Report Nr. 3462 Demographics, Recruitment, and Retention of Michigan Hunters 2005 Update

At least 790,000 people purchased Michigan hunting licenses each year during 2003-2005. Hunter numbers have decreased since the 1960s when an average of 858,000 people purchased licenses. Not only has the number of licensees decreased since the 1960s, the percentage of Michigan residents (included all ages) that have purchased a hunting license has declined from an average of 10.2% during the 1960s to about 8% during 2003-2005. Currently, most hunters reside in the southern Lower Peninsula; however, a higher proportion of residents in the Upper Peninsula purchased hunting licenses. During 2003-2005, about 92% of the license buyers were males, but participation by females has increased since the 1980s. Hunting in Michigan has become increasingly focused on deer hunting; at least 90% of the hunting license buyers purchased a deer hunting license during 2003-2005. Deer hunting has generally increased in popularity during the last fifty years; however, this trend has started to reverse recently. Since the late 1990s, deer hunter numbers have been declining. About 78% of deer license buyers purchased a license during consecutive years, higher than for any other group of hunters. As deer hunting has gained popularity, small game hunting has declined. The proportion of males and females hunting small game in 2005 was among the lowest levels recorded since 1950. Deer hunters in 2005 were more specialized in their pursuit of deer than they were in 1968. In 2005, 62% of the deer hunters only purchased a deer hunting license, while 51% of deer hunters purchased only deer hunting licenses in 1968. In contrast, fewer small game hunters pursued only small game in 2005 than they did in 1968. In 1968, 45% of small game hunters only purchased a small game hunting license, while in 2005, 16% of these small game hunters only purchased a small game hunting license.