The National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation (FHWAR) indicates that fishing participation in the U.S. fell from 35.6 million in 1991 to 34.1 million in 2001, and hunting fell from 14.1 million to 13.0 million. The decline in overall participation is of concern to those involved with wildlife recreation, especially considering that the population of the U.S. increased about 13% over the same period . While it is clear that participation declined, it is less clear whether the decline was attributable to declining recruitment of new participants, declining retention of former participants, or both.
This report examines recruitment and retention using data from the 1991, 1996, 2001, and soon to be released 2006 FHWAR. This report sheds light on numerous questions regarding fishing and hunting recruitment and retention. What percent of children living at home have ever been exposed to fishing? How much did this percentage change from 1990 to 2005? How much higher is the percent of boys exposed to hunting than girls? Do the hunting practices of fathers with children at home who engage in hunting differ from those with children who do not? At what age do individuals tend to stop fishing and hunting? How much lower was retention of anglers and hunters in 2005 compared to 1990? What income groups had relatively large changes in retention of anglers and hunters from 1995 to 2005?