Outdoor sales liftsluggish economy

Ken Perrotte's outdoors column

Date published: 2/19/2009

PRESIDENT OBAMA soon will deliver his first State of the Union address and there will be minimal, if any, sugarcoating of the economic challenges facing the world.

Lagging indicators outlining consumer trends in the shooting and hunting industry for 2008 ran counter to other industry segments. This is according to data presented at the January Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show by Frank Briganti, research director of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, and Rob Southwick, president of Southwick Associates survey research firm.

Hunting is often dismissed as a niche market, but the numbers reveal otherwise. Briganti presented numbers from the National Sporting Goods Association and the Sporting Goods Market reporting that only exercise equipment exceeded hunting in total retail dollar sales among equipment and gear.

Exercise equipment was forecast to end the 2008 year with $5.4 billion in sales followed by hunting with $3.9 billion. Golf equipment was third with $3.7 billion.

With 14.4 million certified-paid hunting-license holders, more people hunt than play soccer (14 million), tennis (10.4 million), mountain bike (8.5 million), canoe (7.1 million) or ski (6.4 mil-lion).

Those 14.4 million license holders generated $764 million in licenses, tags, permits and conservation stamp sales. This fuels operations of state fish and game agencies and pays for land conservation nationwide. This doesn't include the many millions more in excise taxes also going to state conservation agencies through the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration and Sport Fish Restoration programs.

Southwick's research showed the average hunter spends $17,836 on primary equipment in his or her lifetime. Target shooters, which include trap and skeet enthusiasts, spend an average of $23,664. Related lifetime expenses for hunters were reported at $63,634, with target shooters spending $75,359.

Southwick's survey data from huntersurvey.com indicated that hunting (72 per-cent) and target shooting (44 percent) remain the top two reasons why people purchased firearms in 2008, with self-defense (26 percent) third. (Note: Respondents could select more than one reason. Among December purchases, 39.5 percent said they were purchasing firearms for self-defense.)

Firearm production over the last 15 years has been largely stable, with a slight rise in handgun production in the last couple years.

Sustainment Challenges

Despite the strong economic showing relative to hunter and shooters, disturbing trends relate to urban growth and couch-potato kids.

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Date published: 2/19/2009