Whichever figure is correct, the key fact is that hunts – now essentially hobbyist – are not the ones primarily doing the illegal hunting.
Of the three others on this inaugural trip, one was an experienced cyclist, one was a hobbyist who averaged 25 miles at weekends, and one was, like me, a cycle commuter with no long-distance experience.
One biotech hobbyist claims to have created a weed resistant to Roundup, America's most popular herbicide.
But with $100 worth of hobbyist gear, Israeli researchers managed to skim encrypted data off e-passports from several feet away.
In recent months Quirky raised $16m, MakerBot raised $10m and Shapeways, a firm that offers a 3D-printing service, received $5m.The parallel with the hobbyist computer movement of the 1970s is striking.
That modern electronic products like the Raspberry Pi come pre-assembled says much about how the hobbyist movement has evolved.
That may have been acceptable for small businesses, but was well beyond the reach of Radio Shack's hobbyist following.
Since its founding in 1985, Fry's has managed to do all that Radio Shack ever dreamed about: sell consumer electronics, household appliances, mobile phones, computer hardware and software as well as electronic components and circuit boards, while also offering in-store hobbyist advice and repair work.
Nike, say, has no inherent competitive advantage over a hobbyist who likes to design shoes (or feet, paws, wings or claws) for fun.
"It's not likely that you're ever going to see dial-up hobbyist clubs," says Dr Horrigan.
For both hobbyist and professional designer, letterpress whether old-fashioned metal or new-fangled plastic has become the latest, coolest tool .Digital kids are sick of sitting in front of screens pushing buttons all day," says Erik Spiekermann, a world-renowned typographer who returned to letterpress after decades in digital font design.
