What percentage of gun-owners are hunters ? (Page 1 of 3)
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Posted: Today 5:43:00 AM EDT
[Last Edit: glocke12][Edited]
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Curious about this as hunting season is starting up here in PA and the usual back and forth on social media is occurring where people are complaining about not being able to go into the woods. The hunters are quick to point out that the state game lands are " entirely " supported by hunting and fur-taking tags, which isn't entirely true. Those licenses make up roughly half the funds that go towards PA SGL's, the rest come from excise taxes on guns, ammo and archery equipment, and the remainder comes from natural resources ( timber harvesting, oil and gas leases ). The excise taxes on guns and ammo is what I am curious about, and I am betting that non-hunters make up most of those taxes since every single person I know of that hunts really only brings out their firearms during hunting season, and most of the people I know who shoot frequently do not hunt. Just speaking for myself, there was a time where I was easily spending 1k-2k a year on ammo, and that doesn't take into account the firearm purchases I made during those years. |
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That’s gayer than Elton John and George Michael dueting on their hit song Don’t Let Your Son Go Down On Me.
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I have hunted. I don’t regularly mostly because the tags and laws and regulations are just a huge pain in the ass and I don’t know anyone who has land. It’s also expensive and a lot of work to process meat these days and not worth the effort on top of all the DNR stuff set up to make sure you break a rule. |
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I've gotten into bird hunting the last few years. Been deer hunting three times in my life and will try to go again this year (took a doe last year). There's some other hunting I'd like to try to do at some point. I didn't grow up in a hunting household, so no one ever taught me. The number of hunters is declining from what I understand, so I'd say that percentage is getting smaller. |
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I've been hunting twice in all my life, so I'm definitely not a hunter. However I've enjoyed periods where we were really into hardcore hiking, so it's not difficult for me to imagine how some might really love and be passionate about hunting. Also, personally I think there's something substantial or real behind the idea of their being health and longevity benefits to eating wild game, and getting nutrients one just can't get with "grocery store" food. |
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Location is going to change the results greatly. Very little reason for any gun owner around me to keep a yearly hunting club membership and drive an hour+ one way inland for a chance at meat when there are trillions of gallons of saltwater that’s full of meat in our backyard between the Gulf and Sound. Not to mention countless miles of bayous all around us. |
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Originally Posted By Thrasymachus: There is going to a strong bias on this forum for recreational/home defense shooting. My completely wild guess in reality hunters make up 20-30% of shooters, with the vast majority owning a gun for little defined purpose. yeah I realize that but GD still represents a good cross section of the population. I'd probably put the error for the poll here at around 10% which is good enough for me. Theres really no good place to put a poll like this in all honesty. A hunting forum would be biased towards hunters, etc..etc... |
It takes hatred to compulsively denigrate something.
That’s gayer than Elton John and George Michael dueting on their hit song Don’t Let Your Son Go Down On Me.
That’s gayer than Elton John and George Michael dueting on their hit song Don’t Let Your Son Go Down On Me.
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I hunted with my father as a kid, and he was a child of the Great Depression, when hunting was absolutely necessary for poor folks. He slowly quit hunting as he aged. I stopped because I disliked killing things. I have absolutely no problem with other people hunting, it's just not for me. |
I owned guns before I did any real hunting. WWII themed video games got me into guns.  Don't forget there are a lot of gun owners that are not gun enthusiasts. People that bought one for the nightstand or inherited a gun in the closet that hasn't been shot in decades. |
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Originally Posted By glocke12: yeah I realize that but GD still represents a good cross section of the population. I'd probably put the error for the poll here at around 10% which is good enough for me. Theres really no good place to put a poll like this in all honesty. A hunting forum would be biased towards hunters, etc..etc... Originally Posted By glocke12: Originally Posted By Thrasymachus: There is going to a strong bias on this forum for recreational/home defense shooting. My completely wild guess in reality hunters make up 20-30% of shooters, with the vast majority owning a gun for little defined purpose. yeah I realize that but GD still represents a good cross section of the population. I'd probably put the error for the poll here at around 10% which is good enough for me. Theres really no good place to put a poll like this in all honesty. A hunting forum would be biased towards hunters, etc..etc... I think you are way under estimating the bias on a site named ar15.com. |
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I dabbled in hunting as an adult. My dad was a bow hunter when I was a kid and he'd take me out with him as a silent observer, which doesn't really count As an adult I went through a hunter safety class and went out with coworkers for a couple seasons. Nothing since then |
*post contains personal opinion only and should not be considered information released in an official capacity*
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Carry and enjoy shooting. Only got one boar while hunting. Plenty of random animals mostly deer while driving Tried state game land. According to the few people I encountered all the spots were there's and already taken. Might build a rabbit gum and try my luck here. Even if I don't kill/eat it should still be fun. Probably catch a neighbors cat though. |
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Originally Posted By Thrasymachus: I think you are way under estimating the bias on a site named ar15.com. Originally Posted By Thrasymachus: Originally Posted By glocke12: Originally Posted By Thrasymachus: There is going to a strong bias on this forum for recreational/home defense shooting. My completely wild guess in reality hunters make up 20-30% of shooters, with the vast majority owning a gun for little defined purpose. yeah I realize that but GD still represents a good cross section of the population. I'd probably put the error for the poll here at around 10% which is good enough for me. Theres really no good place to put a poll like this in all honesty. A hunting forum would be biased towards hunters, etc..etc... I think you are way under estimating the bias on a site named ar15.com. with the poll split almost evenly I don't think so... there just simply is not any good place for a poll like this unless its on something that will get a true cross section of the population and I can't think of one site that would represent that.... |
It takes hatred to compulsively denigrate something.
That’s gayer than Elton John and George Michael dueting on their hit song Don’t Let Your Son Go Down On Me.
That’s gayer than Elton John and George Michael dueting on their hit song Don’t Let Your Son Go Down On Me.
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I shoot for pleasure, haven't killed or injured an animal in years and if I never hurt another animal im totally ok with that Going to the field this morning. I'll be hunting an oilfield truck driver, who's out working for cash while he tells a judge he's too injured to work and gets disability checks every week We'll just call him turkey |
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I rarely hunt any more. I don’t have access to private land and don’t have the time. Even when I did hunt regularly the amount of money I spent on guns and ammo for hunting was at most 2% of my shooting/gun money those years. I think I have bought one gun in my life that was meant to be a strictly hunting gun and it went on one hunt 30 years ago. I typically use guns I have bought for other purposes, they wind up being just fine for animals. |
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I got into hunting about 5-ish years ago. I've had crummy luck hunting deer (I only have access to public lands) but have had much better luck small game hunting. I honestly recommend those who want to get into hunting to start with something like cottontail. They are good eating and you can hunt by taking a stroll in the woods with a 22 or shotgun. You don't have to be too quiet or stealthy. |
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Originally Posted By Cobalt-60: I got into hunting about 5-ish years ago. I've had crummy luck hunting deer (I only have access to public lands) but have had much better luck small game hunting. I honestly recommend those who want to get into hunting to start with something like cottontail. They are good eating and you can hunt by taking a stroll in the woods with a 22 or shotgun. You don't have to be too quiet or stealthy. 
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Proud and grateful Tennessee Squire
flgfish: "Low mileage cars piss me off. You saving your girlfriend for the next guy? Drive the car and enjoy it. A 911 is damn near bulletproof."
flgfish: "Low mileage cars piss me off. You saving your girlfriend for the next guy? Drive the car and enjoy it. A 911 is damn near bulletproof."
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All I have hunted is varmints and that was decades ago. I would like to try game hunting and I have the guns to do it, but I don't know anything about it and don't have any friends who do it (any more). Guys I know who hunted game gave it up years ago. Other obligations came along like family, work, etc.. Never really had an interest in shooting competitively. Now that I am financially able to do that, my eyes would not cooperate. I can see a big difference in what they are today compared to 30 years ago. Now, I just shoot recreationally and I really enjoy it. 2 Guys I go to the range with almost every Saturday morning, we have known each other for 40 years and our lives have changed to allow that. Like me, both are single (now) and no longer have other committments. |
If I edited the post above it's more than likely because I suck at typing. If I didn't, I was either in too big of a hurry or just missed it.
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Never been hunting. I'd like to but hearing the hunters talk has always made me want to avoid it. Leases, planting fields, arguments over others not tending to the club land. "Hey, let's do Thanksgiving a week early." Why? "So I can go hunting on Thanksgiving" You know this is most likely your mother's last holidays before she dies right? And the entire family will be here Thanksgiving day. ^ actual conversation with a family member that hunts and got pissed that everyone in the family wanted to do Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving |
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I have a very respectable gun collection and I shoot every week that I can. My non shooting friends would refer to me as a gun nut. Maybe some of my shooting friends also. I don't hunt at all. Mostly for two reasons. First I don't like the taste of wild game. Venison and wild boar taste like shit to me. I have enough money to buy meat so I don't need game to live. The second reason is I don't like killing wild animals for the sport of it. I like being out doors and I can enjoy it without killing something. I respect wildlife and would get no pleasure in killing. I have no problem with other people hunting for food if they need it. I have no problem with killing something that has the intention of doing me or others harm. |
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What kind? Dove hunting usually a couple times a year. I've got enough property for that even if I get annexed by the city limits someday. Deer? Been like 4 times in 42 years. I could probably go hunt deer at my buddy's property in east TX now but before that I never really had much in the way of opportunities. Now I don't really have the time. So yeah, I wouldn't necessarily call myself a hunter though I have hunted. |
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I hunt when I can. We were moving last fall and we are demoing and renovating this fall. I haven't made plans to go out to the hunting property this year, but I might call my buddy and see if he wants to go one morning. That's another thing, we moved to a neighborhood in town. I can't just go out my back door and walk to a blind anymore... I mean I could
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| I hunt. It is tough in northern Illinois unless you own or know someone who owns land, but it's not impossible. I squirrel, rabbit, and pheasant hunt on state land. We have family in western Kentucky that I spend a week a year with deer hunting every November. Out of state license fees and tags are $$$ but it's one of my favorite hobbies and I love it. I love the cold early mornings, shooting the deer, dressing the deer, doing my own Euro mounts, eating the meat and trying recipes. All of it, start to finish. |
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Originally Posted By klutz347: I've been hunting once in my 62 years. 2 days sitting on a cold ass tree stand and didn't see a damn thing. I thought to myself " Yeah, this is fun."  I told myself never again. That's me, exactly. My fridge and freezer are full, and I don't even really like venison anyway. What's the point? |
Lol @ the retarded folks
"Blowtorch and Corkscrew" What a great tactic.
Seven Grand children Rich.
DOOM!!
"Blowtorch and Corkscrew" What a great tactic.
Seven Grand children Rich.
DOOM!!
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Too many dangerous imbeciles in the woods sending rounds any damned direction they want. I'll hunt if I ever own the land I'm hunting on, otherwise fuck that noise. I'll die of something else. |
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Religion is a handy device for keeping the philosophically deficient in line.
| I hunted for 41 consecutive years but with the constant licensing fees increasing on a regular basis I stopped a few years ago. Between the license fee increases, changes in the tags to get even more money and not having to wear a license on your back now just gives the man a reason to make contact. I’m done hunting in PA but I shoot regularly at the range and camp. |
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Quit 30 years ago and I live in a small rural town . Not even an advantage anymore , everything is leased or hunting rights promised out . When I was younger I had the notion that shooting marksmanship was by osmosis, that I hunted therefore I could shoot . Checked zero and that was it , never practiced or shot to build skills , why waste expensive ammo ? Got rid of that notion and worked on getting some gun knowledge , just don't hunt . |
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I know a whole bunch of hunters, these are the type that go up and set up a camp and stay there all season. Other hunters come and go as their work schedules allow, but people are always up there. I have only hunted a few times in my life and I can take it or leave it. Some of the people I know have taken up archery because rifle anything is getting crowded. |
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Originally Posted By Thrasymachus: There is going to a strong bias on this forum for recreational/home defense shooting. My completely wild guess in reality hunters make up 20-30% of shooters, with the vast majority owning a gun for little defined purpose. My guess is also in the 20% range. I trap and shoot raccoons around my chicken coop. I don't consider that hunting. More varmint control. |
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"Sporterizing: The art of spending $700 on a $300 gun to make it worth $200." -GTwannabe
