Saturday, October 13, 2007

Hunters Poll

© By Othmar Vohringer

A few weeks ago I posted two polls on this blog. The poll “What’s your favorite hunting weapon?” had so far 65 votes and the results are somewhat surprising to me. Here are the results as of today.
  • Compound Bow 23% (15 votes)
  • Long Bow 8% (5 votes)
  • Crossbow 8% (5 votes)
  • Rifle 20% (13 votes)
  • Shotgun 25% (16 votes)
  • Muzzleloader 12% (8 votes)
  • Black Rifle (AR-15) 5% (3 votes)
The big surprise for me is that only 3 readers clicked the Black Rifle (AR-15) as their favorite hunting weapon. Remember this is the gun that Jim Zumbo cost his career. For those that do not remember all the controversy about Jim Zumbo and his comment about the AR-15 assault rifles used as a deer hunting weapon can all about it here.

On the second poll on this blog I asked the readers, “What do you hunt?” As expected the majority of the 118 votes went to “Big Game” hunting. Here are the results.
  • Big Game 21% (25 votes)
  • Small Game 15% (18 votes)
  • Exotic Game 3% (4 votes)
  • Varmints 5% (6 votes)
  • Predators 13% (15 votes)
  • Waterfowl 8% (10 votes)
  • Upland Birds 11% (13 votes)
  • Turkey 15% (18 votes)
  • Migratory Birds 8% (9 votes)
For me the only small surprise in this poll is that Waterfowl got less votes than Upland Birds. I always have been under the impression that waterfowl is more popular than upland bird hunting. But that is why I make this polls because it gives me a very good idea what the readers of this blog like to do and in turn I will be better able to provide information on the interests.

Thank you to everybody that took part in the pool and please keep the votes coming.

Tags: , ,, , , , , , ,

Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing these results, Othmar. I like your purpose: learn about your readers to tailor your blog to them.

AB5SY said...

Othmar,

It bothers me that you used the term "assult rife" when referring to the AR15. It being the favorate description used by the MSM and anti-gun gourps. Law inforcement referrs to their AR15's as service or patrol rifes, but when in the hands of a citizen it suddenly becomes is referred to as an assult rifle....this cause's many folks to think of it as an evil tool and have a negitive opinion of those who own them.

I own an AK47, scoped, laser'd, bi-pod, and ajustable stock, but it has not caused me to think of assulting anyone.........heck it has been packed away so long I often forget I have it, But have taken a white tail with it (5rd magizine)

I guess the M1 30cal, 10/22, or even any 22 cal youth rifle that is simi-auto with an 18 rd mag, or 9 rd clip must be referred to as an assult rifle.

Why to I own an AK, because the nanay state has not yet abolished the Bill of Rights. But they are working towards it.

Othmar Vohringer said...

AB5SY – I am sorry that my expression bothers you but it is a very common expression used for that type of gun. Antis also use the words “kill” and “hunter” should we change our writing to other terms just because someone else uses them in a demeaning way? I don’t think so.

I cannot see myself hunting with a AK47 or similar in the near future but I am certainly not against it that other hunters find these types of rifles a useful hunting tool. If you have been reading my blog for a while then perhaps it occurred to you that I am very open minded, heck I have been defending the crossbow as a valuable hunting tool long before it became fashionable to do so. There is certainly nothing wrong with an AK 47 in the deer woods as long as hunters don’t fall in the trap to think it will make them better hunters because of it. This last statement goes for all hunting weapons. A rifle is just a simple tool nothing more nothing less.

DeerPhD – Thanks for the comment. I do think it is important to know what the readers like to see on a blog. Quite frankly, what good is it if I sit on my computer writing the best article but it does not interest anybody? I did a poll on my Whitetail Deer Passion blog, asking the readers on what land they hunt. So far the most votes are for public land hunting. To me it means that I will write much more about public land hunting in the future on that blog. This also will fill a much needed information need. Lets face it every hunting magazine, website and blog talks about hunting leases, private land hunting and QDM but your hard pressed to find information on public land hunting. Writing about it will make my blog more popular with the readers, because as the poll shows the majority of hunters hunt the “forgotten” land. I am actually in the middle of writing an article to dispel the myth about that there are no big bucks on public land.

-ov-

AB5SY said...

Allow me to add MHO on hunting public lands, I shy away from them opening morning's. First and last time was the Big Thicket in East Texas. To many hunters(?). I should say Rambo types in military camo, running through the woods before sun-up, shooting at shadows and the wind russling through the shrubs. All deer tagged that day, I'm sure had not been shot but rather died from heart failure.....

Anonymous said...

I love polls. They can shed light on a lot of things. Loved reading the results and look forward to future polls and there results.

Anonymous said...

Good information. I missed the poll though. Hopefully I'll have a chance to participate in the next one.

Othmar Vohringer said...

AB5SY – I never hunt on opening day on public land and the rest of the season I hunt during the week when everybody else is at work and on holydays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year when all others have family obligations to fulfill. These are the times when deer move because they have the human time schedule down to a T.

Arthur – There will be future polls. I love making polls because they are fun for the readers but also give a very good indicator about my readers likes and dislikes.

Matt – The poll is still open and will be for a while yet. You can find the polls always about halfway down on the right side panel.

-ov-

Anonymous said...

Who'd have guessed that a compound bow could be more popular than a rifle? Maybe it has something to do with it being archery season.

Keep up the cool polls!!!

Othmar Vohringer said...

I don’t know Darrell. I have posted the poll about two month ago in the hope upcoming seasons will not influence the result.

On the other hand, sometime ago I read a statistic that motioned that archery has become more popular than rifle hunting.

Maybe many hunters are like me in that they hunt with all legal weapons but have a special fondness for bowhunting.

-ov-

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...