Ryan, we got quite a few adults in our courses. Some who were already hunters, but needed th course to qualify for a nonres license in some other states. Some single moms with their kids. Some dads who were grandfathered like JRB but took the class with their kids anyhow.

No denying what's happened to the accident rate since the courses have been required. Hunting is somewhat unique as a hobby, in that there's a fair potential to harm not only yourself but someone else if you aren't safe. The hunter safety requirement also coincided pretty closely with the end of the military draft, which meant far fewer Americans were subjected to firearms training and gun safety in the military.

Lots of reasons for a decline in interest in hunting (although overall numbers of hunters are hanging fairly stable, at around 15 million): Far fewer rural families, where guns are often part of growing up. Far more competing activities. And a far greater degree of PC-ness (which does not like hunting) in the general population. But programs like BOW (Becoming an Outdoors Woman) and various mentoring efforts through the conservation groups like PF, DU, RGS, Izaak Walton League are all helping. And the Scholastic Clay Target Program likely has more school-age kids shooting shotguns competitively than we've ever seen. Both clubs where I shot in Iowa were the "home fields" for several squads each, both high school and college.