American hunters = world's largest army

[A-R]

Wasn't sure where to put this, so placing it in the hunting forum. Just received this email and thought it was interesting take.

The state of Wisconsin has gone an entire deer hunting season without someone getting killed. That's great. There were over 600,000 hunters.

Allow me to restate that number. Over the last two months, the eighth largest army in the world - more men under arms than Iran; more than France and Germany combined - deployed to the woods of a single American state to help keep the deer menace at bay.

But that pales in comparison to the 750,000 who are in the woods of Pennsylvania this week. Michigan's 700,000 hunters have now returned home. Toss in a quarter million hunters in West Virginia, and it is literally the case that the hunters of those four states alone would comprise the largest army in the world.

America will forever be safe from foreign invasion with that kind of home-grown firepower.

Hunting -- it's not just a way to fill the freezer. It's a matter of national security.

[Purplehood]

I wonder how folks come up with a finite number of Hunters in a season...600,000 is a tremendous amount of people.

[RPB]

Yeah, we didn't have an American Army Dept of homeland security during the French Indian war around Pennsylvania.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_and_Indian_War

Foreign and domestic ... don't forget Charles Whitman in Austin... where the police called up the huntin' rifle brigade.

[troglodyte]

I wonder how folks come up with a finite number of Hunters in a season...600,000 is a tremendous amount of people.

A little research into how many hunting licenses that are sold. May not be exact but it gives a good estimate.

A quick Google turned this up,

Curcuruto noted the findings were a bright spot when considering national hunting license sales totals from all 50 states showed little change from 2005 through 2007 (the most recent year that figures are available). During that period, license sales have held at approximately 14.5 million annually, according to that U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
http://www.texashuntfish.com/app/view/Post/28290/Hunting-License-Sales-Rise

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department-Hunting Licenses Issued 08/15/2006 thru 08/31/2007 (License Year 2007)
Resident Hunting 266,453
Senior Resident Hunting 167,258
General Non-Resident Hunting 28,443
Non-Resident Special Hunting 2,345
Super Combo Package 381,317
http://forums.bowsite.com/TF/bgforums/thread-print.cfm?threadid=345100&forum=36

Depending on how you want to slice it, Texas had 800,000+ resident hunters for the '06-'07.
The US has approx. 2.4 million troops (including reserves and paramilitary). Texas has about a third of that in hunters. Certainly some of those are military and some don't actually hunt, and some...and some... Now add in all the other states and it is not hard to see the 14.5 millon figure from the USFWS.

It certainly backs up the idea that the US has the largest armed civilian army.

I found this interesting

(Reuters) - The United States has 90 guns for every 100 citizens, making it the most heavily armed society in the world, a report released on Tuesday said.
U.S. citizens own 270 million of the world's 875 million known firearms, according to the Small Arms Survey 2007 by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies.
About 4.5 million of the 8 million new guns manufactured worldwide each year are purchased in the United States, it said.
"There is roughly one firearm for every seven people worldwide. Without the United States, though, this drops to about one firearm per 10 people," it said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL2834893820070828

[VMI77]

I wonder how folks come up with a finite number of Hunters in a season...600,000 is a tremendous amount of people.

I have to admit, I was skeptical --seems like a pretty big number. But here are some interesting statistics from the State of Wisconsin: http://dnr.wi.gov/news/BreakingNews_Lookup.asp?id=1924

The number of hunters is based on the number of licenses sold.

This article has very detailed statistics: http://www.apl.wisc.edu/publications/APL_hunter_brief_final.pdf The news may not be so positive because the 600,000 figure actually represents a decline of about 45,000 since 2000 --and this paper projects a continued decline to less than 500,000 by 2030.

[Beiruty]

There is difference between hunting and patroling in IED valley. Have you ever experienced a 155mm shell exploding mere yards away?
Hunters are not hard core soldiers. otherwise. US.would draft hunters

[The Annoyed Man]

I wonder how folks come up with a finite number of Hunters in a season...600,000 is a tremendous amount of people.

Probably from the number of licenses issued. Of course, I have bought hunting licenses and then not gone hunting that year, so although it is an intriguing idea, I'm not sure I would have absolute confidence in the numbers.

[The Annoyed Man]

There is difference between hunting and patroling in IED valley. Have you ever experienced a 155mm shell exploding mere yards away?
Hunters are not hard core soldiers. otherwise. US.would draft hunters

Well, some of those enlistees are hunters already. Not all, but some. Secondly, at least in Europe, wherever you have had a resistance to a foreign invader in an occupied land (for instance, WW2 France), it was mostly peasant folk from small towns and villages who made up the resistance.... ....and they were hunters, trained soldiers or not. A trained marine is not anymore immune to what a 155mm shell can do than any Pennsylvania farm boy with a squirrel rifle.

[Beiruty]

US military is so complex, that it needs tank crew, airplane crw, missile crew.warship crew, all are specially trained soldiers. This is the point

[A-R]

US military is so complex, that it needs tank crew, airplane crw, missile crew.warship crew, all are specially trained soldiers. This is the point

Correct. But we're not talking about a true modern "military" force here. Merely that there are MILLIONS of Americans who at least have enough basic rifle skill to attempt to kill wild game. Not every country can say that.

And if the stuff ever truly hits the fan again, once the waring Armies knock each other out or fight to standstill, the homeland will be defended by those who are at home. This type of common man armed resistance is what won the American revolution (OK, comparison is a bit dated, sure) but as I understand it, this is also what allowed Afghans to repel the Red Army and keep the US military involved in the longest ongoing armed conflict in our nation's history.

After us, Afghanistan is probably the next most armed society in the world (though I have nothing with which to back up that claim - just speculation based on various stories I've read over time).

And I'm also no expert on military nor warfare in general, but I've heard my whole life how difficult a small, devoted, lightly armed resistance can be for a modern military to deal with.

And if you don't believe me, go rewatch "Red Dawn"

[pbwalker]

US military is so complex, that it needs tank crew, airplane crw, missile crew.warship crew, all are specially trained soldiers. This is the point

Sure, but as it's been said, a man and a rifle can cause a lot of grief for an entire company...a few can create such a disruption to a battalion, that their morale will diminish along with their numbers. Just ask the Germans in Stalingrad.

I still firmly believe that if there were to ever be a foreign invader on US soil, that *most* Americans will take up arms in defense.

A few homemade claymores, some rifles, and some skilled warriors can do a lot...

[Ameer]

Foreign and domestic

In many states those hunters already tolerate a government that doesn't obey the constitution, so I think it's wrong to think they would react differently if the enemies were foreign instead of domestic.

[pbwalker]

Foreign and domestic

In many states those hunters already tolerate a government that doesn't obey the constitution, so I think it's foolish to think they would react differently if the enemies were foreign instead of domestic.

Well, then we've solved the issue of Liberals in America.

[Bullwhip]

In many states those hunters already tolerate a government that doesn't obey the constitution, so I think it's wrong to think they would react differently if the enemies were foreign instead of domestic.

Yup.

There's a reason we call them "fudds".

[C-dub]

There is difference between hunting and patroling in IED valley. Have you ever experienced a 155mm shell exploding mere yards away?
Hunters are not hard core soldiers. otherwise. US.would draft hunters

This is true, but remember that most of the army that defeated the best in the world back in the 18th century were farmers and not professional soldiers. They can be trained when there is a need and they would step up.