Nature, Social, or Food: Exploring the Motivations of Pennsylvania Hunters
Coren Jagnow
Pennsylvania Game Commission
Coren Jagnow is the Human Dimensions Specialist at the Pennsylvania Game Commission and also the Chief of the Research and Education Division. Prior to working for the PGC, she was the Survey Coordinator for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Coren has worked on dozens of surveys of hunters, landowners, and the general public in both Virginia and Pennsylvania. Her work for the Game Commission focuses primarily on hunter recruitment, retention, and reactivation. Coren has a Ph.D. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from Penn State (2004), where she studied attitudes of private landowners for allowing access to their property for hunting. She is also an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania where she earned a B.A. in Environmental Studies and Biology and M.A. in Conservation Biology.
Abstract
Three primary motivations of Pennsylvania hunters were identified from qualitative research: 1) Spending time with family and/or friends, 2) Harvesting an animal mainly for the meat, and 3) Spending time in the outdoors and... [ view full abstract ]
Three primary motivations of Pennsylvania hunters were identified from qualitative research: 1) Spending time with family and/or friends, 2) Harvesting an animal mainly for the meat, and 3) Spending time in the outdoors and enjoying nature. Surveys of Pennsylvania hunters conducted in 2014 included a series of questions about their primary hunting motivations and what they look forward to when they hunt in Pennsylvania. Two questionnaires were sent in 2014, each to a sample of 25,000 Pennsylvania licensed hunters. The first was mailed in Spring 2014 to hunters who purchased a license either four or five times out five possible years of automated license sales (i.e., hunters who either purchased 80% or 100% of the possible years). In Fall 2014, hunters who purchased one, two, or three times out of five possible years (20%-60%) were mailed a similar questionnaire. Spending time in the outdoors and enjoying nature was the most frequently cited primary reason for hunting in Pennsylvania in both surveys. Half of the frequent license purchasers (4-5 year) identified it as their primary motivations compared to 43% of the less frequent purchasers (1-3 year). Approximately thirty percent of respondents on both questionnaires identified spending time with family and friends as their primary motivation. Women identified hunting for food as their primary motivation more frequently than men. Hunters were also presented with these three motivations and asked their agreement or disagreement about what they look forward to when they go hunting in Pennsylvania. Responses were similar for both questionnaires with the largest percentages of hunters strongly agreeing that they look forward to enjoying nature and spending time in the outdoors, followed by spending time with family and friends, and harvesting an animal mainly for the meat.
Authors
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Coren Jagnow
(Pennsylvania Game Commission)
Topic Areas
Topics: Hunting and Fishing , Topics: Cognitive Research (Values, Attitudes, Behaviors)
Session
T-1A » Hunter and Angler Satisfaction and Motivation (08:00 - Tuesday, 19th September, Assembly Hall A)
Presentation Files
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