Family comes first
Outdoors With Mat Taylor

In a recent column, I wrote about the importance of families doing things together and that taking a kid fishing was a good family activity. I also mentioned there are many alternatives for kids to pursue. In addition to school functions, youths can participate in other things such as football, soccer, basketball, etc.

Due to these many activities, I said, families might not have the time to play together as a group. I did not mean to insinuate that taking part in sports is a bad idea.

In America today, there is a major problem with childhood obesity, as many children eat the wrong things and do not get enough exercise. Many blame it on the computer and video games. So kids should be involved in activities that strengthen their minds and bodies, but families also should set aside some time to do things together, such as camping or fishing.

I also think parents should not forget spiritual values. As I mentioned in the recent column, my father took me and my brother fishing on many Saturdays, but on Sunday the entire family went to church. Church and family came first in our home.

I can't remember the exact words, but I recall reading a poem that goes something like this: First, teach a child to love God. Second, teach them to love their family. Third, teach them to hunt and fish, and when they become a teenager, there will not be a drug pusher or user, gang member, etc., who can teach them anything.

Speaking of hunting and fishing, preliminary state data from the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, shows Texas led the nation in 2006 with 1.1 million residents going hunting at some point during the year. Florida led in total fishing participation with 2.8 million anglers, and California was the top wildlife-watching state with 6.2 million of its residents observing wildlife.

Also recently, I reported on the decline in the number of anglers nationwide. Texas, however, was among the national leaders in fishing participation at 2.5 million and wildlife viewing with 4.1 Texans taking part.

The Lone Star State leads the nation in huntingrelating expenditures, and Texas generates among the highest spending levels in the country for fishing. The survey showed hunters spent about $2.3 billion in Texas, more than any other state. These figures reflect spending on food, lodging, transportation, equipment and other items.

In 2006, more than 87 million Americans -- or 38 percent of the United States' population age 16 and older -- hunted, fished or watched wildlife. They spent $120 billion pursuing those activities. According to the survey, 30 million or 13 percent fished and spent a total of $41 billion on their activities, 12.5 million or 5 percent hunted and spent a total of $23 billion, and 71 million or 31 percent observed wildlife and spent a total of $45 billion.

The National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation has been conducted every five years since 1955, and is one of the nation's most important wildlife recreation databases.

The survey is undertaken at the request of state fish and wildlife agencies and is funded by grants from the Wildlife and Sportsfish Restoration Act's Multistate Conservation Grant Program.

It is important to note that the survey counts only participants who actually went hunting, fishing or observed wildlife in 2006 and does not represent the total number of anglers, hunters and wildlife watchers in the U.S. Many people who consider themselves hunters or anglers do not participate every year. For example, survey data shows that over the five-year period from 2002 to 2006, a cumulative total of 44.4 million people fished and 18.6 hunted.

To read the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation Survey in more detail, it can be viewed on the website at http://federalaid.fws.gov/surveys/surveys.html.

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Dove hunting season opened last Saturday. There is an old saying: "It always rains before the dove season opens."

If it does rain a few days prior to the season, the doves will scatter due to more watering places available. That's not the case at my house, though, as I have not measured any appreciable rain during the month of August.

After too much rain this spring and early summer, it is getting dry, and I would like to have a good rain -- whether it affects the doves or not.

Former Soil Conservation Service employee and longtime writer Mat Taylor offers his outdoors column for Dispatch Record readers. He can be contacted at (254) 518-2262 or via e-mail at mntaylor@agristar.net.