Scott Linden Outdoors

Zero. Zilch. Nada. He doesn’t, but we DO pay.

In every speech, at all the presentations I do, it is still surprising to learn how few of us know this, so bear with me as we delve into ancient history for a moment. Back in the depths of that “real” depression in the 1930’s hunters banded together (anglers followed a parallel path) and begged Congress to tax us. Yep, tax us, when millions were out of work and the country was languishing.

We succeeded when the Pittman-Robertson Act became law in 1937, and created the Federal Aid to Wildlife funding mechanism. It has since raised 12 billion dollars that goes from the Feds, back to state wildlife management agencies to pay for staff, land, management, equipment, and related projects. Here’s how it works:

Guns and ammo are levied with a 10-11 percent excise tax when they are transferred from the manufacturer to the dealer or distributor, so we end-buyers never actually see it. But you’d see the damage if that tax wasn’t imposed. Ditto if fewer of us bought hunting licenses, paid the upland surcharge or waterfowl tag.

There’d likely be no game wardens enforcing our laws. Biologists would be history. Walk-in hunting would simply go away. Trap-and-transplant programs, gone. In most states, P-R funds make up 75 to 85 percent of a game department’s budget, so all we’d have left is a few pencil-pushers at the state capitol, riding herd on a few do-nothing staffers. It would be the Wild West again, and wildlife would lose.

Because the ugly truth is, mountain bikers don’t contribute a nickel and the guy shooting calendar photos of deer and ducks hasn’t paid a dime. Foodies who rave about “wild game” cuisine, hikers, wildlife watchers and kayakers pay zilch to support the wildlife they swoon over while complaining about us getting in the way of their view.

Sometimes I say it just to get their hackles up, but if those Audubon Society members want to really help their ruby-throated hummingbirds, if the little old ladies in tennis shoes want to ensure there are always cuddly critters to amuse them in the woods, they should buy a hunting license. And a duck stamp. And a shotgun or two.

But ultimately, we all know that ain’t gonna happen. It’s up to us. So turning more couch potatoes/harried parents/interested observers into hunters is the only way there will be game to chase and critters to marvel at. But there’s more than one way to skin that cat (pun intended). I’ll make your life easier, in the next installment.