Just in time for the big fall hunting seasons in the Great Lakes region, a recent survey shows a high level of public support for our bright orange and camouflage-clad friends.
Seventy-five percent of those surveyed nationwide said they approved of the activity and 93 percent said that target shooting is acceptable. The study was financed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms trade association.
Photo: Michigan Department of Natural Resources
The high level of public approval has been consistent over the past two decades, according to the organization. But the survey went a step further than previous research and found that 94 percent supported the right of others to hunt, regardless of their opinion of the activity.
Only 4 percent of respondents wanted to strip others of the right to hunt.
The support might be from the tasty fruits of hunters’ labor – 67 percent of respondents said they have eaten wild game meat or fish within the last year.
The telephone survey of 846 randomly selected U.S. residents was conducted from last August to September. Findings are reported at a 95 percent confidence interval or higher. For the entire sample of U.S. residents, the sampling error is plus or minus 3.37 percentage points.