America Gets 'C' Grade in Sustaining Hunting Culture
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America Gets 'C' Grade in Sustaining Hunting Culture





NEWTOWN, Conn.—A new report compares the strength of each state’s hunting culture and offers a glimpse at how sustainable those cultures may be in the future.

The report indicates that hunting will be most relevant—environmentally, economically, socially, politically—in states where parents have freedom to introduce the sport to their sons and daughters at an early age.

Titled “Families Afield,” the report is available on the Web site of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), at http://www.nssf.org/programs/FamiliesAfield.cfm.

NSSF, National Wild Turkey Federation and U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance commissioned research and are currently distributing the reports to lawmakers and policy leaders. The goal is helping restrictive states understand that supervised youth hunting is not only statistically safe, but also vitally important if outdoor traditions and values are to endure over time.

The report introduces the term "Hunter Replacement Ratio," which calculates the number of new, young hunters who are coming up to replace aging adult hunters. On a national scale, for every 10 adult hunters, about 7 youth hunters are staged to carry on.

“With that 70 percent average, America gets a C grade in sustaining hunting participation for the future. About half of the states are performing better and half are performing worse. We can and should do a lot better,” said Doug Painter, president of NSSF.

With research now completed, Painter added, the next phases of Families Afield will be implemented over time. A series of outreach and education programs will be launched in target states where heavy restrictions appear to be compromising the future of hunting. Grassroots efforts to open doors for youth hunters are already being organized in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Painter reiterated the strong correlation between youth prohibitions and poor Hunter Replacement Ratios.

“In 20 states, a young person can’t hunt deer—even with their mom or dad or other adult mentor—until age 12 or later, and only then after attaining certification in hunter education coursework. With such barriers into hunting, it’s no wonder that so many youngsters settle for soccer or video games,” said Painter.

Statistics show the earlier in life a person begins hunting, the more likely they are to remain active in the sport. Yet only 25 percent of youths from hunting households are active in hunting today.
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