No matter where you live, this has been a cold winter. It came early and stayed late enough that many sportsmen and women chose the cozy confines of a warm cabin and blazing fire over braving the elements. So which region of the country had the heartiest hunters, those who stuck it out when temperatures down to zero? The folks at Southwick Associates conduct hunting and fishing surveys that divide the country into regions and asked sportsmen about their activities in cold weather. Here what they found:
The survey divided hunters into six regional groups: Great Lakes States, Northeast States, Northern Plains States, South Central States, Southeast States and Western States in order to best gauge how hunters in different parts of the country to react to cold weather. Hunters polled were asked “at what temperature did it become too cold to hunt”. The findings were interesting. There are indeed some fair weather hunters out there. Organized by region, the percentage of polled hunters who say it is too cold to hunt as temps fall to between 21 and 30 degrees were:
- Great Lakes States 3 percent
- Northeast States 5 percent
- Northern Plains States 3 percent
- South Central States 10 percent
- Southeast States 9 percent
- Western States 8 percent
By the time temperatures have fallen between 1 and 10 degrees, the percentage of hunters who choose to stay inside are:
- Great Lakes States 31 percent
- Northeast States 40 percent
- Northern Plains States 18 percent
- South Central States 51 percent
- Southeast States 52 percent
- Western States 36 percent
But the tipping point seems to be 0 degrees when across every region except the Northern Plains states an additional 25 to 32 percent of hunters report it is too cold to hunt. In the Northern Plains, another 21 percent, are choosing a warm fire over a cold deer stand or predator setup.
“Some of the findings are about what you would expect with hunters used to cold weather
in the Northern states more willing to hunt in slightly colder temperatures than those hunters in the South where it rarely gets that cold,” says Rob Southwick, president of Southwick Associates, which designs and conducts the surveys at HunterSurvey.com, ShooterSurvey.com and AnglerSurvey.com. “That being said, it isn’t until temperatures drop below zero that the majority of hunters nearly everywhere are ready to join their Southern brethren indoors for a hot breakfast.”
To help continually improve, protect and advance hunting, shooting and other outdoor recreation, all sportsmen and sportswomen are encouraged to participate in the surveys at HunterSurvey.com. Each month, participants who complete the survey are entered into a drawing for one of five $100 gift certificates to the sporting goods retailer of their choice.
