The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) just announced that hunting licenses in the nation increased by 3.6 percent in 2009. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported a total of 14,974,534 paid license holders for 2009, the largest figure since 2002 and an increase of 526,494 over 2008. The number of fishing licenses in the nation also increased by 4.7 percent.

Many study groups that follow trends feel that our recent struggling economy plays a role in the number of people who continue to hunt and fish. Despite recent studies that hint activities such as hunting and fishing are on the decline in our country, there are apparently still a sizable percentage of Americans that believe being more self-sufficient by harvesting their own food helps see them through tough economic times. In 2009, the DEC estimated that hunters in New York State legally harvested 12 million pounds of wild meat valued at $40 million. Add fish harvested to that and, well, you get the picture.

Another indicator that the self-sufficient attitude still exists has been the increase in people now growing their own vegetables. Whether it requires replacing a section of lawn with a tilled garden plot or raising the vegetables in pails, window boxes or other containers or a community garden area, it helps reduce the family grocery bills. And with all food prices steadily increasing, it’s expected these trends will continue.

It’s somewhat ironic that in recent decades, people relocate to the larger populated urban and suburban areas because these areas promise the best employment opportunities, while rural areas saw their populations shrink .Social experts predicted this migration, claiming it was a natural eco-social phenomena. But these often belie what happens when our national economy goes sour, as it recently has. Thanks to the “global economy,” employers sell out or are acquired by larger foreign interest and operations are relocated elsewhere, usually to another country, and employees are left with very few options and often no job or income. Just being able to afford food could become a major concern.

I recall seeing demographic charts that showed the rollercoaster economic differences between larger urban areas and rural areas. While the larger ones often saw much high spikes in their economy, they likewise experienced much deeper ones during recession periods. Conversely, more rural areas, while not seeing the higher spikes were spared the deeper ones. In other words on a graph of economics flow, lines tended to be more level in rural areas, while those of urban areas had numerous hills and valleys.

Obviously, no one can survive without money today, but the national trend to become increasingly dependent on someone else for all food needs is more prevalent in urban areas than in more rural ones. While not everyone chooses to hunt or fish, grow a vegetable garden, or has the opportunity to, those of us who do certainly have a leg up on those who don’t.