Associations and Co-Occurrence of Nebraskan Sportspersons

With the sales of hunting and fishing permits generating over $1 billion in economic returns for Nebraska, the importance of sportspersons is essential in managing and conserving natural resources. However, the dependence upon... [ view full abstract ]

With the sales of hunting and fishing permits generating over $1 billion in economic returns for Nebraska, the importance of sportspersons is essential in managing and conserving natural resources. However, the dependence upon licenses to fund management makes Nebraska, and other states, vulnerable to declining participation in hunting and fishing. Therefore, understanding how hunters and anglers use the resources, the different types of users participating in hunting and fishing, and the associations of different permit sales to each other is needed to better understand R3 (recruitment, retention, and reactivation) and marketing activities. For this study, we examined Nebraska Game and Parks Commission permit databases to determine associations between types of permits sold, frequency of purchase patterns, and demographics. We found that anglers primarily participate in angling only and do not engage in other sportsperson activities. However, those that buy small game and spring turkey permits predominately engage in at least one other hunting and fishing activity. Small game hunters were primarily associated with fishing and spring turkey was associated with both fishing and small game hunting. This strong association is partially driven by the hunt-fish combination permits. In addition, we found that churn among anglers was the greatest, whereas churn in spring turkey permits was the least. Understanding associations among user groups will provide us with tools to develop strategic planning towards hunter recruitment and retention programs.