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In a world where attention spans are short and the world is moving faster than ever, there's still something grounding about nocking an arrow or steadying a shotgun at a target. Target shooting is more than a pastime, it is a connection to discipline, community, and the outdoors. Yet, this pastime takes a concerted effort of recruiting new participants, retaining those already involved, and reactivating those who鈥檝e set their gear aside.
According to the over 47 million U.S. residents participate in firearm target shooting and 19 million participate in archery target shooting. Recruitment, retention, and reactivation, collectively known as R3, is a Nationwide effort ensuring outdoor pursuits like shooting sports remain accessible and relevant for future generations. Recruitment draws new participants including kids, families, urban dwellers, or folks who never had a mentor to introduce them to the sport. Retention nurtures that initial spark, providing community, and opportunity. And reactivation reminds the lapsed archer or target shooter why they picked up the hobby in the first place.
The Service鈥檚 Work to Support Shooting Sport R3 Efforts
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service supports R3 shooting sport efforts in a variety of ways including providing grants to state fish and wildlife agencies and non-governmental organizations to provide target shooting opportunities for millions of people nationwide. These grants, administered through the Office of Conservation Investment, are funded through federal excise taxes paid by manufacturers under the Pittman-Robertson Act and are matched with state trapping and hunting license funds.
Thanks to this long-standing partnership between state fish and wildlife agencies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the firearms, ammunition, and archery manufacturers who pay federal excise tax, Pittman-Robertson funds have supported the construction, operation, and maintenance of over 800 public target ranges.
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In addition to target ranges and state level R3 efforts, these federal excise tax funds also support regional R3 efforts through Multistate Conservation Grants. The Service鈥檚 Office of Conservation Investment and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies jointly administer Multistate Conservation Grants. These grants have funded efforts that recruit and retain new volunteers and mentors to teach shooting sports, support efforts to help new target shooting participants build skills to feel confident enough to participate in shooting sports alone and have created resource toolkits for range development.
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Spotlight on Youth Engagement in Target Shooting
Young people are an important part of R3 efforts and when they participate in shooting sports, they鈥檙e not just developing aim they are developing discipline, confidence, perseverance, and other life skills.
Structured programs like NASP (National Archery in the Schools Program) and 4-H Shooting Sports are creating safe, structured, and encouraging environments where young target shooters can thrive. These programs not only teach technical skills but also foster community and sportsmanship.
These youth shooting sports organizations bring in young people from all walks of life, athletes and bookworms, and city kids and country youth. They teach kids how to breathe, to focus, to follow through, skills that matter whether you're on the range, in the classroom, or navigating the tougher parts of growing up.
And for many, these activities are gateways into broader outdoor pursuits like hunting, wildlife conservation, wildlife watching, and stewardship of the natural world. Some of the youth who pick up a bow for the first time in a school gym or join shooting sports through 4-H may eventually find themselves afield, joining a hunter education course, and becoming lifelong advocates for outdoor pursuits and access. It鈥檚 no coincidence that archery and target shooting often go hand-in-hand with wildlife stewardship. These activities connect young people to landscapes and outdoor traditions. Learn more about youth R3 efforts supported through Office of Conservation Investment administered funds:
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The Future of Shooting Sports
It鈥檚 easy to overlook these pursuits in today鈥檚 crowded landscape of organized activities. But make no mistake, archery and firearm target shooting are doing more than holding their ground. They鈥檙e growing, quietly shaping the next generation and offering youth a place to grow and make their mark both on and off the range.
Target shooting doesn鈥檛 exist in a vacuum. It funds outdoor access, hunter education, and conservation. Under the Pittman-Robertson Act, the federal excise tax on firearms, ammunition, and select archery equipment鈥攃ombined with state license funds鈥攈as generated billions of dollars for wildlife management, habitat restoration, and public land access. Through this industry-state-federal partnership every new bow or box of shells is an investment in the future of wild places, outdoor pursuits, and connections between people and nature.
Shooting sports are part pastime and part conservation legacy. And like any tradition worth keeping, they require effort and new participants. Thanks to the R3 partnerships supported by the Pittman-Robertson Act archery and target shooting sports continue to grow one youth, one mentor, and one bullseye at a time.
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