Study: S.D. Residents Love The Outdoors

State Rates No. 1 In U.S. In Hunter Numbers

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently issued a report on hunting, fishing and wildlife activities that showed that South Dakotans have a great love of the outdoors.

The report found that 59 percent of South Dakota residents participate in wildlife-associated recreation, one of the highest numbers in the nation. Thirty percent of South Dakota citizens also either fish or hunt, another number that is one of the highest in the country. In addition, 21 percent of residents in the state hunt — a number that is the highest in the nation.

The report showed that 28 states in the country, including South Dakota, had rises hunting, fishing and wildlife-related recreation participation.

Jacquie Fuks, executive director of the Southeast South Dakota Tourism Association, said hunting has a big impact on tourism and the economy in the region.

“Southeast South Dakota and the Yankton area are both very popular hunting destinations due to the number of birds and habitat available,” she said. “Hunters find hotels in the area welcome their dogs, and some that even clean and freeze their birds.”

The 2011 national survey data found hunters, anglers and wildlife watchers spent $145 billion last year on related gear, trips and other purchases such as licenses, tags and land leasing or ownership.

“Hunting, fishing and wildlife watching are part of our national heritage, and the trip and equipment-related spending of participants’ forms significant support for local economies across the country,” Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe said in a statement. “These survey results are good news for the small businesses and rural communities who depend on wildlife-related tourism, and it shows an encouraging increase in personal investment of citizens in the future of wildlife and wild places.”

Overall, the 2011 survey found 38 percent of all Americans 16 years of age and older participated in wildlife-related recreation in 2011, which represented an increase of about 2.6 million participants from the previous survey taken in 2006.

In addition, participation in recreational fishing increased by about 11 percent and hunting was up 9 percent. This increase reverses a trend over previous surveys conducted that have shown a 10 percent decline in hunting participation between 1996 and 2006.

Sam Schelhaas, who is a conservation officer for the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks (GF&P) said that although he was unfamiliar with the Wildlife Service study, he thinks that South Dakota would always be up near the top in terms of the number of hunters.

“A lot of that is because our state is rural,” he said.

He added that the outdoor programs that the GF&P offer are big draws for people to come to the area to hunt. The department offers a number of hunting and fishing courses, safe hunting classes and many other outdoor programs that often draw thousands of people.

“Our programs have been really well received,” Schelhaas said. “It has been a really big push in our department to recruit new hunters and retain the hunters we already have, and I like to think those efforts are paying off.”

He added that the GF&P also started a mentor hunting program that allows youth hunters to get out and hunt earlier than they had been allowed to in years prior. He said that a big draw for residents to hunt in South Dakota is because hunting licenses are very inexpensive.

“Hunting has to rival the tourism industry in South Dakota,” Schelhaas said. “In my opinion, hunting is a big money maker for the state, especially the pheasant hunting seasons.”

The youth pheasant season kicks off during the first weekend of October. The second weekend is when residents are allowed to hunt pheasants on public state lands, and the third weekend is the official opener for all pheasant hunting in the state.

“The pheasant season is a big one that brings in a lot of out-of-state people,” Schelhaas said.

He added that there are not as many non-residents that come into the state for deer hunting season because of the way the licensing is set up. He said that a non-resident archery hunter can get a hunting tag in South Dakota for a fairly reasonable price, but the big non-resident draw is the pheasant hunting.

“We are improving our public land access and also acquiring more places for people to hunt in the state,” Schelhaas said. “We have more technology available now with maps of the best places to hunt in the area. The GF&P is constantly trying to come up with ways and ideas to retain the hunters we have. However, there is no magic answer as to how we can do that.”

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http://yankton.net/articles/2012/09/17/community/doc505692af9d2a7653069588.txt