EXPENDITURES FOR FISHING AND HUNTING 



III the tables on the next six pa^es are shown the projections 

 for the United States of expenditures for fisiiing and hunting in 

 1955. Fishermen and hunters interviewed were asked detailed 

 questions about their expenditures in connection with their sport. 

 Some had spent almost nothing, others had spent a great deal 

 (one sportsman speni $12,190). Expenditures were limited to 

 those of the individual respondent, and except for those under 16 

 no person reported for anyone else. The several tables show the 

 national figures for the different kinds of fishing and hunting, 

 according to various classes of expenditures. 



EQUIPMENT 



EquiprnenI expenditures included the cost and maintenance of 

 equipment usefl specifically for fishing or hunting and of other 

 equipment used primarily for fishing or hunting. Expenditures 

 for purchase of equipment were included only if the equipment had 

 been acquired by purchase or gift in the United States in the 

 calendar year, primarily for fishing or hunting, and they were 

 prorated among the types of fishing and hunting in which the 

 sportsmen participated. 



Fishing equipment included rods, poles, reels, lines, harness, 

 nets, seines, minnow buckets, scales, ice-fishing gear, spear-fishing 

 gear, and all other equipment used specifically for fishing. 



Hunting equipment included guns and rifles, shells and cart- 

 ridges, bows and arrows, gunsights, targets, decoys and calls, 

 and all other equipment used specifically for hunting. 



Other equipment (listed only if used primarily for fishing or 

 hunting) included tents and sleeping gear, cooking and eating 

 utensils, special fishing and hunting clotiiing, lanterns, binoculars, 

 boats and boat accessories, motors, trailers, cabins, and other 

 equipment if used primarily for fishing or hunting. 



As projected from the cross-section sample, the total number 

 of persons (12 years of age and over) who bought or received 

 equipment >ised for fishing or hunting (equipment purchased in the 

 United States in 1955) was as follows: 



Number who boiinht or reoeivpd equipment . 

 Percent of all fishermen and hunters ... 

 Percent of all persons 12 years of age and over. 



TRIP EXPENDITURES 



18,068,000 

 72. 5 

 15. 3 



Trip expenditures were included only if the trip was made 

 primarily lor fishing or hunting, and in the case of a party trip 

 they included only the expenditures of the person interviewed. 



For meals purchased during fisliing and hunting trips, only 

 that portion of the meal cost in excess of the average cost of home 

 meals was included ($6.50 per person per week, U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture, Household Economics Research Branch, Septem- 

 ber 195.5). 



Automobile transportation expense for fishing and liunting 

 trips w^as computed at .'3)2 cents a mile to cover actual operating 

 costs (gasoline, oil, maintenance, and tires) but not depreciation, 

 insurance, or licenses (American Automobile Association Informa- 

 tion Bulletin No. 9.3, March 1955). If four persons went together 

 in an automobile, on a fishing trip, and one did not fish, the auto- 

 mobile expense applicable to each fisherman was the total divided 

 by three, or 1% cents a mile. 



Other trip expenditures included transportation other than by 

 automobile, refreshments, bait, guide fees, rentals, entrance fees, 

 charter fees, and pack-trip fees. 



If a trip was not made primarily for fishing or hunting, the 

 transporlation. lodging, food, and refreshment costs were ex- 

 cluded. 



LICENSE AND LEASE FEES 



In order to be recorded as a license holder in the survey, a 

 person had to have purchased a fishing or hunting license during 

 the calendar year 1955. Booklets describing the various licenses 

 in each State were used as memory aids. If the initial interview- 

 in a household revealed that a certain member of the family had 

 not fished during the year, that person was not interviewed as a 



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