiving. The change in weather showed up in a harvest that topped last year’s muzzleloader harvest by 42 percent and bested the muzzleloader harvest record set in 2004 by 12 percent.

The top three muzzleloader harvest counties were Oregon with 405, Osage with 294 and Jefferson with 292.

Regional harvest figures were: Ozark, 2,405; central, 2,239; northeast, 1,702; southeast, 1,647; northwest, 1,469; southwest, 1,442; St. Louis, 1,411; and Kansas City, 1,057.

The number of deer checked by hunters during the opening weekend of the November Portion was down by 32,647 - 25 percent - compared to the record-setting opening weekend of 2004. Hunters picked up the pace in the following nine days, however, checking 214,494 deer by the end of that portion. That was the fourth-largest number of deer ever taken during the November hunt and only 9 percent fewer than the all-time record of 235,409.

Missouri’s more than 50,000 muzzleloader hunters further closed the gap between this and previous years’ firearms deer kills. The number of deer taken by firearms hunters so far this year stands at 240,687, just 7 percent below last year’s record figure.

With the nine-day Antlerless Portion of Firearms Deer Season still ahead, this year’s total deer harvest almost certainly will rise at least one more place in all-time standings.

Since the antlerless hunt was moved from January to December five years ago, that portion’s harvest has averaged a little more than 21,500 deer. A modest harvest of 13,681 deer during the Antlerless Portion would be enough to propel this year’s firearms harvest to third place.

Recent year’s muzzleloader and antlerless harvests have been: 2002 - muzzleloader, 9,364; antlerless, 13,413 2003 - muzzleloader, 11,131; antlerless, 25,151 2004 - muzzleloader, 11,938; antlerless, 24,217 2005 - muzzleloader, 10,115; antlerless, 21,922 2006 - muzzleloader, 9,436; antlerless, 23,098
2007 - muzzleloader, 13,372; antlerless, ---.

-Jim Low-

2. National survey shows wildlife is big business in Missouri

Businesses cash in on Missourians’ fascination with wildlife.

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Figures from the latest national survey of wildlife-related recreation show Missouri near the top of the heap for participation in hunting, fishing and wildlife watching. The survey also shows the Show-Me State’s wild resources constitute an economic powerhouse.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has conducted a survey every five years since 1955 to determine trends in recreational activities that focus on wildlife. “The National Survey of Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife-Associated Recreation” divides activities into hunting, fishing and wildlife watching. The latest survey was conducted in 2006. Preliminary national survey results are available now. The FWS will release final results from each state in the months ahead.

The 2006 survey showed that more than 87 million Americans (38 percent of the population 16 and older) hunted, fished or watched wildlife that year. They spent $120 billion on wildlife-related activities. Thirty million Americans (13 percent) fished in 2006, 12.5 million (5 percent) hunted that year and 71 million (28 percent) watched wildlife.

The survey counted only people who engaged in wildlife-related recreation in 2006. The real number of wildlife-related recreationists is larger than the preceding figures imply, because not all hunters, anglers and wildlife watchers pursue their chosen activities every year. For example, cumulative survey data show that 44.4 million Americans fished and 18.6 million hunted between 2002 and 2006.

Missouri ranked fifth in the nation in both the percentage and total number of state residents 16 and older who hunted - 613,000/13 percent. The Show-Me State was fourth in the percentage of its population that fished (21 percent) and fifth in the percentage of residents who engage in wildlife watching (45 percent).

Missouri’s strong showing in wildlife-related recreation was mirrored in regional statistics. The West North-Central Region, which encompasses Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and North and South Dakota, led the nation in participation in fishing (21 percent) and hunting (12 percent).

The survey showed that wildlife-related recreation is big business. Anglers spent $42 billion on their activities nationwide, and hunters spent $23 billion exclusively for hunting. American sportsmen and women spent another $11 billion on items used for both hunting and fishing. Wildlife watching accounted for more than $45 billion in expenditures.

The economic impact of wildlife-related recreation was especially prominent in Missouri. The Show-Me State led its region in the number of participants (613,000) and total expenditures ($1.1 billion) for hunting. Missourians also topped regional totals for wildlife watching, with 2.8 million participants spending $847 million. Missouri’s fishing participation (1.1 million) and expenditures ($1.1 billion) were exceeded only in Minnesota, where 1.4 million anglers spent $2.5 billion.

Missouri, whose population was the nation’s 16th largest in 2006, ranked 15th in wildlife-related expenditures.

The survey found a statistically insignificant decline of 4 percent in the number of active hunters nationwide between 2001 and 2006. The steepest declines were among migratory bird hunters and small-game hunters. Big-game hunter numbers remained stable.

Nationwide, hunting expenditures declined by 3 percent compared to 2001. Equipment accounted for 47 percent of hunters’ expenses. Food, lodging and trip costs made up an additional 29 percent. Licenses and fees made up 3 percent of what hunters spent on their sport.

Angler numbers declined 12 percent, but their expenditures for fishing equipment increased by 4 percent, and they spent 7 percent more than in 2001 on fuel, lodging and other trip-related expenses.

Thirty-one percent of Americans 16 and older fed, watched or photographed wildlife in 2006. That is an 8 percent increase from 2001. Their expenditures increased 21 percent since 1996. The biggest increases in spending compared to 2001 were for equipment (20 percent) and trip-related expenses (38 percent).

More than half (51 percent) of wildlife-watchers’ expenditures were for equipment. Trip-related expenses accounted for 28 percent, and “other expenditures” 21 percent.

The great majority of wildlife watching activities (67.8 million
participants) took place around people’s homes. Another 23 million Americans traveled away from home to watch or photograph wildlife.

Although many states have declining participation in wildlife-related activities, Missouri Department of Conservation Public Involvement Coordinator David Thorne said that preliminary results from the survey show Missourians’ participation in hunting and wildlife viewing have increased, and their participation in fishing decreased only slightly compared to 2001. Expenditures by Missourians have increased greatly compared to 2001 for all kinds of wildlife recreation.

“Fishing, hunting and wildlife viewing have important economic impacts in Missouri, helping the economy and supporting jobs,” said Thorne.

Hundreds of pages of statistics regarding wildlife-based recreation in America are available at http://federalaid.fws.gov/surveys/surveys.html.

-Jim Low-