According to a National Shooting Sports Foundation report, “America’s Hunters – a detailed look at demographics and expenditures,” hunters classified as “avid,” meaning the top 10% of participants in terms of number of days afield, spend $4578 annually on all aspects of their sport. (Note that the report’s figures reflect 2013 spending, the most recently available.)

An expanded look at all hunters (all license holders, regardless of their level of participation), reveals that big-game hunters spend the most annually at $2,100. Small-game hunters are a distant second at $1,070 annually and migratory bird hunters are close behind at $1,097.

So, what were they spending on? According to answers by thousands of sportsmen and women at ShooterSurvey.com and HunterSurvey.com for 2016, 53.9% of hunters purchased at least one hunting or shooting item in the previous year. Ammunition was the most commonly purchased item, with 67.7% of respondents reporting buying rifle, shotgun or handgun ammo.

Hunting accessories (38.5%), shooting accessories (37.4%) and firearms (35.2%) were the next most-purchased items, while 30.3% purchased hunting clothing. For a complete snapshot of gear expenditures, see the accompanying infographic.

Check back here again soon, when we’ll look at spending from another perspective: Identifying the states where hunters spend the most. 

Hunters don’t hesitate to open their wallets when it comes to gearing up for their sport. In recent blogs we’ve looked at the huge economic impact resulting from spending on hunting. Now, let’s take a detailed look at how much sportsmen and women lay out for gear plus other costs of pursuing their favorite game.

According to a National Shooting Sports Foundation report, “America’s Hunters – a detailed look at demographics and expenditures,” hunters classified as “avid,” meaning the top 10% of participants in terms of number of days afield, spend $4578 annually on all aspects of their sport. (Note that the report’s figures reflect 2013 spending, the most recently available.)

An expanded look at all hunters (all license holders, regardless of their level of participation), reveals that big-game hunters spend the most annually at $2,100. Small-game hunters are a distant second at $1,070 annually and migratory bird hunters are close behind at $1,097.

So, what were they spending on? According to answers by thousands of sportsmen and women at ShooterSurvey.com and HunterSurvey.com for 2016, 53.9% of hunters purchased at least one hunting or shooting item in the previous year. Ammunition was the most commonly purchased item, with 67.7% of respondents reporting buying rifle, shotgun or handgun ammo.

Hunting accessories (38.5%), shooting accessories (37.4%) and firearms (35.2%) were the next most-purchased items, while 30.3% purchased hunting clothing. For a complete snapshot of gear expenditures, see the accompanying infographic.

Check back here again soon, when we’ll look at spending from another perspective: Identifying the states where hunters spend the most.