I’ve been recuperating from total knee replacement this summer. My British Columbia bear hunt a few years ago kicked off my right knee ordeal by messing up some ligaments, and last fall, I had an accident while assembling a large hunting blind that finished the job. After hobbling around for several months and trying unsuccessful cortisone and visco supplementation shots, I decided to go under the knife and get a chunk of titanium and plastic inserted between my thigh and calf in May. While recovering, I’ve been listening to various podcasts, as well as reading, and this surprising fact came to my attention: not all hunters or shooters have registered to vote.
Here’s a fact that jumped out at me when reading various posts on X recently; a large percentage of hunters haven’t registered to vote in Pennsylvania and therefore, don’t vote. I’m wondering, then, how many other states might have a wealth of unregistered voters who would benefit pro-hunting and pro-shooting communities in their states, and in fact, even help to decide national elections in favor of sport shooting- and hunting-friendly candidates?
I first noticed this startling statement from Scott Presler, founder of Early Vote Action, who is out there among the masses registering people to vote in the state of Pennsylvania. According to Presler, at Telegram, “Thirty percent of Pennsylvania’s 930,000 hunters are not registered to vote.” He goes on to say that if every hunter in Pennsylvania registers and votes, Pres. Trump will be re-elected to the presidency this year. Presler says, on average, it takes a lot of work to get a voter out the door to the polls. But, what if that voter hasn’t even registered to vote?
In a podcast interview with former press secretary (for Donald Trump) Sean Spicer last March on the “The Sean Spicer Show,” Presler again mentioned the lack of registered hunters in Pennsylvania. He said, “That’s why I put this data out there, because the data just shows you that if Joe Biden won the commonwealth of Pennsylvania by 80,000 votes and there are 80,000 truckers then boom, that’s the election, or 80,000 Amish, boom, that’s the election … When it comes to the hunters, people are like ‘Oh, but Scott, all of the hunters are registered to vote, right, and all of the hunters actually vote in our elections?’”
He continues, “No! We know, for example that 40% of Wisconsin hunters are not registered to vote, so therefore, wouldn’t you, a logical and rational person, think the same would be for Georgia and Minnesota and Michigan and other Midwestern states, for example … that’s why we have such a multi-pronged and multi-faceted approach.” Presler and his team are going to mud shows (Amish auctions in Pennsylvania), gun shows and farmers markets in their efforts to register and influence voters.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) is aware of this trend of non-registered voters in the shooting and hunting worlds. In an article by Larry Keane, “REPORT DEMONSTRATES CRITICAL IMPORTANCE OF #GUNVOTE TO SAFEGUARD HUNTING, RECREATIONAL SHOOTING TRADITIONS,” Keane references recently released data from Vote4America, that shows “There are some big gaps in critical swing states regarding hunters and shooting sports enthusiasts who are not registered to vote. In a breakdown by state, the data shows unregistered hunting and Second Amendment supporters total at least 515,277 in Pennsylvania. That number is closer to around 370,000 each in Michigan and North Carolina. In addition, Georgia, Wisconsin, Missouri and Virginia ‘all have more than half a million hunters and gun owners unregistered,’ and in Arizona – another state that could swing to either President Joe Biden or presumptive Republican nominee former President Donald Trump – that number totals approximately 133,000.”
It is probably safe to assume that in your state, wherever you are, people who hunt and shoot aren’t all registered to vote.
According to Keane, “NSSF’s #GUNVOTE initiative was created to ensure law-abiding Americans casting ballots at the ballot box are informed of how to register to vote, when and where to cast their ballot and to make the most impactful decisions to safeguard their rights and freedoms. #GUNVOTE conveniently lists out all U.S. states with links to their respective Secretary of State’s websites where more details about registering to vote, early voting protocols and the entire process can be found. For those who wait until election day to cast their ballot, #GUNVOTE will also tell voters of their polling place so that exercising the right to vote is as easy as possible.”
As a hunter or sport shooter (or both), what can you do to ensure that our beloved traditions and liberties remain intact, and around for generations to come? Take a page from Presler’s book, and start local. Here’s how you can begin “hunting the vote” in November:
Unless we, as hunters and shooters, get motivated to talk to friends and family about the need to vote for our traditions and liberties, we will lose these opportunities and frankly, rights, within a generation or two.
Publisher/Editor Barbara Baird is a freelance writer in hunting, shooting and outdoor markets. Her bylines are found at several top hunting and shooting publications. She also is a travel writer, and you can follow her at https://www.ozarkian.com. View all posts by Barbara Baird
