Ben Mulligan, chairman of the Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports, recently produced a joint statement from conservation, hunting and shooting sports leaders aimed at educating the public.
In it, he said the future of hunting, trapping and recreational shooting depends on more than participation alone, noting that it also depends on the broad public understanding of the role hunters and shooters play in conservation, wildlife management and outdoor heritage.
That’s why he said Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation (R3) and public-facing education should be viewed as complementary strategies. “Public support helps protect the social and political acceptance of hunting and shooting sports,” he wrote. “R3 helps ensure there are still hunters, shooters and conservation participants to carry that heritage forward.”
At its core, Mulligan said R3 is not just about producing more license buyers. He said it is central to sustaining the social and cultural foundation of conservation. That work includes welcoming new participants, keeping current hunters and shooters engaged, reactivating those who have lapsed, improving customer experiences, strengthening mentoring systems, reducing barriers to participation and helping the broader public understand the role hunters and shooters play in wildlife conservation.
The mission of the Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports includes promoting the growth of hunting and the shooting sports and educating the public on the contributions hunters and shooters make to wildlife conservation. Hunting’s future depends on both participation and support from the non-hunting community.
Hunter participation has declined as a share of the U.S. population over several decades. Many hunter education graduates do not become long-term hunters. Demographic, cultural and recreational trends present serious headwinds. None of that proves R3 is ineffective. It proves that R3 is necessary, challenging and still evolving.
Recent license data provides evidence that R3 efforts are helping maintain participation. The Council’s work with Southwick Associates found that hunting license sales in 2023 declined by just 0.3 percent across 47 reporting states compared with 2022. More than half of those states reported an increase in license sales, and more than 80 percent saw changes of 5 percent or less. That is not a sweeping victory, but neither is it evidence of collapse.
The future of hunting will not be secured by hunters talking only to hunters, Mulligan said, since the vast majority of Americans do not hunt. They still vote, serve on commissions, influence schools, shape media narratives and help decide whether hunting is viewed as a legitimate conservation tool or a relic of another time.
Shooting Sports
Sports are popular among youth, but have you ever considered shooting sports?
Most shooting sports appear in the summer and winter Olympic games — and for good reason. Shooting sports focus on fine motor skills and breath control to influence the precision and accuracy of a shot. Those with cardiovascular stamina, physical stability and mental resilience can develop the muscle memory to repeat precise and accurate shots up to 250 times in a row, from different distances and shooting positions.
The biathlon and the pentathlon include skiing and running laps, which intensify the challenge of producing a stable shot when the body is under higher cardiovascular stress.
Unlike some other sports, stationary shooting sports like archery and clay target shooting can be enjoyed by many different abilities and strengths.
Students participating in shooting sports programs report feeling a higher level of responsibility and confidence, improvements in academic performances and more connected to their peers. These benefits are in direct opposition to the negative effects of exposure to social media at an early age.
Shooting sports also are an activity that participants can continue at all ages. Most importantly, youth shooting sports programs have excellent safety records due to the structured training in safe firearm handling.
If you’re interested in learning more about youth shooting opportunities, check around at the local schools and sporting clubs.
Fish Counts
You can check the latest fish counts by species near Huntley Park on the Rogue River at https://myodfw.com/huntley-park-fish-counts.