As hunters limber up their bows for the start of Connecticut”™s hunting season Sept. 15, Bambi can take heart in one respect: far more residents and visitors are sighting creatures through binoculars these days than through a scope.
Connecticut ranks among the seven states with the lowest percentage of “sportsman” fishers and hunters, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service ”“ but conversely is among the top 10 for wildlife observers.
In all, wildlife-related recreation totaled $1.7 billion for the state economy in 2011.
Alaska has the highest percentage of hunters and anglers in the nation, with 45 percent of residents pursuing the pastime; Vermont leads for wildlife observers, with 53 percent of Green Mountain State denizens doing so. The Fish & Wildlife Service counts those age 16 or higher in its figures, and includes state residents who hunt, fish or otherwise observe wildlife on trips to other states.
Counting out-of-state visitors, Connecticut trailed only Nevada in wildlife watching, with an 87 percent participation rate.
Connecticut”™s fall archery hunting season for deer and wild turkey opens Sept. 15 and runs through the end of the year, with bowhunters allowed an extra month in Fairfield County through Jan. 31. The shotgun hunting season begins Nov. 14.
“The outlook for the 2012 hunting season is very good,” said Howard Kilpatrick, a biologist for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection”™s wildlife division. “Although there are good deer hunting opportunities throughout most of Connecticut, the southwest corner of the state and many of the shoreline towns provide the best opportunities, especially for bowhunters.”
