Americans AttitudesToward Hunting,fishingandTargetshooting2011

(nationaltrendsincluded) nationalshooting sportsfoundation

nssf

Responsive Management
Conducted by Responsive Management, September 2011

www.nssf.org

Methodology This nationwide study was conducted for the National Shooting Sports Foundation to determine the opinions of United States residents about hunting and target shooting issues. The study entailed a telephone survey of randomly selected U.S. residents (both landlines and cell phones were called) properly proportioned among all the states to be representative of the United States as a whole. The telephone survey questionnaire was developed cooperatively by Responsive Management and the NSSF, and Responsive Management conducted pre-tests of the questionnaire to ensure proper wording, flow, and logic in the survey. Telephone surveying times were Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Saturday from noon to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., local time, using a five-callback design to avoid bias toward people easy to reach by telephone and to provide an equal opportunity for all to participate. The survey was conducted in August to September 2011. Throughout this report, findings of the telephone survey are reported at a 95% confidence interval (or higher). For the entire sample of U.S. residents, the sampling error is at most plus or minus 3.37 percentage points, based on a sample size of at least 846 and a population size of U.S. residents ages 18 and older of 227,302,000.

2011 National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. (NSSF). All rights reserved by NSSF and other content contributors. No part of this publication may be republished, reproduced or redistributed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, without NSSFs prior written permission.

Q10. Did you watch a movie at the theater in the past 12 months?

Yes

60

No

39

Don't know

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=930)

Q11. Did you use a swimming pool in the past 12 months?

Yes

62

No

38

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=930)

Q13. Have you gone hunting in the past 12 months?

Yes

13

No

87

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=930)

Q14. How many days did you hunt in the past 12 months? (Asked of those who have gone hunting in the past 12 months.)

More than 40 days 31-40 days 26-30 days 21-25 days 16-20 days 11-15 days 6-10 days 5 days 4 days 3 days 2 days 1 day Don't know 0 5 4 3 5

8 9 13

9 12 Mean = 18.58 Median = 10

9 12 8 6 20 40 60 80 100

Percent (n=92)

Q17. Have you gone recreational fishing in the past 12 months?

Yes

32

No

68

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=930)

Q18. How many days did you recreationally fish in the past 12 months? (Asked of those who have gone recreational fishing in the past 12 months.)

More than 40 days 31-40 days 26-30 days 21-25 days 16-20 days 11-15 days 10 days 9 days 8 days 7 days 6 days 5 days 4 days 3 days 2 days 1 day Don't know 0 5 2 0 1 5 5 4 4 1 7

11

Mean = 15.69 Median = 7

8 12 11 9

7 20 40 60 80 100

Percent (n=254)

Q21. Did you do any recreational target shooting or sport shooting in the past 12 months?

Yes

17

No

82

Don't know

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=930)

Q23. How interested are you in going hunting in the future?

Very interested

16

Somewhat interested

11

Not at all interested

73

Don't know

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=930)

Q24. How interested are you in going recreational fishing in the future?

Very interested

31

Somewhat interested

25

Not at all interested

43

Don't know

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=930)

Q25. How interested are you in going recreational target or sport shooting in the future?

Very interested

16

Somewhat interested

21

Not at all interested

63

Don't know

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=930)

Q27. In general, do you approve or disapprove of legal hunting?

Strongly approve

42 74%

Moderately approve

32

Neither approve nor disapprove

Moderately disapprove

Strongly disapprove

12

Don't know

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=846)

Trends in Approval and Disapproval of Hunting (Adult Americans nationwide)

100

80

73

75

78 74

60 Percent Overall approval Overall disapproval 40

22 20 17 16

20

0 1995 2003 2006 2011

Q27. In general, do you approve or disapprove of legal hunting?

46 Strongly approve 39

Moderately approve

32 31

Neither approve nor disapprove

4 7 Male Female

Moderately disapprove

10 6

Strongly disapprove

7 16

0 Don't know 1

20

40

60

80

100

Percent

Q28. In general, do you approve or disapprove of legal recreational fishing?

Strongly approve

65

Moderately approve

28

Neither approve nor disapprove

Moderately disapprove

Strongly disapprove

Don't know

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=846)

In general, do you approve or disapprove of legal recreational fishing?

100

80 69 60 Percent 65 2006 (n=813) 2011 (n=846)

40 25 20 3 3 28

1 0 Strongly approve Moderately approve

Neither approve nor disapprove

Moderately disapprove

Strongly disapprove

Don't know

Trends in Approval and Disapproval of Fishing Nationally

100

95 90

93

93

80

60 Percent Overall approval Overall disapproval 40

20 4 5

3 0 1995 (n=2,085)

2 2011 (n=846)

2003 (n=757)

2006 (n=813)

Q29. In general, do you approve or disapprove of legal recreational shooting?

Strongly approve

44

Moderately approve

27

Neither approve nor disapprove

Moderately disapprove

Strongly disapprove

12

Don't know

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=846)

Q30. No matter your opinion on hunting, do you agree or disagree that it is OK for other people to hunt if they do so legally and in accordance with hunting laws and regulations?

Strongly agree

75

Somewhat agree

19

Neither agree nor disagree

Somewhat disagree

Strongly disagree

Don't know

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=930)

Q31. Which of the following statements best describes your opinion of recreational shooting sports?

Shooting sports are perfectly acceptable

66

Shooting sports are OK, but maybe a little inappropriate now

27

Shooting sports are inappropriate nowadays

None of these

Don't know

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=930)

Which of the following statements best describes your opinion of recreational shooting sports?
100

80 63 60 Percent 59 66 2001 (Roper Starch Worldwide) 2006 (RM) 2011 (RM) 40 28 23 20 11 11 5 0 Shooting sports are perfectly acceptable Shooting sports are OK, but maybe a little inappropriate now Shooting sports are inappropriate nowadays None of these describes my opinion / Don't know 2 3 2 27

Q32. Not including meat from farm-raised sources, have you eaten any wild-caught game meat, such as venison or deer, wild turkey, boar, buffalo, or duck, in the past 12 months?

Yes

42

No

58

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=930)

Q33. Did you personally harvest any of the game meat you ate in the past 12 months? (Asked of those who have gone hunting and have eaten wildcaught game meat in the past 12 months.)

Yes

78

No

22

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=80)

Q34. Not including shellfish or commercially processed fish such as fish sticks and fish patties, have you eaten any wild-caught fish, either freshwater or saltwater, in the past 12 months?

Yes

58

No

41

Don't know

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=930)

Q32/Q34. Have you eaten any wild-caught game meat, such as venison or deer, wild turkey, boar, buffalo, or duck, not including meat from farm-raised sources and/or wild-caught fish, either freshwater or saltwater, not including shellfish or commercially processed fish such as fish sticks and fish patties, in the past 12 months?

Have eaten wildcaught game meat and/or fish

67

Have not eaten either wild-caught game meat nor fish

32

Don't know

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=930)

Q35. Did you personally catch any of the fish you ate in the past 12 months? (Asked of those who have gone recreational fishing and have eaten wildcaught fish in the past 12 months.)

Yes

79

No

21

Don't know

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=201)

Q36. Respondent's age.

65 years old or older

16

55-64 years old

14

45-54 years old

19

35-44 years old

19

Mean = 45.21 Median = 44

25-34 years old

18

18-24 years old

13

Refused

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=930)

Q42. Respondent's gender, observed by interviewer; not asked.

Male

48

Female

51

Don't know

20

40

60

80

100

Percent (n=930)

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