Getting to the Business of Pheasant Hunting

Many hunters will be hitting the fields during upcoming weekends and vacation time. While thoughts of employment and the city should rightfully be left behind, even with their upland leathers on, hunters can’t escape being key parts of an industry: Pheasant Hunting.

• South Dakota, pheasant hunters spend $220 million annually.
• In Kansas, upland hunting generates more than $120 million in retail sales annual.
• There’s an economic impact of $186 million from upland bird hunting in Iowa.
• In Minnesota, upland bird hunting – relatively equal between pheasants and ruffed grouse – generates roughly $121 million in direct retail sales.
• Even in species rich Montana, the pheasant is king. Resident bird hunters there spend about $64 each day they hunt and nonresidents drop a whopping $376 each day.
• Pheasant hunting specifically benefits many small-town economies in Colorado’s Eastern Plains.

Pheasant hunting is so important to the South Dakota economy that the state's Tourism Department has an entire ad campaign behind it.

Considering the snapshot above, as well as a new economic study (that  says great outdoors and historic preservation generate a conservative estimate of more than $1 trillion in total economic activity and support 9.4 million jobs each year), it isn’t far-fetched to call “Pheasant Hunting” a billion dollar business.

Each and every pheasant hunter, whether they hunt close to home or put thousands of miles in the rearview, is part of this economic driver: The coffee at the café, the burger at the greasy spoon, the  fuel up at quick mart, the evening suds at the saloon, the extra shells at sport mart and the sirloin at the steakhouse.

Could this entire pheasant hunting industry (it’s perfectly okay not to think of it like that while you’re clothed in blaze orange) be in jeopardy? With it all dependent upon upland habitat to support it, and the uncertainty surrounding the nation’s biggest habitat creator – the federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) – it seems that way.

If you’re supportive of the CRP as a conservation and economic foundation, then please consider Pheasants Forever’s  Action Alert which calls on pheasant hunters and Pheasants Forever supporters to immediately contact your two U.S. Senators and one U.S. Representative about making CRP reauthorization a top Congressional priority.

Then you can get to the real business of pheasant hunting, now, tomorrow and forever.

Anthony’s Antics Afield is written by Anthony Hauck, Pheasants Forever’s Online Editor. Email Anthony at AHauck@pheasantsforever.org and follow him on Twitter @AnthonyHauck.

Tags: Conservation Reserve Program, crp, Kansas pheasant hunting, pheasant hunting, pheasants forever, South Dakota pheasant hunting, upland hunting

This entry was posted on Monday, October 17th, 2011 and is filed under Habitat, Hunting, Pheasants, Pheasants Forever. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.