A comprehensive new study indicates that Texas hunters and fishermen spend more money on their favorite pastimes than sportsmen in any other state. The economic ripple effect makes outdoors enthusiasts a huge factor in the Texas economy.

That's no surprise to the 2.6 million Lone Star sportsmen who dole out a big chunk of their discretionary income on hunting and fishing, but the numbers may shock even them. According to the study, sportsmen contribute $18 million a day to the Texas economy, about $6.6 billion annually.

The report was compiled by the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation. It was based on 2006 data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Related Recreation. It also used statistics from the American Sportfishing Association and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

"Because sportsmen enjoy hunting and fishing alone or in small groups, they are overlooked as a constituency and as a substantial economic force," Jeff Crane, president of the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, said in a news release. "When you compare spending by hunters and anglers to other sectors, their impact on the state's economy becomes more tangible."

The report ranked Florida second in annual spending by sportsmen ($4.8 billion), followed by California ($3.6 billion), Pennsylvania ($3.5 billion) and Minnesota ($3.4 billion).

On a national level, 34 million American sportsmen 16 and older spent more than $76 billion in 2006, supporting 1.6 million jobs. The report acknowledges that its estimates are low because they do not include spending by anglers and hunters younger than 16.

Texas' numbers would be much higher if the cost of rural real estate were factored in. Rural ranch sales are driven by the sale of recreational properties. In the last decade, land values in unpopulated areas of West Texas, for example, have more than doubled.

South Texas cattle ranches that sold for $300 an acre in the 1980s now sell for more than $2,000 an acre. The buyers are much more interested in white-tailed deer, quail and other game than in livestock production.

According to the report, Texas sportsmen support more than twice as many jobs as Dell Computer Corp., Lockheed Martin, Electronic Data Systems and Dow Chemical Company combined.

Annual spending by state sportsmen exceeds the combined cash receipts from Texas' cotton, greenhouse/nursery, dairy, poultry broilers and corn production.

In Texas, more people go hunting and fishing than attend games played by the Cowboys, Mavericks, Houston Texans and Houston Rockets combined.

If all Texas sportsmen voted, they would represent 53 percent of the average number of votes cast in the state. Texans spend $441 million annually on outboard boats and engines.

"Spending by sportsmen benefits not only the manufacturers of hunting- and fishing-related products, but everything from local mom-and-pop businesses to wildlife conservation," Doug Painter, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said in a news release. "Because most hunting and fishing takes place in rural areas, much of the spending benefits less affluent parts of the state."

The economic impact report is called "Hunting and Fishing: Bright Stars of the American Economy – a Force as Big as All Outdoors." State-by-state data is available at www.sportsmenslink .org or www.nssf.org.

According to the report, Texas attracts 123,000 nonresident hunters each year and 218,000 nonresident anglers. Texans spend about 13.4 million hunter-days in the field and 38.9 million angler-days on the water.