On town hobbies and country hobbies

  On my way to go shoot trap, sometime in 2024, somewhere in Colorado 

 

I spend a lot of time outdoors and in rural locales for my hobbies. I shoot a great deal of trap, and hike even more. Despite the common belief that fresh mountain air and the cool ocean breeze would be just what the doctor would prescribe, I would not say that these rural hobbies are good for my health. Between the lead exposure, my ever increasing appetite for nicotine that perks up only outdoors, and my increasingly protestant knees and hips, I would say that overall it's actually quite the opposite.

Upper Yosemite Falls, Yosemite, 2024 

Much has been written on this blog about the rates of firearm ownership and hunting in rural localities (Read more here and here respectively). Despite high rates of participation in these forms of recreation, participation in other forms of physical activity are in decline. (Physical activity is defined by another study). 

Anecdotally, I have spent some time in a hunting blind and did not move more than ten meters in a 48-hour timespan once we were established. If rural hobbies are more commonly sedentary or, at least less physically active than urban hobbies, this may partially explain the higher rural rates of certain health disorders related to sedentary lifestyles. It seems, then, that there is a rural/urban health divide when it comes to hobbies.

This hobby health divide is aggravated by the fact that some rural hobbies may even be dangerous to their participants. Lead exposure is a common issue amongst recreational shooters. Any personal injury attorney or orthopedic surgeon can give you horrific war stories about the dangers of ATV and dirtbike riding (Here's a forthcoming study from the University of California, Davis). Municipal laws that allow for the burning of wood campfires impact particulate concentrations in the air, only one degree upstream of increased rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses (Read the EPA warning here). All three of these hobbies (still necessities for some), hunting (read more here), ATV/dirtbike riding, wood burning stoves correlate to rural areas.

I believe this disparity in health reflects tension in either the health benefits of the hobbies available to rural/urban denizens, or the accessibility of health beneficial hobbies to rural residents. Even outdoors biking or jogging requires specific accommodating infrastructure, such as bicycling or walking paths. These activities may be impossible or at least unsafe in car centric rural areas. I am unsure of any potential solutions to this divide. Any sort of increased regulation on dangerous hobbies is likely seen as paternalistic, a stance already disfavoured in rural places. Rural folks may see such infrastructure as an urban affront to rural practicality. 

One potential investment that could increase rural population health is that of encouraging youth athletic participation. This may happen at the municipal or state level via increased funding of sports fields and competitions. Suburban children participate in sports longer and earlier than rural children. Studies on public health indicate that these sports can have positive downstream effects on adulthood health. By increasing the already high rural participation in youth sports, rural populations may be induced to be healthier as they age if they keep participating in these recreational activities. 

On the way to Lake Hensley, California, 2025

Additionally, wooded areas and pools of water are still required to fish and hunt. What happens where there is no infrastructure at all for any type of recreation?  Public health studies have documented the higher rates of drug and alcohol use in rural and poorer areas. There are less studies on specifically the proliferation of drug use given a lack of recreation, but it's not hard to imagine a correlation there. Consider the old adage of, "idle hands are the devil's workshop."

I'll close with a personal anecdata point. In my mind’s eye, I am in a rural part of Manitoba. The municipality is landlocked. The altitude in the area varies not more than 20 meters. The highest point is a landfill lovingly called garbage hill hours away in the city of Winnipeg. In the winter, the average temperature is -19C and the lakes and streams freeze over. There are no oceans or mountains to escape to. I asked my friend from there what there is to do. He shrugs, and we very quickly got drunk.

    Elk on the way to Point Reyes, California, October 2025