Hunting and wildlife viewing are popular recreational activities in the United States. Almost 22 million people participated in wildlife viewing in 2011, about 15 million took part in hunting activities in the same year.

U.S. hunters spent about 34 billion U.S. dollars on trips, equipment, licenses, and other items necessary for hunting activities in 2011. The largest spending segment is equipment amounting to around 41% of total expenditure. Among the items sold in the equipment category are rifles which sold, on average, for 497.70 U.S. dollars in 2011. The average hunter spent around 2,500 U.S. dollars on recreational hunting. The total economic impact of the U.S. sporting arms and ammunition industry amounted to almost 28 billion U.S. dollars in 2010.
Hunting activities are primarily regulated by state law in the U.S. The government, for example, issues hunting licenses and oversees the type and quantity of animals that hunting license holders are permitted to hunt.

Wildlife watching expenditure amounted to around 55 billion U.S. dollars in 2011. As with hunting the largest segment was equipment, amounting to 50% of the total. The average expenditure per wildlife watcher was at 766 U.S. dollars in 2011. Photo: Statista

• • Hunting expenditures
  • Wildlife viewing expenditures
• • Hunting & wildlife viewing participation
  • Sporting arms industry