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February 8, 2010
Good News About Adult Hunters Mentoring Young People
A recent HunterSurvey.com study commissioned by the National Shooting Sports Foundation shows an impressive level of adult sportsmen and women mentoring young hunters, which is good news since developing new hunters means more advocates for hunters' rights and more support for wildlife conservation.
A news release points out that . . .
–More than 77 percent of active hunters and target shooters indicated they had taken their sons and daughters hunting. Even adults without a child or stepchild got into the act, with 56 percent of them reporting they also took a young person hunting.
–83.4 percent of young people were introduced to hunting, even if they didn’t carry a firearm or bow, before they turned 13 years old, which is a critical factor in ensuring the next generation will be avid, lifelong hunters.
–The average age of the mentor was 38, according to a concurrent study conducted by NSSF. A majority of adult hunters, 61.7 percent, first introduce a young person to hunting when they are between the ages of 30 and 45. Mentoring is an important component not only for recruiting new hunters but for ensuring experienced sportsmen and women continue spending time afield.
–The majority of adult hunters, 55.3 percent, reported they took young men hunting while 10.1 percent said they mentored young females, according to HunterSurvey.com. More than 34 percent of hunters reported they mentored both sexes, though, which increases the percentage of adult hunters mentoring males into hunting to 72.6 percent while adults mentoring young women rises to 27.4 percent.
–With 10.3 million big game hunters in the United States according to the 2006 National Survey of Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife Associated Recreation, it’s no surprise HunterSurvey.com showed deer were the most popular game species pursued during a young person’s first hunt. Nearly 56 percent of youth deer hunted with an adult mentor on their first hunt, though the second most popular hunt was for small game with 40.7 percent participation. Upland hunting ranked third at 16.7 percent and wild turkey a distant fourth at 12.8 percent.
If you hunt or target shoot, sign up to participate in www.huntersurvey.com. Just for completing the survey, you are entered into a monthly drawing for one of five $100 gift certificates to the sporting goods retailer of your choice.
Categories: Conservation, Hunting
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