Sportsmen are a vital part of our economy. Money spent in pursuit of fish and wildlife is significant and pumps many dollars into local economies.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation is very revealing. There were more than 34 million U.S. sportsmen over 16 years of age in 2006. These individuals spent $76 billion dollars ($23 billion by hunters, $42 billion by anglers and $11 billion unspecified). The ripple effect was $192 billion.

We all know how big NASCAR is, but hunters and anglers outnumber them more than 2 to 1. If sportsmen were a corporation, they would rank in the top 20 on the Fortune 500 list. They would rank above Target, Costco and AT&T.

There are a half million more hunters than the population of the two largest cities in the U. S. (New York City and Los Angeles).

You can be proud as a sportsman for your contribution to the economy. Concerned sportsmen do more to protect the environment by contributions of money, time and effort than any other group in our country.

n If you are an average deer hunter and can’t afford to lease property or join an expensive hunt club, how can you be consistently successful? Many hunters face this problem today. With the economy in the tank, more of us may face the same problem in the future.

There are ways that you can hunt game management property and be successful. Purchase topo maps and look for small areas that are set apart from the bigger acreages. As mentioned in a previous article, Topo USA and Google Maps are great tools with topographical maps and aerial photos. Scout areas that are close to towns and high traffic areas that others may overlook.

Consider using watercraft to access hunting areas that don’t see a lot of pressure. Many areas take a little longer to reach and you have the extra preparation of dealing with transporting stands and deer in a boat or canoe, but it can pay big dividends.

On Thursday, Oct. 16, I harvested a doe with a special doe tag in game zone 2 by using my canoe to access a hunting area that is hard to reach. It is close to a residential area, but is on a waterway with a lot of dense foliage and lush browse that the deer love. I could hear traffic and sounds from houses, but visually, I could have been a hundred miles from civilization.

I spotted a couple of does there in bow season, but did not have a shot, so I returned a couple of weeks later. I paddled upriver in the dark, walked a few hundred yards and placed my climbing stand in a strategic spot. About 7:30 a.m., a mature doe stepped out and the rest is history. With the freezer stocked, now I can look for a big-racked buck.

In my last three hunts, I have not encountered a single hunter. This makes the hunt more enjoyable, safer and usually more successful.

If you can take some vacation days to hunt, try to hunt on weekdays when the masses are not in the woods. We can’t always manage that, but that makes it even more important to seek out those low traffic areas to hunt.

n If you are new to the area or just looking for some new ideas of things to do in the Lake Hartwell area, check out the new “Lake Hartwell Area Recreation Guide” by Lara Kaufman. It details exciting things to do and places to eat in 35 towns and cities in the area surrounding Lake Hartwell. The book is only $12.95 and is available at many of the major businesses and bookstores in the upstate (several of these are Grady’s Great Outdoors, Hart County Chamber of Commerce, Hartwell Marina and Barnes and Noble).

n Contact me at lross3871@charter.net or (864) 238-1944 with questions or comments.