How Big is the Shooting Market?
- October 8, 2015
- By Randall Mueller
- Research
The number of participants in recreational shooting activities has been on the rise for the past several years. While most folks within the hunting and shooting industry know this, what does this really mean in terms of numbers? In other words, how big of a market are we talking about here?
A survey conducted for the National Shooting Sports Foundation by Responsive Management and the resulting report puts things in perspective. (Numbers represent participants 18 and over.)
|
|
2009 |
2009 |
2012 |
2012 |
|
|
Shooting Activities |
% of Overall U.S. Population |
Estimated Total Participants |
% of Overall U.S. Population |
Estimated Total Participants |
% Increase or Decrease in Number of Participants |
|
Any target or sport shooting |
15% |
34,382,566 |
17% |
40,779,651 |
19% |
|
Target shooting with a rifle |
11% |
24,045,795 |
11% |
26,882,425 |
12% |
|
Target shooting with a handgun |
10% |
22,169,700 |
12% |
28,209,283 |
27% |
|
Shooting a modern sporting rifle |
4% |
8,868,085 |
5% |
11,976,702 |
35% |
|
Shooting sporting clays |
4% |
8,399,989 |
4% |
8,789,340 |
5% |
|
Trap shooting |
3% |
7,582,479 |
4% |
10,116,684 |
33% |
|
Skeet shooting |
3% |
6,979,680 |
5% |
12,090,346 |
73% |
Further analysis of the study revealed that of new target shooters (less than five years of experience), only 29% of them hunted in 2012. For established target shooters (more than five years of experience), hunting participation was recorded as 56%.
The bottom line: Shooting continues its march toward becoming a mainstream activity; if your customer focus is solely on shooters who hunt, you’re missing out on a huge market segment.
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