October 30, 2025

NSSF President Joe Bartozzi Talks NSSF’s 2024 Shooting Sports Participation Trends on The Dead Pair Podcast

NSSF’s 2024 Participation Survey reveals trends in clay target shooting, demographic shifts and growth signals. See how ranges, retailers and clubs can turn insights into action with First Shots and +ONE.

Every two years, NSSF commissions a comprehensive nationwide survey to measure who participates in target shooting, how they engage and what motivates them. The 2024 report, spanning 108 pages, offers crucial insights for manufacturers, retailers, clubs and ranges to help the industry anticipate demand, tailor outreach and increase participation.

On a recent episode of The Dead Pair Podcast, NSSF President Joe Bartozzi unpacked highlights from the survey, shedding light on shooting sports participation, new audience growth and the programs that can make these insights actionable.

Top takeaways discussed on the show:

• Clay-target participation remains strong.
  • Roughly 19.5 million people broke a clay in 2024, with sporting clays leading the way at an estimated 14 million participants. Skeet and trap followed close behind, each in the 11–12 million range.
• Overall participation softened slightly from 2022.
  • The slight dip, generally within a percentage point, appears across most disciplines, with 3-Gun as a notable exception that increased.
• Context matters.
  • Pandemic-era peaks, election cycles and economic pressure (ammunition, targets, fuel and travel) likely influenced the 2022 spike and 2024 normalization.
• Demographics are diversifying.
  • 2024 saw the highest levels yet of participation from women, younger adults (18–34) and participants across racial, ethnic and political identities. In short, the community is broadening and is increasingly representative of America.

Bartozzi noted on the show that the line from 2014 to the present is decisively upward. The 2024 data looks less like a step back and more like a settling to pre-2020 trendlines, albeit on a much higher plateau.

How is NSSF helping newcomers get started safely and confidently?

The episode dug into two NSSF cornerstone initiatives that are scaling friendly, local entry points:

First Shots®:

In partnership with ranges and retailers nationwide, First Shots offers introductory classes that cover safe handling, range etiquette, eye/ear protection and provide a supportive environment for taking that literal first shot, now also including shotgun options for newcomers to clay target shooting. Many participants return to continue their learning with discounted range time or gear, courtesy of follow-up coupons.

+ONE® Mentorship Program:

The simplest growth formula in the shooting sports is also the most powerful: bring one new person with you. +ONE equips mentors with resources, recognition and shareable moments that make first-time experiences welcoming and memorable. If even half of today’s active participants brought one friend and half of those stuck, the sport would add millions of new participants almost overnight.

What to do With this Information

Ranges & Retailers

• Host recurring First Shots (monthly/bi-monthly).
• Offer low-recoil try-it options (e.g., .22, 28-gauge) and bundle return incentives.
• Program for women and 18–34; feature safety, community and value.
• Partner with scholastic leagues and conservation orgs; help with travel/entry cost relief.

Clubs & Individual Shooters

• Make +ONE a habit, bring a newcomer, celebrate first-timers, share your mentor story.
• Focus on approachable gear for first shots; model range etiquette and safety.

Manufacturers & Agencies

• Align marketing with demographic insights; keep creative, representative and welcoming.
• Communicate the conservation impact of target shooting (Pittman-Robertson excise taxes).

NSGA Shooting Sports Participation Report 2024 Edition

This 2024 edition of the annual report, prepared for the National Shooting Sports Foundation by the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA), details U.S. participation in hunting and target shooting sports. Gender and age group, household income, regional and state data for all nine sport segment categories and two NET categories is provided in this report.

Members can order the NSGA Shooting Sports Participation – 2024 Edition report for $99. This PDF edition is downloadable immediately upon payment.

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Patron members have immediate free access to this report. Must be logged in for access.

Non-members can order the NSGA Shooting Sports Participation – 2024 Edition report for $990. This PDF edition is downloadable immediately upon payment.

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