Hunting tourism nets fewer dollars

Hunters and their dollars were in short supply this hunting season. The Marquette Mining Journal reports that hunting licenses dropped four percent during Michigan’s 2010 deer season. The reason? Deer are now everywhere.

Dave Lorenz, manager of public relations for Travel Michigan, the state’s official tourism promotion agency, also cited changes in the deer population.

“Previously deer could mostly be found in the Upper Peninsula, but now someone can find five of them in their back yard,” Lorenz said. “This is causing people to travel less to hunt.”

Lorenz says the economic crisis has Michigan hunters working longer hours and hunting less.

That in turn has led tourism and MDNRE officials to start target marketing for new hunters between the ages of 18 and 40. Officials say that age group is less likely to be tied to a traditional 9 to 5 job.

Under the joint marketing efforts, there will be discounted hunting licenses and more recruitment of out of state hunters from border states like Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin.

And the impact of fewer hunters in Michigan woods is not just on the state. It impacts the local economy.

“This is a huge business, and college students should be part of this industry, which will raise the number of jobs again and also bring more attention about hunting tourism to a younger generation,” [Steve] Yencich [president of the Michigan Hotel, Motel and Resort Association] said.

Yencich says hunting tourism jobs were also down this year, from 200,000 jobs in previous years to 142,000 in 2010.