Two Truths And A Lie: National Hunting and Fishing Day

Every fourth Saturday in September, millions of Americans go to the field or head out onto the water to partake in National Hunting and Fishing Day. This year, National Hunting and Fishing Day will be commemorated on Saturday, September 27th, 2025.

This holiday was established on May 2nd, 1972, after President Richard Nixon issued the inaugural proclamation, honoring hook and bullet activities that equally bolster conservation and the spirit of sportsmen and women.

To learn about this holiday’s importance, let’s play the party game/icebreaker “Two Truths and a Lie.”

A. Fishing and hunting support the bulk of conservation funding in the U.S.

B. The Trump-Vance administration is unfriendly to hunters and anglers.

C.  Hook and bullet activities contribute to the economy.

A. TRUE! Since 1937, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs have collectively raised over $71 billion for habitat restoration, wildlife conservation, hunter education, and public target shooting ranges in all 50 states. Generally speaking, hunting and shooting sports activities have returned $29 billion to conservation since 1937, while fishing has returned $12 billion since 1950. Excise taxes on firearms, licenses, fishing tackle, boating fuel, and equipment are collected under the Pittman-Robertson (PR) and Dingell-Johnson (DJ) Acts, respectively, into a “user pay—public benefit” system. The nonpartisan Tax Foundation cited this user-pay model’s success as evidence of a “good excise tax.” 

The NC State College of Natural Resources reports PR and DJ monies support 60-80% of funding for all 50 state wildlife agencies. PR, or Wildlife Restoration, funds are disbursed to states based on territory and the number of hunting licenses sold. DJ, or Sport Fish Restoration, funds are disbursed to the states along these lines: “40 percent of the state’s size in square miles and 60 percent on the number of fishing licenses sold.” 

In Fiscal Year 2025, the USFWS Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program disbursed $1.3 billion to all 50 state wildlife agencies to boost wildlife and outdoor access. Therefore, it’s no surprise the majority of non-hunting sport shooters and gun owners—86%—support the Wildlife Restoration Program, for instance.

B. LIE! On Day One of his second term, President Trump revoked most Biden-Harris climate policies that restricted hunting and fishing access—including the America the Beautiful (30 by 30 initiative) that desired to permanently protect millions of public land acres, but made many places inaccessible to sportsmen and women through the creation of new national monuments.

Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Doug Burgum has signed several secretarial orders expanding and creating new fishing and hunting opportunities on DOI lands. The most recent announcement from August 2025 included 42 new access points spanning 87,000 acres for Americans to go fish, hunt, target shoot, and bird on national wildlife refuges (NWR) and National Fish Hatcheries. He also implemented the EXPLORE Act to boost outdoor recreation opportunities, including hook and bullet activities. 

In June 2025, the Trump administration established the Make America Beautiful Again Commission to improve National Parks and public lands access—including enhancing hunting, fishing, and shooting sports opportunities on Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) lands. 

C. TRUE! Per the most available Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) data, the outdoor recreation economy—including fishing and hunting—comprises 2.3% of the gross domestic product (GDP), or $639.5 billion. 

The most recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report assessing fishing, hunting, and wildlife-associated recreation—the 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation (FHWAR)—said 54.4 million Americans fished and hunted, and pumped back $145 billion into the U.S. economy. 

At a macro level, the fishing and hunting industries support many livelihoods and boost our economy.

Hunting and shooting sports sustained over 540,000 indirect and direct jobs, resulting in $106.2 billion in combined retail sales and $133 billion in overall economic growth. A 2024 Sportsmen’s Alliance report found hunting and shooting sports industries support 1.3 million jobs, and cumulatively pumped back over $80.5 billion in wages and incomes. The newest available data from the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) suggests recreational fishing pumped back $230.5 billion into the economy and supported 1.1 million jobs as of March 2025. 

Bottom Line: 

Fishing and hunting activities are not only integral to economic development but also to conservation efforts. Our society benefits from having access to public lands and public waters. True conservation practices allow this sector to flourish.

There are innumerable health benefits associated with time outdoors. Being on or by the water is shown to improve well-being, just as immersion in green spaces is a boon to mental health.To learn more about true conservation, go here.