Article Image Alt Text

When it comes to freshwater fishing, 44.4 percent of the time, women fished catfish at least once in 2014. The Daily Review Outdoor Writer John K. Flores’ wife, Christine Flores, falls into that category. (Submitted Photo/Courtesy of John K. Flores)

These numbers do not lie

By JOHN K. FLORES

Call me weird but when those after-dinner-hour phone solicitors call wanting someone over 18 in the household to participate in a survey, I’m always game. Maybe it’s because of my college days when I studied statistics, where I really understand the concept and importance of real probabilities.
Another reason, quite possibly, is my altruistic nature truly wants to believe statistics don’t lie and honesty always wins in the end.
Of course, every now and then, there is also money involved.
Recently, I even got five bucks for taking 10 minutes to answer those, “I strongly agree, mostly agree, neither agree or disagree, moderately disagree, and strongly disagree,” questions.
The way I figured it, that equated to roughly $30 an hour.
Too bad I didn’t make any hours.
Southwick Associates is a market research and economics firm that specializes in the hunting, shooting, sport fishing and outdoor recreation markets. At different times throughout the year, something I make sure that I do is to participate in three of their online surveys.
Take for example the .22 rim fire cartridge. For the past couple years, .22 ammo has been hard to come by. There have been numerous reasons circulated for the condition ranging from EPA regulations that closed the last lead smelting plant in Doe Run, Missouri, to the government buying all of the ammunition with the Department of Homeland Security stockpiling it.
In fact, 80 percent of lead used in hunting ammunition comes from recycled automobile batteries and the remaining from recycled lead.
Moreover, an inquiry to the Government Accounting Office by Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn of DHS’ ammunition purchases revealed they had plenty of ammunition on hand, mostly for training, and the department’s purchases and planned purchases had been declining from 2008 to 2014.
Southwick Associates surveyed how .22 aficionados may be reacting to less ammunition by asking were they opting to use air guns more often in their plinking and hunting activities.
Don’t laugh! Have you seen the muzzle velocity of some of the new state-of-the-art air rifles lately? They rival .22 rim fire ammunition, and many surpass .22 long rifle velocities.
In a Southwick press release on April 28, of 4,500 shooters surveyed on www.ShootersSurvey.com, the report stated 40 percent said they shot an air rifle in the past 12 months. In that same time span, 33 percent of those same sportsmen said they would have purchased more ammo had it been available, and 17 percent said they were not able to buy all of the .22 ammo they wanted.
The report went on to say that 75 percent of those surveyed said the .22 limitations had zero impact on how much they shot air rifles. But, 18 percent reported they would have shot air rifles less had they been able to buy more .22 ammo.
So, numbers are important when it comes to getting into the psyche of those who hunt and enjoy shooting sports.
A June 24 press release from Southwick Associates titled: “Many Sportsman Rely on Friends, Family and Public Land for Hunting; Small Lands Remain Important” provided insight to the limitations, public and private, pertaining to availability of land to hunters.
Considering that roughly 95 percent of available land in the Sportsman’s Paradise is private and behind locked gates, this statistic is interesting.
The survey pointed out that 38 percent of respondents said they hunted on a friends or family member’s property for free. Twenty-eight percent said they hunted state and federal lands. And 11 percent said they belonged to a hunting club or hunted land they leased.
The land report went on to break out the size of available properties hunted by sportsmen and point out that the future of hunting is dependent on efforts to maintain hunting access on public lands.
In a report concerning Women in the Outdoors, produced by Southwick Associates in March, there were quite a few notable points made. Women, though still fishing and hunting less than men, were participating “considerably” more than they had in the past decade.
One statistic that amused me pertained to what freshwater species of fish was targeted at least once by males and females in 2014. For males, it was largemouth or spotted bass at 55.7 percent of the time. For females it was catfish 44.4 percent of the time.
For the Flores household, that is pretty accurate, because Mrs. Flores would rather sit on anchor and tight line catfish than any other fish.
To participate in any of Southwick Associates surveys, just visit any of the following: www.HunterSurvey.com, www.ShooterSurvey.com and www.AnglerSurvey.com.
If you wish to make a comment or have an anecdote, recipe or story you wish to share, you can reach John K. Flores at 985-395-5586, at gowiththeflo@cox.net, or on Facebook at gowiththeflo outdoors.

Follow Us