Why people do or don't hunt, how to recruit highlighted by research

Last June, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) hosted the 2008 Shooting Sports Summit in Colorado Springs. The summit gathered leaders from throughout the shooting, hunting, and outdoor industry, as well as key leaders from fish and wildlife agencies and conservation organizations (including the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks), to address key challenges that face the future of the shooting sports.

The summit focused on a three-year research project titled, The Future of Hunting and the Shooting Sports: Research-based Recruitment and Retention Strategies. The report condenses the findings of one of the largest and most comprehensive studies ever conducted on the factors related to hunting and shooting participation. (A summary of the report may be found online.) Funding for the research came from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the form of a multi-state conservation grant. NSSF commissioned the firm of Responsive Management to conduct the research for the report.

Chapter topics in the report include the following:

• participation in hunting and shooting sports;
• U.S. demographic trends and characteristics;
• hunting and shooting initiation, recruitment, retention, and desertion;
• motivations for and satisfaction with hunting and the shooting sports;
• target markets;
• hunting and shooting recruitment and retention programs;
• public opinion on hunting and the shooting sports; and
• implications and action items.

The summit wrapped up with discussion regarding how individuals, government agencies, and organizations can work in concert to ensure the future of hunting and the shooting sports. Specifically, the summit recommended dissemination of the Future of Hunting and the Shooting Sports research to key members of conservation organization staff.

Printed copies of the report can be ordered online at www.taskforce2020.org/order.cfm. The cost is $30 for NSSF members and $175 for nonmembers. NSSF members and state and federal agencies ordering 25 or more may receive the report for $15 per copy. Electronic PDF download is free at the above website.

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