Motivations to participate in hunting and angling: a comparison among preferred activities and state of residence

• Published in: Human dimensions of wildlife 2021-11, Vol.26 (6), p.576-595
• Main Authors: Hinrichs, Matthew P., Vrtiska, Mark P., Pegg, Mark A., Chizinski, Christopher J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Factor analysis; Fishing; Food; Hunter and angler recruitment; Hunting; Motivation; motivations; natural resource agencies; R3 programs
• ISSN: 1087-1209; 1533-158X
• DOI: 10.1080/10871209.2020.1858208

Motivations for hunting and fishing extend beyond harvesting game and include social, psychological, emotional, and physical benefits. We used data from a web-based questionnaire to compare relationships between preferred hunting or fishing activity types, state of residence, and motivations of hunters and anglers across the central United States (U.S.). Exploratory factor analysis yielded four motivation factors: nature, social, food, and challenge. Differences in terms of state were negligible across all motivation factors ( ), indicating similarity across states. Nature ( ) and social ( ) factors were the first and second most important factors across activity types. We observed larger differences among the challenge ( ), and food ( ) factors, primarily driven by big game hunters. Big game hunters rated the food motivation factor greater than the other activity types. Overall, our results indicate that there might be a greater universality in these motivation factors among activity types and locations in the U.S.