TYPES OF HUNTERS Many wildlife managers feel that Yale professor Dr. Stephen Kellert's 1978 study of U.S. hunters and their attitudes and characteristics still mostly applies today in North America. He found three categories of hunters: - Utilitarian/Meat Hunters (43.8%) - Nature Hunters (17.7%) - Dominionistic/Sport Hunters (38.5%) The dominionistic/sport group is the one that the non- and anti-hunting public particularly dislike and often use to stereotype or negatively portray ALL hunters and hunting. UTILITARIAN/MEAT HUNTERS "Hunting to obtain meat was the most frequently cited primary reason, accounting for 43.8 percent of persons who hunted..." [p.413] Utilitarian/meat hunters were significantly more likey to have been raised or presently living in rural, open-country areas. Relatedly, utilitarian/meat hunters reported much greater experience with raising animals for either slaughter or nonslaugher purposes, and fathers employed in farm-related occupations. This hunting group included a disproportionate number of persons over 65 years of age and significantly more respondents earning less than $6,000." [p.414] "Utilitarian/meat hunters appeared to perceive animals largely from the perspective of their practical usefulness... The utilitarian/meat hunter viewed hunting as a harvesting activity and wild animals as a harvestable crop not unlike other renewable natural resources." [p.414] NATURE HUNTERS "Hunting for the purpose of close contact with nature was the... cited primary reason for hunting, accounting for some 17.7 percent of those who hunted... Demographically, nature hunters included significantly more persons under 30 years of age and far fewer over 65. These age characteristics may suggest possible trends in motivation for hunting. Nature hunters were also of higher socioeconomic status, as indicated by more college-educated respondents and more fathers employed in professional and business-executive occupations. Nature hunters reported by far the most adult and childhood wildlife interest, more backpacking and camping-out experience, and more birdwatching activity. Importantly, nature hunters had far higher knowledge-of-animals scale scores particularly in comparison to dominionistic/sport hunters." [p.414] [Nature hunters also] "...indicated strong concern and affection for all animals... [However this affection is] ...somewhat generalized and not specifically directed at pet animals or manifest in the feeling of "loving" animals. The desire for an active, participatory role in nature was perhaps the most significant aspect of the nature hunter's approach to hunting. The goal was the intense involvement with wild animals in their natural habitats. Participation as a predator was valued for the opportunities it provided to regard oneself as an integral part of nature. The hunt was appreciated for its forcing of awareness of natural phenomena organized into a coherent, goal-directed framework." [p. 415] DOMINIONISTIC/SPORT HUNTERS "Dominionistic/sport hunters constitute 38.5 percent of all those who hunted... They were significantly more likely to reside in cities, and to have been in the armed forces. Additionally, they differed from utilitarian/meat hunters in reporting far less experience raising animals for a product, and from nature hunters in reporting significantly less backpacking and birdwatching activities. One outstanding characteristic was their low scores on the knowledge-of-animals scale. Interestingly, only anti-hunters, of all animal activity groups studied, had equally low knowledge scores." "...It appeared that competition and mastery over animals, in the context of a sporting contest, were the most salient aspects of the dominionistic/sport hunter's interest in the hunting activity. This group did not reveal strong affections for animals." [p.416] "The hunted animal was valued largely for the opportunities it provided to engage in a sporting activity involving mastery, competition, shooting skill and expressions of prowness. ...They were not items of food but trophies, something to get and display to fellow hunters. For the dominionistic/sport hunter, hunting was appreciated more as a human social than as an animal-oriented activity." [p.416-417] ------- Stephen Kellert, "Attitudes and Characteristics of Hunters and Antihunters" (Transactions of the Forty-third North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, 1978). pp.412-423.