SSAA Activity Log – Why Recreational Hunters Should Collect Data?

Recreational hunters provide significant value to wildlife management, pest control, and regional economies. When hunters record and report their activities in a structured way, this information becomes a powerful tool that strengthens their social licence to operate and highlights the positive contributions they make across the community.

Economic Value

Volunteer Time
Tracking hours spent travelling, scouting, and conducting hunts demonstrates the scale of unpaid labour hunters contribute to pest management and conservation. These hours can be converted into an economic value, showing government and landholders, the true extent of support hunters provide.

Travel and Local Spending
Recording kilometres travelled, fuel costs, accommodation, food, and equipment purchases highlights how hunters support regional communities. This data quantifies the economic flow-on benefits of hunting, helping illustrate its importance to rural economies.

Wildlife and Pest Management Insights

Harvest & Cull Totals
Data on the number and species of animals taken—combined with time and effort spent—helps track population trends, understand seasonal changes, and measure the effectiveness of pest-control efforts. This information supports evidence-based management decisions for both game and pest species.

Effort vs Success
Comparing time spent in the field with harvest outcomes provides valuable insights into species abundance, habitat conditions, and environmental changes. This strengthens the reliability of hunter-generated data as a monitoring tool.

Strengthening Social Licence to Operate

Transparency & Accountability
Accurate recordkeeping demonstrates responsible and ethical behaviour. It reassures the public and stakeholders that hunting is being carried out safely, sustainably, and lawfully.

Demonstrating Outcomes
Hunter-supplied data provides clear evidence of positive impacts, including reduced pest pressure on farms, protection of native species, and support for landholders’ management goals. These measurable results build trust and community confidence.

Proof of Compliance
Tracking licences, permissions, and harvest data reinforces safety standards and adherence to regulations, supporting ongoing acceptance of recreational hunting.

Supporting Research and Policy

Hunters can supply information from remote or hard-to-monitor areas, creating valuable long-term datasets that governments and researchers often cannot gather at the same scale. This data helps shape seasons, bag limits, and pest management programs based on real conditions rather than assumptions.

Improving Access Opportunities

Landholders are more inclined to work with hunters who keep clear records of performance, reliability, and safety. Sharing results builds long-term relationships and can increase access to new properties and hunting opportunities.

Summary

Collecting activity data allows recreational hunters to clearly demonstrate their economic contribution, ethical practices, ecological value, and community benefit. This evidence strengthens their social licence to operate, improves management outcomes, and positions hunters as vital partners in responsible wildlife and pest management.

All Farmer Assist members must record Farmer Assist activities on the SSAA Activity Log