I mostly ignore the NRA, it matters nothing to me if a person wishes to own a firearm. Personally I do not, my idea of hunting wild game is a trip to the meat department of the local supermarket. Cut, cleaned and wrapped, it is a deal. Lets face it, who wants to spend happy hours skinning and gutting a goat in subzero temperatures with little more than a pocket knife. Not me, is the answer!
I do however admire the brave folks that venture out into the wild to hunt in order to put meat on the family table.:
The NRA praises members of the U.S. House of Representatives who voted to pass H.R. 3590–the “Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act.” The measure, which passed with broad bipartisan support by a vote of 268 to 154, promotes and protects the rights of hunters in a variety of critical ways.
“Hunting is part of our unique American heritage and the NRA is committed to preserving it,” said NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox. “Congressman Bob Latta (R-OH) has been a stalwart friend to our nation’s hunters and on behalf of our 5 million NRA members we thank him for his leadership on this important legislation. The NRA will continue to work with the Congress to protect the rights of hunters from increasingly hostile and litigious environmental groups seeking to curtail our freedoms.”
Despite increasing urbanization in America, hunting and other outdoor sports continue to grow in popularity as people seek the simple pleasure of being outdoors with friends and family. The nation’s 13.7 million hunters spent $38.3 billion in 2011, helping to create 680,000 jobs. Hunters and sportsmen contribute another $1.6 billion annually to conservation through license and permitting fees and charitable donations.
It was the numbers that caught my attention. Lets walk through them slowly, The country has 13.7 million hunters and they spent $38.3 billion in 2011.
That puts the average hunter at $2,795 per year. This sounds high when taking into account that .most hunters are poor, and use weapons maybe that are passed their prime.
When you add in the NRA’s version of tax revenue the cost of shooting Squirrels, Armadillos, and anything else that you find on your property now makes it around $3000 per year.
Obviously these numbers from the NRA have more crap in them than the Bears in the Charmin bath tissue ad.
Simon Barrett
12 users commented in " The NRA Gets Creative With Numbers "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackNot sure how you would ever get exact numbers, but lets look at some of the costs involved:
1) Transportation – could be a couple of tanks full of gas, or air line tickets
2) Fees and land leases (good leases go for over $1000 in this area)
3) Most hunters take the meat to a processor for final processing, so maybe another $100+
4) Practice ammo ($100 + range fees)
5) Specialized clothing
6) Deer feeders and other shelter
So, I expect the average price when you add in the people that go after exotic game would rather high.
“This sounds high when taking into account that ,most hunters are poor, and use weapons maybe that are passed their prime.”
What an idiotic statement. You obviously don’t have the faintest clue to what you talking about. Everything is a guess and you don’t know any real hunters or bothered to actually look for facts.
Even for an op-ed piece on obscure blog, this is weak. The ceiling is lower for some.
The average centerfire hunting rifle set up with optics costs more than $600, and can easily cost thousands (my personal rifle cost $3,200, my optics $500, and I’ve spent at least $1,000 ammunition between practice and field ammo). The TrackingPoint rifle system I recently tested is very popular among the well-to-do hunters, and the top-end version I fired costs $25,000 for the rifle, scope/sensor package, and matched ammunition.
A full set of camo will cost between $100-$600 or more depending on the kind of hunting and number of layers you need to purchase.
Depending on your game, there are also baits, lures, decoys, scents, cover scents, blinds, stands, etc that can run from dozens to thousands of dollars.
You’ll spend at least $100 on gas over the course of a season if you hunt locally; if you fly to where you hunt, transportation costs can easily range into the thousands.
If you hunt away from home you typically stay anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks, which leads to hundreds or thousands more in hotel/lodge bills.
Catering/food bills can range for dozens to hundreds of dollars.
Permits/licenses will cost between dozens to tens of thousands, depending on species and location.
Outfitter/guide/hunting lease/club costs, if used, easily cost hundreds to thousands.
If you actually understand the outdoor industry, Simon, $2,800 seems like a reasonable mean average. All you are displaying, Simon, is your prejudiced view that hunting is done by poor hicks, not by wealthy businessmen, entrepreneurs, and the solidly middle to upper-middle class that form the core of the American hunting market.
No worries, Simon. I’m sure you can easily explain how you spend thousands attending comic book conventions.
“This sounds high when taking into account that ,most hunters are poor, and use weapons maybe that are passed their prime.”
And Bloggers sit in their pajamas in their Mother’s basement….see how generalizations are stupid and idiotic?
meh– What’s new?
Yet another blogosphere post by someone who admittedly knows ZILCH about firearms and hunting– AND who apparently takes pride in their own ignorance.
Here’s a novel idea, Simon– why don’t you research and KNOW your topic before opening your mouth and inserting your foot.
Averages lie sometimes. My Cousin is big on hunting (and fishing) in Canada. Between the airline tickets, Canadian permits, and outfitters fees he could spend close to $12,000 on just one trip. I myself use a 50 year old 22 cal. rifle and maybe $30 in ammo per year. That makes our two person average at — $6,015. Damn, I thought shooting squirrels (no permit required) was cost effective. Now, in real time. I pay $1500 dollars for my portion of a hunting lease. Gas ($300), food ($150), and license and tags ($55) for a total of $2,005. I could have thrown in the yearly vehicle license tags, state inspections, tire wear, engine wear,presents for my wife (so I can go hunting), and don’t forget the local, state, and federal taxes that we all love so much. Get real Simon. Wake up and smell the cordite.
I love the comments. Obviously I wrote this article through my eyes. I have no issue with hunting, if that is your thing, more power to you.
If you spend $50,000 a year. great! If you like it, go for it. You will not hear me complain.
My issue is with the ease and supply of guns. I have no wish to punish hunters, rather I applaud you. I just don’t like it when the hunting is done in Schools, Theaters and places of business.
I doubt that any hunter would disagree.
On the other side of the coin is the money. $38 billion is a drop in the $13 trillion US deficit.
But a small portion of the $38 billion would go a long way to help feed hungry kids in our country.
Simon knows how to piss people off and that is what a good blogger does.
C’mon Simon, admit it. You got called out for shoddy journalism when you questioned the legitimacy of the NRA’s numbers – with no legitimate basis for doing so.
Then, you walked it back, claiming that the real issue is the ease (of acquiring) and supply of guns – something you failed to even allude to in the original post.
As you flail for solid footing, you can’t resist one more jab at the numbers in the NRA piece, only this time, it’s not that the sum strains credulity, but that it would be better spent on a cause you support.
It makes me question the “ease and supply” of the tools you use exercising your first amendment rights.
P.S. I know I’m giving you a hard time, but I do want you to have legit info. This is just one data point, but maybe it’ll help in future articles:
Spending – I shoot once or twice a week and spend about $300/year for a range membership and ~$20 on ammo when I go.
Ease of acquisition – the last time I bought a handgun, I had just seen a news story on the subject, so I timed it. I walked in, pointed out the gun I wanted, filled out my paperwork, they ran my info, and I paid. I walked out with my new pistol (since I have a concealed carry permit) in 23 minutes.
In Texas there’s very little public land available for hunting. A lease can easily run 6 grand per gun per year. That isn’t including transportation, guns, ammunition, camping equipment RV’s etc. etc etc. The author should stick to commenting on things he knows something about.
He of course didn’t care whether his comments were true or not, he just took a shot at someone he disagreed with. When he gets called on his inanity, he doesn’t support his position because he can’t. Instead he does what every liberal does, he changes the subject and widens the issue until the discussion cannot possibly have any meaning. Meaning and fact have no place in this authors world, what counts is how he “feels” about something.
In the real world facts count and BS walks.
JSG
I’m not a hunter but I am an avid shooter, what I spend on my hobby contributes to wildlife conservation as well as those numbers provide by the NRA. The numbers should be fairly easy to come up with if you simply review the revenues from the Pittman Robertson act. Then add on the additional expenses that some other posters have already mentioned,
I don’t know ANY hunters that hunt in theaters, schools or stadiums. Insinuating that all hunters are stereotypical, poor redneck nutjobs, that go around shooting children just shows how truly ignorant you are.
I feel sorry for you.
Um, you have a blog.
If you want to address an issue, take it head on.
If you wish to delegitimize the NRA, do so, but do your homework first.
You can get away with believing no rational person would want to hunt children and people in Schools and theaters and such. But what does that have to do with the average hunt?
Cheapest hunter out there, already owns has all his gear, all his ammo, does his Zero check in the field…probably spends $30+ per trip on essentials (food, water, Gas, toilet paper…).
Alaskan Hunting trip, with gear bought for the trip…can easily get to nearly a quarter of a million dollars, and that being frugal. Let’s not even start on a well-funded African Safari trip.
Onto the issue you really want to address, the lobbying efforts of the NRA. The NRA is good at boots on the ground rallying as well as helping once someone else has shown it can be done. In short a relatively effective Lobby for the shooting sports. You want to delegitimize them, look into their practice of making everything a calamity (this election is the most important in our history!).
Look into Wayne’s choices on marketing budget? Notice how one certain company is always there and his wife is an executive of said company.
Notice the cronyism in the NRA inner circle. Notice they never really seek to solve anything, just perpetuate the debate.
But it is the NRA you are after? Or are they the best boogie man for what really bothers you?
That there are people willing to stand up and face certain defeat because it is their rights that are being attacked? It is hard to have that level conviction, the willingness to fail terrifically. Funny thing is, when on the moral ground those people are on the right side of history.
Or is it that you would like our children not to get shot at schools? People not get gunned down in the streets? Relative safety for all people regardless of their personal or political beliefs?
Than argue to end the war on drugs, end the militarization of Police; argue to end the governmental incentives to not have 2 parents in the home. Argue that petty crime require restitution to the victim, not the government. Argue that Bullies should be overcome, not sent to the authorities.
We or our parents created the problems we have, not inanimate objects, argue for fixes and corrections, not a cover-up of the symptoms.
Pablo
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