Saturday Sept. 23, 2017 National Hunting and Fishing Day
National Hunting and Fishing Day A Great Tradition, Source of Pride Since 1972 In the 1960s, hunters and anglers embraced the era's heightened environmental awareness but were discouraged that many people didn't understand the role that sportsmen played—and continue to play—in the conservation movement. In 1972, with urging from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Congress unanimously authorized National Hunting and Fishing Day on the fourth Saturday of every September. On May 2, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon signed the first proclamation of the annual celebration. Today, National Hunting and Fishing Day remains a great promotion for outdoor sports and conservation—as well as a source of pride for hunters and anglers nationwide.
Funding from hunters helped America restore: Whitetail Deer 1900: Only 500,000 left Now: Over 30 million Wild Turkey 1900: Only 100,000 left Now: Over 7 million Funding from anglers helps manage America’s 3.5 million miles of rivers, 40.8 million acres of lakes, 34,400 square miles of estuaries, 58,000 miles of ocean shoreline and 277 million acres of wetlands.
How Hunting and Angling Help Wildlife and Wild Places. By purchasing hunting and fishing licenses, and paying special taxes on firearms and ammunition, bows and arrows, and rods and reels, hunters, anglers and shooters generate $100,000 every 30 minutes! This annual total, $1.75 billion, pays for the vast majority of the conservation work of fish and wildlife agencies in every state. These public agencies serve the citizens of their state by overseeing all fish and wildlife, both hunted species like deer and non-hunted species like robins, as well as all aquatic and terrestrial habitats. In this way, hunters and anglers benefit all Americans who love wildlife and wild places. In fact, among the many groups of people recreating in the great outdoors, nobody does more for conservation than hunters and anglers! With birdwatchers, hikers, mountain bikers, canoeists, snorkelers, backpackers, ATV riders, photographers and other recreationists, lots of Americans love wildlife and wild places. Hunters and anglers love them, too—and together they do more than all the others for conservation. How? Hunters and anglers provide leadership in many ways, but the simplest answer is…cash. And lots of it! Today there are 34 million hunters and anglers in the U.S.