Hunting remained a substantial U.S. outdoor activity in 2022. The national survey counted 14.4 million Americans age 16 and older who hunted, along with 165 million hunting trips and 241 million days spent hunting. Hunting expenditures totaled $45.2 billion. These figures describe participation and spending in the United States during 2022.
Contents
- At-a-glance participation
- Game categories and time afield
- Who hunted
- Age, place, and income
- Big-game participation and spending
- Recruitment and retention
At-a-glance participation
The 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation provides the broadest snapshot in this set of figures. It counted 14.4 million hunters age 16 and older. Those hunters made 165 million hunting trips and spent 241 million days hunting. The same survey reported $45.2 billion in hunting expenditures.
The measures describe different parts of participation. The hunter total counts people, the trip figure counts outings, and the days figure counts time in the field. They should not be treated as interchangeable measures or added together. The expenditure total is a separate economic measure for 2022.
| 2022 measure | Reported figure |
|---|---|
| U.S. hunters age 16 and older | 14.4 million |
| Hunting trips | 165 million |
| Days spent hunting | 241 million |
| Hunting expenditures | $45.2 billion |
The scale of activity also matters for food traditions. A large national hunting population includes people pursuing different types of game, with very different patterns of time afield. The category figures below show how participation was distributed in the same 2022 survey.
Game categories and time afield
Big-game hunting was the largest category by both reported hunter count and days in the field. The survey counted 11.5 million big-game hunters in 2022, and big-game hunters spent 135 million days hunting. These figures make big game the central participation category in the available data.
Small-game hunting involved 5.3 million hunters, who spent 38 million days hunting. Migratory bird hunting involved 2.8 million hunters and 23 million days. Hunting for other animals involved about 2.3 million hunters and 20 million days.
The category counts are not a simple partition of the 14.4 million total because one hunter can participate in more than one type of hunting. For that reason, the category figures should be read as participation measures by activity, not as mutually exclusive groups.
The time figures provide useful context for wild-game cooking. Big-game hunters accounted for 135 million reported hunting days, while small-game hunters accounted for 38 million, migratory bird hunters for 23 million, and hunters seeking other animals for 20 million. Each number refers to 2022 in the United States and comes from the 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.
Who hunted
The national survey reported that 77 percent of hunters were male, representing 11.0 million people. Females represented 22 percent, or 3.1 million hunters. Another gender represented 1 percent, or 0.2 million hunters. Percentages are rounded, so the displayed shares may not reproduce the total exactly when combined.
Participation rates show a different comparison: the share of each population group that hunted. Among the U.S. population age 16 and older, 9 percent of males hunted in 2022. The comparable rate was 2 percent for females and 4 percent for other genders.
These two views answer different questions. The composition figures describe the gender makeup of hunters. The participation rates describe hunting prevalence within each gender group. A larger share of hunters from one group does not by itself mean that group has the highest participation rate in its wider population.
The recruitment and retention report offers another gender-related measure. In that report, females made up 17 percent of all active hunters and 33 percent of hunting entrants. The reported hunting recruitment rate was 0.7 percent for males and 0.4 percent for females. Because these measures come from the 2022 Fishing and Hunting Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation in the U.S. report, they should be kept distinct from the national survey’s hunter-composition figures.
Age, place, and income
The 2022 national survey reported hunting participation rates between 5 and 6 percent across the listed age groups. The rate was 6 percent for ages 16 to 17, 6 percent for ages 18 to 24, 5 percent for ages 25 to 34, and 6 percent for ages 35 to 44. It was 5 percent for ages 45 to 54, 6 percent for ages 55 to 64, and 5 percent for ages 65 to 75.
The largest listed hunter cohort was ages 35 to 44, with 2.8 million hunters. Hunters ages 55 to 64 numbered 2.6 million. These counts are absolute population measures, while the age percentages are participation rates within the corresponding age groups.
Place of residence also showed variation. Residents of metropolitan statistical areas with 1 million or more people had a 4 percent hunting participation rate. The rate was 10 percent in areas with 10,000 to 50,000 people, 8 percent in MSAs with 50,000 to 249,000 people, and 6 percent in MSAs with 250,000 to 999,999 people. Residents outside MSAs had a 6 percent rate.
The largest MSAs contained 4.9 million hunters, while nonmetropolitan hunters numbered 3.5 million. Those totals show that a large number of hunters lived in major metropolitan areas even though the highest listed participation rate occurred in a smaller population category.
Household income showed a similar distinction between rate and count. The participation rate was 9 percent for hunters with household income from $150,000 to $199,999; 7 percent for $100,000 to $149,999; 6 percent for $50,000 to $74,999; and 6 percent for $75,000 to $99,999. The rate was 5 percent for $25,000 to $34,999 and 5 percent for $35,000 to $49,999.
At the lower end of the reported income ranges, the rate was 4 percent below $10,000, 4 percent from $10,000 to $14,999, and 4 percent from $15,000 to $24,999. The median income of hunters was roughly $59,000. Hunters below that median had a 5 percent participation rate, compared with 7 percent for hunters above it.
Big-game participation and spending
Big-game participation is especially relevant to readers interested in venison and other wild-game meals. The report titled Big-Game Hunters: Demographic Characteristics and Expenditures counted 11.5 million big-game hunters in 2022. It also stated that about 8 in 10 hunters hunted big game.
The same report estimated that about 1 in every 23 Americans age 16 and older hunted big game in 2022. This is a population ratio presented by the report, not a new calculation from the broader hunter total. Big-game hunting trip and equipment expenditures totaled $15.6 billion in 2022.
| Big-game measure | 2022 figure |
|---|---|
| Big-game hunters | 11.5 million |
| Share of hunters who hunted big game | About 8 in 10 |
| Share of Americans age 16 and older who hunted big game | About 1 in 23 |
| Big-game trip and equipment expenditures | $15.6 billion |
| Big-game hunting days | 135 million |
The $15.6 billion figure covers big-game hunting trip and equipment expenditures. It is narrower than the $45.2 billion total hunting expenditure figure, which covers hunting overall. The two figures therefore describe different scopes and should not be compared as if they were identical categories.
Recruitment and retention
Participation is not only about how many people hunt in one year. The 2022 Fishing and Hunting Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation in the U.S. report also measured whether hunters continued and how often they returned. Its overall hunting retention rate was 50 percent, and the mean recurrence for hunters was 3.1 years.
Male hunters had a 55 percent retention rate and a 3.3-year mean recurrence. Female hunters had a 42 percent retention rate and a 2.7-year mean recurrence. Urban hunters had a 46 percent retention rate and a 2.9-year mean recurrence, while rural hunters had a 60 percent retention rate and a 3.5-year mean recurrence.
Retention increased across the listed place categories. Hunters in MSAs with 1 million or more residents had a 45 percent retention rate and a 2.9-year mean recurrence. The figures were 51 percent and 3.1 years in MSAs with 250,000 to 999,999 residents; 52 percent and 3.2 years in MSAs with 50,000 to 249,000 residents; 58 percent and 3.3 years in micropolitan areas; and 62 percent and 3.6 years outside an MSA.
Income differences in retention were comparatively narrow. Hunters with household income below $25,000 had a 50 percent retention rate and a 2.9-year mean recurrence. The $25,000 to $49,999 group had 50 percent and 3.1 years; $50,000 to $74,999 had 49 percent and 3.1 years; $75,000 to $99,999 had 50 percent and 3.2 years; $100,000 to $149,999 had 50 percent and 3.2 years; $150,000 to $199,999 had 51 percent and 3.2 years; and $200,000 or more had 53 percent and 3.3 years.
The report also provided retention figures by race category. White hunters had a 50 percent retention rate and a 3.2-year mean recurrence. African American hunters had 48 percent and 2.5 years. Asian American hunters had 54 percent and 3.1 years. All other race categories had 50 percent and 2.6 years.
Participation in another outdoor activity was associated with a different reported pattern. Hunters who also participated in motorboating had a 74 percent retention rate and a 3.7-year mean recurrence. Hunters who did not participate in motorboating had a 42 percent retention rate and a 2.8-year mean recurrence. These are reported group comparisons; they do not establish that motorboating caused the difference.