LAST EDITED ON Jun-25-18 AT 02:18PM (MST)[p]>Lee,
>80%? Please explain you're numbers.
> I can show you
>10s of thousands that sell
>out every banquet across the
>state every single year and
>10s is thousands more that
>attend the Expo. While
>a small handful whine and
>banter on the internet against
>them. Those are actual
>numbers.
Cody,
With a margin of error of about 1/2% in each category per the bar graph, the 2014 Mule Deer Committee survey shows only 21% of the respondents currently belonged to a wildlife conservation group while 58% had NEVER belonged to ANY wildlife conservation group and 8% were currently not members of any group, but had previously been members within the last 5 years, and 13% were currently not members, but had previously been members more than 5 years ago. In other words, the vast majority of Utah hunters (about 80%) do not have hunting high enough on their priorities to belong to ANY group, let alone SFW. These are the people you and Birdman dismiss as not relevant and without value. Those are the real numbers!
Besides the math, I see at least 3 flaws in your logic.
1)- While I don't know the numbers who attend your banquets, I am quite certain that there are many who attend more than one and, for this discussion, we can't let you count them two or three times.
2)- The same is true of the Expo attendees. Many, if not most, of the banquet attendees also attend the Expo and visa versa and they can't be counted more than once.
3)- A big flaw is assuming their reasons for attending. Most of them don't care who sponsors the event, let alone support (or even know) the sponsor's policies. They go for many other reasons! Even on this forum we've heard many say they hate the management (or mismanagement) of the Expo Tag application fees, but will apply anyway because it's another chance to draw an OIL or LE tag. The Expo's MAIN draw is the Expo tags, not SFW's popularity or policies. And the banquets in most of the Utah towns are simply another social event that attracts local outdoorsmen/women with a chance to have a good meal, win a door prize or bid on a tag and it has nothing to do with SFW or it's policies. And, of course, they are automatically signed up as members whether they intended to or not since there's no discount for non-membership!
4) But your biggest flaw is dismissing hunters as irrelevant or with less value because they may not have the time, money, health, skills, or interest in physically participating in wildlife projects you deem worthwhile. Supporting wildlife and hunting and fishing takes many forms of participation including research, advertising, surveys, harvest reports, education, financial, recruiting, cooperation, etc. and ALL of the people you dismiss are participating in several ways to the support of wildlife and hunting and fishing. In fact, 46.22% ($40,931.599) of UDWR's budget comes from the sale of licenses and permits and 31.79% ($33,268,874) comes from the federal taxes on hunting and fishing equipment sold in Utah. That's 78.01% ($74,200,473) of the UDWR's budget. And some of the other funds also come from these same people in the form of Utah State Income taxes and contributions. That's just the financial participation. How many of these families hunt or fish together or bring friends along? How many contact the DWR with suggestions or questions? How many show up at gun shows or other wildlife/outdoor shows? How many help pick up litter or cooperate with other campers or help another hunter track or haul out an elk or deer? SFW may be a big deal to you, but to think you speak for the majority of Utah hunters and fishermen is egotistical and a big mistake on your part and eventually will be your downfall. However, much to Troy's credit, he said we (SFW included) need to manage wildlife for EVERYBODY. He's right on with that statement and I personally hope he's serious!
