A new report by the Sportsmen’s Alliance shows hunters and recreational shooters contributed $149 billion to the national economy in 2020, supported nearly 970,000 jobs and created more than $45 billion in wages and income.
“The economic impact of hunting and sport shooting to local, state and the federal economy cannot be overstated,” said Rob Southwick, president of Southwick Associates, which conducted the study. “If hunting and shooting were a company, the jobs it supports would place it as the third largest private-sector employer, and $65 billion, the retail sales it generates, would place it at fifty-second on the Fortune 500 list.”
The report estimates there are more than 15 million hunters in the United States that hunted 310.6 million days in 2020.
In addition to generating revenue for the economy, hunting also generates significant revenue to fund conservation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently allocated $1.1 billion dollars to states that came from excise taxes on guns, ammunition, archery equipment, fishing equipment and boat fuel. To date, funds generated by the Pittman-Robertson Act amount to more than $15.2 billion for conservation.
(Photo credit: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources)