The poll, which was commissioned through outdoor activity surveying firm Responsive Management, entailed phoning a sample of 8,335 randomly selected mobile and residential phone numbers with emphasis on obtaining an accurate and precise sample of the US population.

"Often, the number of archers and bowhunters in the US is estimated by the number of bows, arrows and other equipment sold, and hunting licenses issued within a given year," said Jay McAninch, President and chief executive officer of ATA.

"The results of this survey provide an accurate assessment of where the archery industry is currently, and where it has room to grow."

The ATA has helped fund, develop and implement programmes to grow archery for more than a decade, with membership in many archery groups, demand for archery products, and media focus on the sport seeing significant increases in recent years.

The statistics show that out of 235 million American adults, 18.9 million of those partook in archery or bowhunting last year, with 6.8 million of those participating in both.

The study also found that 41 per cent of archers were female, and that 45 per cent of archers and bowhunter were between the ages of 35 and 54, whilst 42 per cent were aged 18 to 34, and the rest were over 55.

Brady Ellison, Jake Kaminski and Jacob Wukie won silver for the USA in the men's team archery at London 2012

"Clearly, 2012 gave archery a marketing boost unlike anything enjoyed by other sports," McAninch said.

"But it still wasn't clear who was involved in archery and/or bowhunting until now.

"This survey has offered much-needed clarity for those of us who are working to reach archers and potential archers."

USA Archery chief executive officer Denise Parker added: "We've seen a tremendous increase in youth participation, which shows no signs of slowing down."

"We're hopeful that this uptick in archery excitement will translate to sustained participation in this lifetime sport."

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