College Student Involvement in Hunting and Shooting Sports: What Drives Participation?

Little is known about college students’ participation in shooting sports or hunting with firearms. It is also unknown how participation in these activities during the college years differs from childhood participation and why. This study investigated these questions with a survey of 298 college students in the Northeastern United States in 2017 and 2018. Results indicated that characteristics of the area where respondents grew up influenced their hunting participation during college, but this was not the case for shooting sports. Across activities, having fun was the topmost reported motivation for participation. For hunting with firearms, obtaining locally sourced meat was the second most commonly reported rationale. Participation in hunting and shooting sports was lower in college than in childhood; this trend was not explained by demographic characteristics.