Hunting as a pastime or sport is under increased pressure across the United States and in particular in hunting areas like South Carolina. Even though the numbers are staying about the same as far as South Carolinians who purchase hunting and fishing licenses, the percentage of the total population that enjoys the outdoor sports has dropped rapidly over the past several decades.
I think I read somewhere where 10 percent of South Carolinians and only 5 percent of U.S. citizens hunt, fish or camp. When I was a kid, if we found out another boy didn't hunt or fish, he was looked on with great suspicion as maybe being a communist, sissy or worse.
I think it is obvious that the problem is that young people are not being recruited to the outdoors. Spoiling kids with new BMWs for their 15th birthdays plays a part as does the cell phone and X Box cultures that are so prevalent today. Parents hand a kid a Nintendo for Christmas and believe they have earned the right not to spend time with them for another year.
If a parent doesn't hunt or fish, then it is a daunting prospect to take his or her child and get started. As a matter of fact, with the decrease in access to recreational land and waters, it is difficult for people to get started UNLESS there is someone willing to take them and show them "the ropes." Can you, as outdoorsmen, imagine moving to a new town like Orangeburg and deciding that you want to start hunting or take your child if you have never done so before? What kind of game is available? What kind of gun do I need? How can I learn to shoot it? Where can I go? How do I get a license? What do I do with it after I take an animal?
Recently, 17 hunting and fishing organizations announced they would begin working together to protect South Carolina's outdoor legacy. The formation of this coalition was announced Feb. 20 at the Statehouse with 15 legislators and the superintendent of education present. Representing 100,000 members statewide, the partnership will be known as the South Carolina Camo Coalition. Over a half million of the state's residents hunt or fish, spending almost $2 billion per year often in rural areas, but recruitment of new outdoorsmen is miserable.
A couple of specifics that have affected this recent trend is the loss of connection of young people and the out of doors, and the need for natural resource management decisions to be done by qualified professionals instead of political appointees and anti-hunting lobbyists.
In its charter statement, the Camo Coalition states, "South Carolina's outdoor sporting traditions are facing serious challenges on multiple fronts: loss of habitat, invasive species, climate change, anti-management philosophies and values, mass turnover of natural resource professionals, the decreasing proportion of our population that hunts and fishes, and the sedentary and indoor-oriented lifestyles of many South Carolinians."
The Camo Coalition plans to do work against this trend by being a unifying element between its members (see list of member organizations below) to:
1. Build unity among organizations to increase collective effectiveness.
2. Develop a forward-thinking vision for fish and wildlife resources.
3. Develop recommendations for government agencies.
4. Promote youth conservation education.
5. Address areas of concern noted above.
The charter member organizations are: The Quality Deer Management Association, S.C. Sporting Protection League, S.C. Forestry Association, S.C. Wildlife Federation, Quail Unlimited, Harry Hampton Memorial Wildlife Fund, Wildlife Action, S.C. Coon Hunters Association, Lexington Wildlife Club, Tri-State Bass Club, S.C. Waterfowl Association, Coastal Conservation Association, Carolina Quail, Trout Unlimited, S.C. Trappers Association, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Outdoors Without Limits.
Please note that if you are a member of one of these organizations, then you contribute to the Camo Coalition. If not, then you ought to think of joining one to become part of the glue that holds our outdoor rights together.
Dr. John Rheney has been writing his outdoors column for more than two decades.