Acta Scientiarum Polonorum
Silvarum Colendarum Ratio et Industria Lignaria

The statute of the Polish Hunting Association gives the hunter the opportunity to practice hunting by being a member of a hunting club or by being an independent (non-associated) hunter. The aim of the study is to investigate the possibility of hunting by non-associated hunters and the perception of these possibilities by hunters who are hunting club members and non-associated ones. The study was conducted in the form of a electronic survey. Data was collected from 17 th November 2020 to 14 th January 2021. A total of 411 questionnaires were collected from non-affiliated hunters and 706 questionnaires from hunting clubs members, which is a representative sample in terms of the number of people. Both groups of hunters have a similar attitude and assessment of the situation when it comes to the desired profession of a hunter (agriculture, forestry) and admission to the club due to the high number of the game species. At the same time, they differ in their opinion and views on such topics as: the role of the place of residence in the willingness to join the hunting club, the role of proper reasons in applying for admission to a hunting club. Hunters from hunting clubs believe that non-associated hunters are not interested in joining hunting clubs however, the latter
want to belong to hunting clubs.