Churn rates, or the percentage of hunters not participating each year, have held between 21% to 27% annually for the past five years, according to the grant-funded hunting license dashboard

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. (NSSF) received a $157,060 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service under the Multistate Conservation Grant Program (CFDA 15.628). The grant funds a 1-year project to examine participation trends and reasons for declining hunter retention rates in the U.S. NSSF will survey former and infrequent hunters to understand their motivations, preferences, and activities that compete with hunting. The results will be shared with state agencies and NGOs to help improve hunter retention efforts and increase overall hunting participation.

Even the pandemic did not notably reduce churn rates, meaning we lose approximately one-quarter of our hunters each year, offsetting our successes with new recruits. High churn rates hinder states and non-governmental organization s (NGO) abilities to maintain participation and to maximize social awareness and support for hunting. Though states continually encourage people to continue hunting, we have a limited understanding of why many hunters often choose other recreations. By not understanding how and why other activities often are preferred over hunting, our ability to retain hunters is limited. The most recent insights regarding which activities often win over hunters, why they win and how to overcome these challenges is 14 years old national shooting sports foundations understanding activities that compete with hunting and target shooting (2011) . Given the social and participation changes over the past decade and a half, basing retention efforts on such old data may send states R3 (recruitment, retention, reactivation) and marketing efforts off track. With assistance from southwick associates, we will examine participation trends using license data, then survey former and infrequent hunters to learn why they hunt(ED), what they like and disliked, which recreational activities they engage in instead of hunting, why these other activities are often preferred, plus optimal message imagery support tactics we can field to improve hunter retention efforts. Results will be shared widely in visually appealing summary reports with all states, hunting ngos and industry and the R3 clearinghouse. Work will begin with a careful review of recent wildlife and sport fish restoration-funded projects to ensure we complement existing information. The results will help boost hunter retention rates and increase participation in hunting.