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

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 (eta(2)(p) < .01), indicating similarity across states. Nature (eta(2)(p) = :01) and social (eta(2)(p) < .01) factors were the first and second most important factors across activity types. We observed larger differences among the challenge (eta(2)(p) = .03), and food (eta(2)(p) = .15) 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.

Automated summary

Research indicates that motivations for hunting and fishing go beyond harvesting game to include social, psychological, emotional, and physical benefits. Analysis of web-based questionnaire data in the central United States suggests that there may be a greater universality in these motivation factors among different activity types and locations, with negligible differences across states.