A troubling trend has emerged in which the general populations’ approval of hunting and target shooting is declining at an alarming rate over the past few years, according to an announcement posted Monday by The Outdoor Wire.
A key reason for this is that the media’s heavy focus on the topic of gun violence has influenced millions of Americans to feel that any activity involving a firearm is bad.
The drop in cultural acceptance for activities like hunting, fishing, and target shooting among the general population was first quantified and reported by Outdoor Stewards of Conservation Foundation (OSCF) in May 2023. Since then, OSCF has invested heavily in promoting positive contributions made to society by the firearms industry, hunters, trappers, and target shooters to help reverse this trend.
OSCF research conducted and released in 2023 identified that more than 10 million voting aged American’s no longer support the activities of hunting and target shooting as they once did.
In an effort to learn more about this troubling shift, Outdoor Stewards of Conservation Foundation worked with research firm Responsive Management in 2024 to administer a comprehensive nationwide study to better determine why cultural acceptance for these activities was declining.
The results, along with recommended actions, from this important research will be presented Tuesday, February 11th, 2025, from 2:00pm – 3:00pm eastern.
Registration for this complimentary webinar can be found here.
