For more than 100 years Maine has been the deer hunter’s destination spot for those who want to hunt big deer in the North Woods. Although a decline in deer numbers in Maine, especially in the big woods, has resulted in fewer nonresident deer hunters flocking to the Pine Tree State, deer hunting by residents and nonresidents alike is still big business.

A recently released economic impact study and survey done in 2013 by Southwick Associates, for the Maine state tourism department, really drives home this point. Of all the different game species hunted in Maine, deer remain the big favorite.

Among Maine residents who hunt, 91 percent name deer hunting as their choice of critters to hunt. About half of licensed nonresident hunters who come to Maine hunt deer. The rest of those divide up their hunting pursuits among upland birds, bear, turkeys and small game. Surprisingly, only a very small percentage of nonresident hunters hunt turkeys. Not so with residents, who name turkeys as the No. 3 choice of what to hunt.

According to the Southwick study, 80 percent of deer hunters are male. Although deer hunters come in all ages and genders, the typical Maine deer hunter is a middle-aged male between 45 and 55 years of age.

A few surprises: Despite those of us who worry about young people not getting in the woods and carrying on the hunting traditions, the study shows that there has been a steady “recruitment” of young deer hunters over the past 40 years. Equally surprising, at least to me, is the fact that most of the nonresident Maine deer hunters surveyed have only been coming to Maine during the past five years.

Far more nonresidents hunt bear in Maine than residents. Twenty five percent of the licensed nonresidents hunt bear. Contrast that with the meager 11 percent of residents who hunt bear.

In 2013 deer hunters — 136,796 of them — generated a whopping infusion of 68 million dollars to the state’s economy!

Given these numbers and statistics, it still astonishes me that Maine’s tourism agency does so little to promote Maine as a deer hunting destination. Ditto the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Our competition states of Vermont and New Hampshire are far more proactive in marketing their hunt opportunities than Maine. State Senator Paul Davis sponsored legislation this past winter that would, if enacted, direct the appropriate government agencies to be more aggressive in funding and implementing out-of-state marketing of Maine’s deer hunt opportunities.

For a lot of reasons — decreasing deer wintering habitat, predation, and harsh winters — Maine’s northern woods aren’t what they used to be, deer wise. But don’t kid yourself. There are still trophy whitetails making scrape lines in the woods of northern Maine. Some nice bucks were tagged last fall, and the falls before that.

Maine needs to do a better job getting the word out. The Southwick study contains the sort of empirical information that can be used to more effectively market Maine to deer hunters in the Northeast.

V. Paul Reynolds is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WQVM-FM 101.3) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected] . He has two books “A Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook” and his latest, “Backtrack.” Online information is available at www.maineoutdoorpublications.com.