The entire 27-page report is available at mygowild.com/2019survey . POMA members get a 50% discount. Contact Brad Luttrell.

In the age of the influencer, it could seem like the bro hunter with the best gear and biggest following has the best season. Free of spousal approval and with seemingly endless vacation time (or at least endless content), feeds are full of people killin’ it, quite literally. 

The truth? Papaws outhunts the bros, married hunters have more confidence in their ability, and spouses don’t stop anyone from hunting. In fact, they often tag along. 

In a recent survey, the outdoor social media and activity tracking platform, GoWild, found that older hunters are more successful than young hunters. Hunters older than 65 are about 13% more likely to have a successful season than those younger than 25. And access to land isn’t the top barrier it gets made out to be (it’s not even top three for married hunters). The top barrier for married hunters is work, followed by family commitments and budget. Singles identify work as their number one challenge, followed by land access then budget constraints.  

Confirmed Suspicions 
While the survey myth-busted many memes, it did confirm a few other age-old adages. Those who put in more time are more likely to succeed. Single hunters think about hunting more than a future spouse. And those who obsess and think about hunting all the time are more likely to define a hunting season as a success. 

New Concerns Come to Light
The results paint an interesting picture of a modern hunters. Hunters are far more likely to introduce their spouse to hunting than have a spouse who doesn’t support them. The barriers are beyond what you typically hear or read, if not entirely different altogether. And finally, the survey highlights a broader concern with bringing in hunters younger than 25: They struggle to know not only where to hunt, but they believe they can’t afford it and when they do hunt, they see less success. 

Results 
The survey was conducted in August and September of 2019. It has a confidence level of 99.86% and a margin of error of +/- 3.06%. 1016 respondents participated from across the United States. 

• 51.5% percent of hunters think about hunting at least 6 times per day. 
• 38.5% consider themselves primarily rifle hunters, followed by compound bow (36.6%) and shotgun (17.6%). (Deeper demographic breakdown available on full study)
  • 14.5% of singles identify knowledge as the number one barrier to hunting, while married hunters said 10.8%. 
• Of those who only went hunting 5 or fewer days per season, only 7.0% have had at least one successful season in the last 5 seasons.
• 76.9% of married hunters say their spouses are supportive of them during hunting season.

The entire 27-page report is available at mygowild.com/2019survey. The report expands into specific results for male and female hunters, married and singles, and has more high level information about the modern hunter.

POMA members are elgible for a 50% discount on the study. Contact Brad Luttrell for details.