fund.org
“The percentage of the American population 12 years of age or older that was hunting hovered around 9-11% for 25 years between 1955 and 1980. But a declining trend could be detected from 1975 to the present: 1975 – 9.9%, 1980 – 9.1%, 1985 – 8.4%, and 1991 – 7.5%.”[16]
and
"The judgment of Decker, Enck, and Brown was that “The future of hunting looks bleak given prevailing social values coupled with recent and projected trends in American demographics.”[17] They go on to quote two other leading authorities on the demographics and future of hunting, Thomas A. Heberlein and E. J. Thomas of the University of Wisconsin, a leading hunting industry think tank since 1935, when Aldo Leopold became the first chair of the newly created Department of Game Management. “It is not out of the question that there will be no sport hunting, or a dramatic change in the character of sport hunting, in the United States by mid-century.”[18]"
"According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the long-term trend described a decade ago by Decker, Enck, and Brown is continuing unabated. In 1985, FWS reported that there were 16.7 million hunters age 16 or older in the U.S., comprising 7% of the total population.[19] By 1991, that number had dropped to 14 million, or 5.6% of the population.[20] By 2001, it was down to 13 million, or 4.6%.[21] Over the 16-year period from 1985 to 2001, the number of hunters in the U.S. suffered a decline of 22%."
fascinating article
"Although you would never guess it from the state wildlife agencies’ propaganda, wildlife watchers greatly outnumber hunters. In fact, there are 66.1 million wildlife watchers in the United States, more than five times the number of hunters.[22] Whenever The Fund for Animals makes this point, outdoor writers all over the country respond that the comparison is misleading because so many hunters are nature lovers who also engage in wildlife watching. But there are only 13 million hunters in the country, so even if every one of them were also a wildlife watcher, there would still be 53.1 million wildlife watchers who do not hunt, four times the total number of hunters.
Of the 66.1 million wildlife watchers, 21.8 million travel away from home to engage in their hobby.[23] Even these “nonresidential” wildlife watchers outnumber hunters by 8.7 million.
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