Opinion: Financial crunch time
Phil Taunton
Friday, September 19, 2008
I wonder how many people fully understand the economic value that hunters and fishermen have in our society today.
Take hunting, for instance. The 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Association Recreation, compiled by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, reports that the average hunter spends $113 dollars each day for hunting-related expenditures, including food, clothing, lodging, fuel and assorted equipment.
Deer hunters in Kansas spend $80 million annually, Kansas migratory bird hunters about $30.5 million and Kansas upland game bird hunters spend about $121.3 million to support their passion for hunting and being outdoors. Nonresident hunters bring about $67.6 million into our state each year.
Across the United States two years ago, 12.5 million hunters participated in the sport annually and spent an estimated $23 billion on hunting-related goods and services. But that was in 2006.
In light of our present economic crunch and especially the price of travel, I also wonder how many hunters we will lose from our ranks because the time-honored tradition is just getting too expensive. What worries me most is the funding that might be lost to programs supporting conservation, youth outdoor education and wildlife appreciation that hunters generate. It’s unfortunate, but some people don’t realize the American hunter is responsible for the most successful wildlife restoration programs in the world, including programs for deer and wild turkey. The true hunters will cope with the economic times and do what they can to keep their outdoor pursuits and passions alive.
Time will tell. Some of my friends who are interested in increasing habitat on the lands they own, and on lands they have permission to hunt on, say they need to cut back, and some have nixed their plans for habitat improvement altogether for this year. The price of seed, fertilizer and diesel fuel are just getting too high and they can’t afford it.
I guess it all comes with planning and doing what you can afford to do. Sometimes in the deep dark recesses of my mind I wonder if it was wise for me to retire last year. I wonder if I can now really afford to do the things I worked for. Well, time will tell, but I do have an ace in the hole: my son-in-law is a financial planner.
Being somewhat of a frugal person, whom Wifeus calls just plain cheap and not the big spender I was when we first met, I did manage to save a little money over the years for retirement, stopping just once or twice to smell the roses and take a hunting trip along the way! When the big day came and I split from the railroad, I found I had to invest this money or lose a big part of it to taxes, so I called my son-in-law and had him draw up a retirement plan. Of course with such an ordeal, the client needs to sit down with the adviser (even though he is family) and go over such a plan. Well, banks, money, portfolios and pie-charts just aren’t my forte, but as policy dictated, I tore myself away from a football game and half-heartedly listened anyway.
After I was showed the bottom line on my retirement package, I told my advisor I had all the trust in the world in his judgment. We chatted about investments for a while and I informed him he had a very nice house with a good fishing lake with wilderness access to the public just five minutes to the west of his house and a well-manicured golf course just a short pitching wedge (even for Wifeus) to the east... and we just love the grandkids.
Given the current economic situation, I really don’t know at this point if I will need to come out of retirement, but if I remember right, a couple of investments were looked at, and lower-risk ones were incorporated into my retirement plan. It's always wise to plan ahead.