Attitudes Toward Mandatory Hunter Education and Hunter Education Backgrounds of Mississippi Sportsmen

Although Mississippi currently has a hunter education program, there is no mandatory requirement. Therefore questions evaluating attitudes toward mandatory hunter education and hunter safety training backgrounds were included in a mail survey to a sample of 1981-82 Mississippi hunters. The majority (65.7%) of hunters would favor a mandatory hunter education program for new hunters. Graduates of a safety training course were significantly more in favor of mandatory training than non-graduates. Hunters with children had the same attitudes toward mandatory hunter education training as hunters without children. Approximately 18% of the 1981-82 Mississippi hunters had received hunter safety training.