There may be fewer hunters in the United States, but it's not because of public opinion. That's a conclusion suggested by two recent national surveys, which show that while the number of hunters in America continues to fall, public support for hunting is strong and growing.

Table: The changing face of hunter motivation Click image for larger version.

The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released preliminary data from its 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Associated Recreation, an assessment of participation trends among Americans over age 16, compiled at five-year intervals. Hunter numbers, according to the survey, fell by 4 percent nationwide since 2001. Only 5 percent of Americans now consider themselves hunters.

Another survey, though, indicates that America's remaining hunters enjoy quite a crowd of cheerleaders. Responsive Management Inc., a social research firm that specializes in natural resource matters, found earlier this year that 78 percent of Americans support hunting as an outdoor activity, up from 73 percent since 1995. Eighty percent of respondents indicated that "hunting has a legitimate place in modern society." Meanwhile, the percentage of Americans who say they disapprove of hunting declined from 22 percent in 1995 to 16 percent today.

Responsive Management conducted its survey for the National Assembly of Sportsmen's Caucuses, a national organization of state legislators interested in wildlife and sportsmen's issues.

"Americans seem to be acquiring a more realistic view of hunting and wildlife management, possibly due to increases in populations of deer and resident geese in urban areas," said Mark Damian Duda, Responsive Management executive director.

Duda said that when his firm asked respondents specifically about hunting as a source of food or as a wildlife management tool, public support soared to more than 80 percent.

"Support dropped off markedly, however, when we asked about hunting for sport or trophy collection," Duda said recently in a presentation to the Outdoor Writers Association of America.

Despite the nationwide decline in the total number of hunters, Duda said his research indicates that the ranks of female hunters are growing.

"It looks like an increase for women," Duda said. "But it's very interesting. With women, we could not identify specific variables that influence hunting. With men you can look at factors like race or rural background and say it tends to increase the odds of an individual hunting, but with women we did not find that relationship."

Duda acknowledged the various programs, such as Becoming an Outdoors Woman, which introduce women from diverse backgrounds to shooting, fishing, canoeing and other outdoor skills, aided the growth in female participation, but stopped short of attributing it to any particular factor.

As the motivations of hunters in general change and evolve, Duda suggested, it could be that hunting is becoming more attractive and more accessible for women.

For example, survey data indicate that only 9 percent of hunters in 1980 said they hunted primarily to spend time with family. Responsive Management's recent survey found that 20 percent of today's hunters cite being with family as the most important reason they hunt.

Among former hunters nationwide, 26 percent said they quit hunting because of a "lack of time." Twenty-two percent said they dropped out because of conflicts with work, and 18 percent cited family obligations. Only 3 percent said they quit because of a lack of game.

"Unfortunately, these factors are not easily dealt with by the state wildlife agencies," Duda said. "[Agencies] might be able to help the situation if we could go to them and say, 'People are quitting because your regulations are too complex,' but that's not the case. By far, the most important reason for hunting decline is urbanization and its demands on people's lives."

Pennsylvania continues to be a major stronghold for hunting and fishing, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife survey. Slightly more than 1 million state residents and non-residents hunted in Pennsylvania in 2006, surpassed only by Texas with 1.1 million resident and visiting hunters. Pennsylvanians, though, were more active than Texans and led the nation in days afield. Keystone State residents enjoyed 15.8 million hunter-days in Pennsylvania last year, while collectively hunters in Texas spent 13.9 million days afield.

Fishing participation declined by 12 percent nationwide since 2001, but Pennsylvanians who fish remain avid anglers. Eleven states -- California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin -- have more resident anglers than Pennsylvania's 824,000. But Pennsylvanians rank seventh in the nation in angler-days spent on the water, with nearly 17 million.

Pennsylvanians also account for more days fishing in other states than anglers from anywhere except Illinois. Pennsylvanians fished out-of-state on 3.8 million days last year, while anglers from Illinois spent 5.7 million days on other states' lakes and streams.

The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service will issue its final version of the report in November, and individual state reports will be available soon after.