Thursday, June 16, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

IN THE OUTDOORS: Report casts Nevada hunting in poor light

Nevada ranks just one rung above the bottom when it comes to sustaining the hunting culture, according to "Families Afield," a report that compares the relative strength and sustainability of each state's hunting culture.

While Nevada comes in 49th out of the 50 states, the report gives America a C grade overall when it comes to sustaining the hunting culture.

The basis for these findings can be found in the individual states' "Hunter Replacement Ratio," a term introduced by the report. This ratio is a numeric expression of the number of new or young hunters who are in position to replace members of an aging population of adult hunters. Nationally, for every 10 adult hunters, there are approximately seven youth hunters prepared to carry on the hunting tradition.

"With that 70 percent average, America gets a C grade in sustaining hunting participation for the future. About half of the states are performing better and half are performing worse. We can and should do a lot better," NSSF president Doug Painter said.

If that 70 percent figure earns America a C, then Nevada is in real trouble. Here, the Hunter Replacement Ratio is only 30 percent. Only Michigan ranks lower with a ratio of 26 percent, and Missouri, Oklahoma, New Hampshire and Rhode Island top the list with ratios over 100 percent. That means those states have more incoming hunters than those who are leaving.

Although he thinks the reports numbers could in fact be "quite correct," Les Smith, Outdoor Education Coordinator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife, said the reports conclusions might not be totally accurate.

"There are serious limitations with this report, especially when it comes to evaluating highly urbanized states like Nevada. There are many factors that influence a person's choice to hunt that have nothing to do with the agency in terms of laws or programs. The report doesn't take into account the limited number of available big game tags, not the fact that kids can hunt just about everything else in the state for free until they are 12 years old. That's when the hunting license requirement kicks in."

"Families Afield" cites legal restrictions on a hunter's age and state hunter education requirements as barriers that limit the growth in hunter numbers among the youth. "There are 20 states with laws that prohibit youth from hunting with their fathers and mothers. Age restrictions mean that politics, not parents, decide when youngsters are mature enough to join their families for a deer hunt. Mandatory prerequisite course work and certification processes add more red tape that prevents the introduction of hunting," the report noted.

There is no law in Nevada, on the other hand, that restricts a parent from taking a son or daughter into the field for a day of rabbit or quail hunting so long as it's done during the legal season. As a general rule, a hunting license is not required until a youth hunts big game or reaches 12 years of age, Smith said.

Smith also points to the increasing urbanization of Nevada and the number of new residents who move here from the nation's large cities as factors that affect the report's numbers but are not taken into account by the research.

In addition, the "Families Afield" report states that "hunting will be most relevant -- environmentally, economically, socially, politically -- in states where parents have freedom to introduce the sport to sons and daughters at an early age."

"We want young people to have the choice to participate in hunting. Hunting teaches respect for life and nature, responsibility and accountability. Hunting is revered in our country's character and economy. It's indelibly tied to conservation and is statistically safe. It adds richness to the lives of participants," Painter said.

Nevada offers more opportunities to do just that than people realize, Smith said. "Almost 98 percent of the kids who put in for a deer tag, under the youth hunt program, get a tag. And there are generally leftover tags."

• CAST NET TROUBLES -- While it is legal to use cast nets for catching shad in Lake Mead, Lake Mohave and the Colorado River, anglers need to be aware that there are restrictions on the size of the net you can use. According to Nevada's fishing regulations, the net's radius may not exceed "3 feet from horn to leadline."

State game wardens have written several tickets recently to anglers, and even to some guides, who were found to be using oversize cast nets.

Doug Nielsen is a freelance writer, a member of Western Outdoor Writers and a former Nevada game warden. His "In the Outdoors" column is published Thursdays. He can be reached at DougNielsen@att.net.