As conservation organizations and wildlife agencies look to foster programs designed to grow the next generation of sportsmen by mentoring new hunters and recreational shooters, some interesting numbers on current efforts have emerged via HunterSurvey.com and ShooterSurvey.com. This online survey of active hunters and shooters, conducted by Southwick Associates, revealed 34 percent of active hunters and 43 percent of active recreational shooters have taken at least one child hunting or shooting in the past 12 months.At least 17 percent of those who mentored children took more than one in that same timeframe. On the shooting side, 26 percent took more than one child. As one would expect, most of the youth being mentored were the children or the grandchildren of the person teaching them, but certainly not all of them were.
The relationship to the mentor was as follows:
Relationship Hunter/Shooter Percentage
Son or Daughter 50% / 47%
Grandchild 33% / 36%
Niece, Nephew or Other Relative 12% / 12%
Unrelated Young Person 26% / 27%
Part of Scouts, Church Group or Other Youth Activity 3% / 7%
“Mentors and mentoring programs are the best way to grow the next generation of sportsmen, and it’s encouraging to see this role carried out by many hunters and recreational shooting enthusiasts,” says Rob Southwick, president of Southwick Associates, which designs and conducts the surveys at HunterSurvey.com, ShooterSurvey.com and AnglerSurvey.com.
To help continually improve, protect and advance hunting, shooting and other outdoor recreation, all sportsmen and sportswomen are encouraged to participate in the bi-monthly surveys at HunterSurvey.com, ShooterSurvey.com and/or AnglerSurvey.com. Every other month, participants who complete the surveys are entered into a drawing for one of five $100 gift certificates to the sporting goods retailer of their choice.