Millions of unemployed in the age of Paul Presley, shown here with his first muzzleloaded deer, will be joining hunters in the woods this fall, and present hunters will be hunting more special seasons than ever before.

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A predictable result of the current economic downturn is that millions of unemployed will be seeking to kill deer and other game during the 2009-2010 hunting season to feed their families. This may be the largest influx of new adult hunters into the woods since the return of veterans after World War II.

 An unknown number of these hunters will have infrequently or perhaps never hunted before. Their first impact will be on the states’ Hunter Safety Courses. This is doubly unfortunate since all agencies in almost all states are facing budget cuts, and fish and wildlife agencies are amoung the first to feel these reductions in funding.

 Hunter safety instruction is typically done by volunteers, but even so some funding is necessary as well as the likely need for more courses. Some of these hunters will have been so long removed from hunting that they might not even know that such hunter safety training is required to say nothing of the many changes in laws and rulls that have been enacted since they  last hunted as many as 30- years ago.

 Two immediate things are necessary. The first is to look for and initially seek to measure this probable impact of new hunters on  the states’ hunter safety programs. The second is to do primers outlining what steps are necessary for a person to legally hunt deer, and other game, in each state. These need to be published in newspapers and aired on radio and TV outdoor programs.

 With my book Backyard Deer Hunting: Converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound, I am doing a part, but there is much that also needs to be done by state agencies, hunting organizations and shooting associations to help these new hunters hunt safely, legally and ethically. 

 I recently sent a letter to the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, informing them of this probability. I have also spoken to members of the National Shooting Sports Association. The NSSA tracks trends in the hunting industry and confirmed that last year there were more hunters in the field when this downturn started, which was partly attributed to unemployed workers going into the woods after food.

 There is no doubt that a percentage of those who are now unemployed will hunt this fall. If their entry into the woods is made difficult, cumbersome, or inconvenient they will become poachers instead of the ethical hunters that we all wish to be in the woods with us.  Education is a much less expensive tool to employ than law enforcement. These educational programs need be started immediately.
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