Youth Hunters -- Part II

ORIGINAL: wayne c

Interesting spoon. I didnt see any veiled threats, must of missed it. But i did see profanity and personal attacks. ]

As for youth hunters, yeah, as i said in the other thread before it got hi-jacked, there have been some special youth pheasant hunts held around here, they were very lightly attended. Most adults arent pheasant hunters. Only stands to reason that most youth hunters wont be because of that either. Though some avid pheasanthunters exist, they make up a very small segment of our numbers overall. If we had pheasant numbers and wild birds like South Dakota, which aint never gonna happen, im sure the bird hunter numbers would increase. But it'll never take over the #1 spot in my opinion. Deer are where its at for most and always will be.

As for most youths i know personally, they deer hunt because dad does. Some of them are taken squirrel hunting once in awhile though. Mostly to get some woods & gun handling experience on top of that which they get at the range etc. for "the main event".

"I never said that pheasants were as big as deer hunting (but with 22% still buying a license and not hunting deer, they are hunting somehting other than deer)."

"My point was, there is plenty of pheaant hunting and phesant hunters in my area. Yet there was very little interest in either the PGC youth hunting opportunity or the preserve youth hunt. My invitation for the PGC season went out to hundreds of parents, while the preserve opportunity went out to not only the general public through the publication in a 40K circulation newspaper (on more than one occassion), but it was also advertised via email and websites of preserves, kennels, etc. -- those that are tied to the sport of pheasant hunting -- with still very little attendance. The conclusion is that many youths are just not interested in hunting -- period. "

ORIGINAL: deerfly

Kids had al those activities prior to 2004 and junior license sales were increasing from 1998 to 2004, but in 2004 they began to decrease. So what changed prior to 2004 that reversed the trend in sales?

ORIGINAL: fishin coyote

ORIGINAL: deerfly

Kids had al those activities prior to 2004 and junior license sales were increasing from 1998 to 2004, but in 2004 they began to decrease. So what changed prior to 2004 that reversed the trend in sales?

So please tell us what did change it
Mike

"If you ask a kid why he doesn't hunt, he's sure as heck not going to say, "because Alt had too many deer killed"."

He's more likely going to say he doesn't like the cold, would rather sleep in, or has something more fun to do.

i cannot understand a kid not wanting to be outdoors

ORIGINAL: thedrake

Even if the kids were interested in hunting, they wouldn't likely have time. My nephews in particular would never have the time. They're currently 13 (twins), and are involved in soccer, football, voilin lessons, spanish lessons, concert band, and gymnastics. When they actually have a moment away from all that, they would rather relax on the couch playing xbox or watching TV, than being outside in the cold.

A lot of kids I know have a poor opinion of hunters. They watch TV and see all the cartoons loaded with what Peter Hathaway Capstick called "mouth foaming Disneyism" where all the animals in the cartoons have human voices and feelings and are basically depicted as people, and hunters are depicted as the bad guys who kill them. I asked my nephews last year if they would like to go hunting with me. They were upset to find out I'm a hunter. When I asked them why, they explained that hunters kill deer for no reason. They didn't even understand that people eat deer. They just thought we shoot them, cut the antlers off, and throw the rest away.

We're experiencing a culture shift. There are going to be fewer and fewer hunters each year regardless of HR, AR, deer numbers, and hunting licence costs. Kids today are just less interested in hunting, period, just as they are less interested in fishing. I don't know of one kid who knows or cares about HR/AR or any of the other things a lot of you guys want to say is causing low youngster recruitment. If you ask a kid why he doesn't hunt, he's sure as heck not going to say, "because Alt had too many deer killed". He's more likely going to say he doesn't like the cold, would rather sleep in, or has something more fun to do.

For those hunters and thier kids who enjoy hunting different seasons and species, opportunities have never been better and will most likely impove.