A cross-regional comparison of recreation patterns of older hunters

We studied outdoor recreation patterns among older hunting license holders in Pennsylvania and Colorado to better understand aspects of five trends that promise to impact outdoor recreation preferences, behavior, and management priorities: Sunbelt population growth, declining residential stability, urbanization, aging, and increasing levels of formal education. Results of our mail survey showed that the samples were similar in age, gender, and ethnicity, but Pennsylvania respondents were more likely to have lived their entire lives in the state and had spent more of their adult lives in rural areas. On the other hand, Pennsylvania respondents were less likely to have attended school beyond high school. Pennsylvania respondents hunted more frequently and were more likely to gather wild foods. Colorado respondents were more likely to fish, and they participated in more nonconsumptive activities. Education, rural/urban differences, and residential stability had a limited ability to predict differences in consumptive activities. Age, education, and residential stability predicted differences in nonconsumptive activities. Results suggest that cultural differences between regions may be more important than socio-demographic characteristics for understanding of outdoor recreation patterns in the past, present, and future.