Where Does Massachusetts Rank Nationally for Registered Hunters?

I grew up in a household with a father who loved to bow-hunt. The older I got, the more I understood the peace he found being surrounded by nature.

Westport and surrounding towns were a hot spot for hunters. Just travel along Route 88 during deer-hunting season and you'll find trucks lined up along the side of the highway from one end to the other. The same goes for 195 east and westbound between Westport and New Bedford.

As popular as it may appear here on the SouthCoast, you might be shocked to know that out of all 50 states, Massachusetts ranks extremely low on the list of states with the most registered hunters.

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Stacker has determined the number of registered hunters per state with data provided by the U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service National Hunting License Department. When it comes to Massachusetts, the percentage of residents with paid hunting licenses is only .8%. This amounts to 56,985 people.

The "gross cost" of all Massachusetts hunting licenses in the year 2020 came out to $2,367,256 with 256,651 hunting licenses, tags, permits, and stamps in total.

What do all these statistics represent? It shows the decline of animal hunting across the Commonwealth. Especially when it comes to coyote and fox hunting now that fur-bearing hunting contests have been banned in Massachusetts.

See where Massachusetts actually ranks nationally and you might be as surprised as I was.