The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that less than five percent of Americans went hunting in recent years. That’s less that half of the percent of the population that hunted 50 years ago. The 2019 season saw 15.5 million licensed hunters from a US population of 330 million. That equates to an all-time low of just 4.7% of the population who hunted. This continued decline of hunters and the hunter-gather lifestyle, plus its implications on wildlife conservation funding, casts an ominous cloud on the future of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.

Experts believe that America’s decline in hunting is directly linked to the negative public attitudes towards guns and hunting by today’s generation. In fact, studies confirm that the millennial generation is less likely to be involved with shooting sports than previous generations because of their negative perceptions about guns and harvesting game animals.

That’s why it’s very unlikely that many R3 programs that tell young people to, “go hunting”, or “try shooting” will result in changing those attitudes or be successful at recruiting a new hunter. Most R3 professionals in state and federal agencies agree that recruitment into hunting is more of a stepping-stone process that first requires a young person, using their own value system, to decide for themselves that a shooting sport could be a fun and safe outdoor activity they would like to try. Then they need realistic pathways to expand their shooting sports interests into actually hunting.

So if the process of recruiting young people first begins with them deciding for themselves to try shooting sports or hunting, what tools can effectively make that impression? Research supports that today’s youth are greatly influenced in their lifestyle and recreational decisions in two ways: 1) Peer-hosted media that entertains, engages and educates them, 2) Peer-driven classroom activities where they share in a process of discovery and self expression. And once kids form their own value-based decisions, they have a major influence on their family’s recreational activities.

Unfortunately, most R3 agencies or organizations simply don’t have the multi-million dollar staff, media infrastructure, an Emmy-winning syndicated broadcast television and digital networks, or today’s technical experience to produce and nationally distribute television programs and classroom educational curriculum that can inspire millions of kids to want to explore shooting sports or to go hunting some day.

Fortunately, the Safari Club International Foundation, the Hunter Legacy Fund and a growing number of state agencies and R3 orgs, have partnered with the Into the Outdoors Education Network to launch America’s Hunter Legacy television series.  Their success made television history in 2018 by winning the Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences as the top youth educational program in the Midwest. For the first time, Hollywood awarded a show that promotes kid’s hunting. That, along with extensive youth engagement strategies, prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to also join the program in 2019 through a Sport Fish & Wildlife Restoration grant to create the America’s Conservation & Hunting Heritage Series.

The end result to date are 6 half-hour America’s Conservation & Hunting Heritage television shows distributed nationally on 116 channels in an Emmy-winning youth education series. The program has also produced 26 classroom shooting sports and wildlife conservation videos with lesson activities that inspire and empower youth to explore the shooting sports. All of this is projected to impact over 15 MILLION kids and their families over the next 5 years. Judge the youth engagement for yourself of this shooting sports and hunting heritage content by watching some of these programs: http://intotheoutdoors.org/wildlife-conservation/

Whew! So it looks like the R3 shooting sports and hunting community can simply sit back and breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the tide is about to turn on recruiting our next generation of shooting sports enthusiasts… right? Wrong.

Sorry, not yet. The founding partners can no longer be expected to fully fund a program that benefits the entire shooting sports and hunting  community. It’s now time for the rest of the R3 agencies and hunting community to partner in the continued success of this one-of-a-kind program that’s benefiting their collective future. So please take a moment to see all the ways this program inspires and empowers our future shooting sports enthusiast and hunters. Then stand alongside your peers in helping fund the program while also getting to tell your custom R3 story to millions across America. It’s easier than you might imagine. Simply contact us to learn how to leverage our $300,000 in television airtime in an Emmy-winning series with your R3 story to reshape the future of shooting sports and hunting.

And be sure to watch the video below on how we use science and psychology to reshape America’s perception of shooting sports and hunting!