As of September 1, 2010, there were 14,706 Mississippi lifetime sportsman licensed by the Mississippi Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Parks. Most of the lifetime sportsmen reside in Mississippi and surrounding states of Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama and Texas. There were 11,700 lifetime sportsmen residing in Mississippi or 79.6% of the total number of licenses sold from 1989 to 2011. The counties of Rankin, Hinds and Madison have the most lifetime sportsmen in the state of Mississippi.
There were 6,316 older lifetime sportsmen who bought the “lifetime sportsman age 13 and over” license consisting of 43% of the total number of holders of this type of license. About 43.7% or 6,420 younger lifetime sportsmen bought the “lifetime sportsman age birth through 12”. About 13.4% of the total sportsman licenses were sold as “non-resident Mississippi native lifetime” licenses to 1,969 residents of other states.
All the licensed lifetime sportsmen were contacted by mail and by email to seek their participation in the survey. The lifetime sportsmen had the option of filling up the mailed survey or completing the survey online. A total of 4,744 licensed lifetime sportsmen representing about 32.3% of the total number of lifetime sportsman participated in the survey conducted from Jun. 2011 to Apr. 2012. Most of the lifetime sportsmen who participated in the survey reside in the Mississippi and surrounding states of Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama and Texas.
The percentage rate of survey participation by the Mississippi lifetime sportsmen by state of residence is shown in the figure below.
The percentage rate of survey participation by the Mississippi lifetime sportsmen by type of license is shown in the figure below.
Source: Posadas, Benedict C. and Amanda k. Seymour. 2014. Socioeconomic Characteristics of Mississippi Lifetime Sportsmen. Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Bulletin 1211, Mississippi State, Mississippi.