Aksan, Ş. and Özdağ, A.U. 2022. A profile of modern hunters in Antalya province, Türkiye. Baltic Forestry 28(2): 244–249.

   The aim of this study was to investigate the socio-demographic and cultural characteristics of modern hunters in Antalya province based on the data of the Game Management Information System (AVBİS) being overseen by and under control of the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Türkiye. According to the study results, the educational status of hunters was the following: the group with the primary school level made 7.8%, with the secondary school level made 4.5%, with the high school level made 9.9%, with the associate level made 0.6%, with the undergraduate level made 3.9%, with the master level made 2.7%, and with the unknown educational status were determined to be 70.06%. Considering the professional status, it was determined that 79,3% were of unknown status, 1.6% were retired persons, 3.4% were tradesmen, 1.6% were workers, 2.9% were public sector employees, 0.8% were students, 2.0% were employees from the private sector and 8.4% were self-employed persons. It was revealed that for gaming the hunters visited Aksu State Hunt, Serik State Hunt, and Gebiz State Hunt (3.29%) most frequently. The least preferred gaming areas were Gazipaşa Sıvastı Çığlık State Hunt and Kaş Asas Hunt (1.41%). Usually, hunters prefer to gun for common blackbird (Turdus merula L.) foremost (9.69%) and coot (Fulica atra L.) least of all (1.07%). As is evident from this study, socio-demographic profiles of hunters in Antalya province, Türkiye, and in Europe appears to be similar. However, a significant difference was observed in the number of women hunters registered. While the average number of women hunters in some European countries reached 10.5%, no women hunters were registered in Türkiye.

Keywords: game management, information system, hunter, game animals, wildlife, profile