Hunting participation has been decreasing in the United States for several decades. This decline is
concerning because of the role that hunting plays in funding wildlife and conservation programs. Without
an alternative funding source, management agencies will have difficulty managing and restoring wild bird
and mammal communities as well as acquiring, developing and managing their habitats. Thus, there has
been a concerted effort to slow the decline by understanding hunter recruitment, retention, and
reactivation (R3). As part of this understanding process, there is a critical need to know why hunters
participate in hunting activities and what things may hinder participation. The objective of our research
was to examine the hunter identities, preferences, motivations, and constraints among Nebraska resident
big game (deer and turkey) and small game hunters
We conducted a statewide, web-based survey to collect data on motivations, specializations,
constraints, and identities of Nebraska hunters. We assessed whether there were any differences or
barriers between groups identified as big game hunters and small game hunters. The two groups
responded similarly to the motivation questions with very small differences between the groups. The
primary reason most hunters were hunting were to spend time outdoors and spending time with family
and friends. Similarly, there were few differences between the hunter groups in their perception of
barriers to hunting. Access (e.g., location and amount of public land) and game population related (e.g.,
abundance of game) barriers were considered the greatest barriers to hunting in Nebraska. Using cluster
analysis, we found two groups of hunters based on species preferences: upland game hunters (preferred
pheasant and quail) and deer hunters (preferred deer, turkey and pheasant). We assessed the role that
species preference groups and hunter identity had on recreational specialization. The deer preference
hunters rated centrality to life greater than the upland game preference group, whereas skill development
and self-expression were similar between the two groups. Further, we observed a continuum among both
species preference groups that as you moved from those that did not identify as a hunter to those that
currently identify as a hunter that there was an increased prominence that hunting has in their lives.
One potential tool in engaging hunters may be the use of hunting tournaments. However, the
information on hunting tournaments in the scientific literature is sparse. We conducted in-person survey
of participants at the Sharptail Shootout in Mullen, NE to better understand the reasons why hunters may
participate in a grouse tournament. We interviewed 62% (n = 69) of the participants over two days of the
tournament. Surprisingly, we found that tournament participants were primarily from out of state and
motivated to attend the Sharptail Shootout to spend time with friends, instead of competition related
reasons.
Examining of motivations, constraints, and identities of Nebraska hunters offers a useful tool in
differentiating recreationists and understanding participation patterns, which may provide greater insight
into more effective R3 practices.