CAPTAIN HOOK
I hear ya on the sports thing . Coached and did all that too years back. Bad thing today is every sport wants the kids in that sport only. Some sports were seasonal but now days one sport can last much longer into the year.
 

Bingo!
 
I'm coaching the 7th grade hoops team at our local middle school this year.  Not because I'm a great coach, but just because they couldn't get a coach from the normal pool of teachers.  
 
Even if I wasn't coaching, my son would have had very little time to hunt during gun season this year.  That's no different than when I played Jr. High and High School hoops 25+ years ago.  I remember on the Saturdays, a quick morning hunt close to home and then get to practice.  I actually had to get permission to skip practice on opening day in Jr. High.  I was a nice coach though, and gave the team off on opening day this year because over half the team was going out.  
 
My 13 year old's a good athlete.  Probably not going to ever be paid to play a sport, but might get a free or reduced college education out of it someday for baseball or football if he keeps progressing and working hard.  Baseball COULD be year round if he wanted it to be.  He did an AAU baseball program for a year and said it felt too much like a job.  Basketball COULD be year round if he wanted it to be.  Know lots of kids that do both of those year round, and soccer too.  Fortunately, you can only do football in the fall, but even that's getting more demanding.  
 
He begs now, to take time off from sports so that he can hunt and fish.  And he LOVES sports and competition.  Fortunately, he also LOVES hunting and fishing.  
 
I laugh at people who say this generation of kids is lazy and want to be entertained, so that's why they don't hunt.  Many of these kids are anything but lazy - they're far too busy!  Athletically, I couldn't do the stuff most of these boys on the 7th grade team can do when I was in 10th grade.  They work their butts off, some of 'em year round.  
 
The mentored program allowed me to get him behind the gun - and not just into the woods to sit with me - before sports got so demanding for him.  The fire was lit, and as I said, most seasons have been pretty good for us in terms of the numbers of deer we see.  Had a few lean ones, but even in those seasons, he had opportunities to kill a deer.  At age 9 he shot a spike.  At age 11 he shot a 9 pt that was bigger than any buck I've ever killed.  One shot on each, from shooting sticks, dropped 'em.
 
There were absolutely some scofflaws that abused the Mentored tag system on non-AR legal bucks (I HATE the AR rule too, and always have), but those are the ones that are going to be scofflaws regardless.  Just gave 'em a new way to do it.  As far as I know - and I could be wrong - there still hasn't been a single firearms related accident with the mentored program.  It's been proven safe over a number of years.  
 
What many of us took for granted growing up, that hunting opportunities would always be plentiful and that our influence in the state would remain strong, is disappearing fast.  Given our declining hunter numbers and the challenges of getting kids interested in hunting, the MY program has been great for PA.  
 
 

Perhaps the PGC should look at changing hunting seasons so the hunting schedule doesn't conflict with the other sports programs?

Yes and no. With some sports its all in (12 months a year). which is too bad.
 
Unfortunately hunting seems to be dying among youngens. My 16 year old have done the mentor thing since he was 12. Most of the special seasons, etc. And YES we have to make the time to hunt.  I can count on one hand the number of other M.Y.  we have encountered in that time. Its rather sad as someone who grew up where hunting was a rite of passage. That being said. I'm grateful one of my sons appreciates the hunting heritage. He and I are the last of a once great family traditional.
 
PT2
 
 

When we grew up hunting some of the areas we hunted were in walking distance. Today these areas are all trucking terminals, and small manufacturing plants........gone.
 
We also would all pile in one car and go for most of the day on Saturdays. Once you committed, you were in for the whole day. Most of us grew up in a one car family, so there wasn't many other choices.
 
Today kids all have easy access to their own cars , phones , and their own list of activities. I'm not saying they are all lazy just different activities appeal more to them. 
 
I personally don't see anything going to increase future hunting numbers as of now.
Seems like kids today get bored faster with certain things than we did.
Good , bad , who knows ?
They say you never miss what you never had, or tried  !

Indiana_Bob
They should ban Crossguns or Crossbows to the guys who shoot them.

LOL. And elitists from fishing.....

Don't hunt with a gun. Only archery.

Indiana_Bob
No. Just point and shoot with the crossgun. I would be fine with them if they were used in regular firearms season. Should not be used in archery.

I don't want to rain on your parade with some real data but i will since elitists hate facts. Long term statistics from Ohio, which has been a crossbow legal state for many years show that hits, misses, recoveries, and losses are within 3% between compounds and crossbows. The real difference lies between traditional gear and compounds/crossbows. 

Indiana_Bob
No. Just point and shoot with the crossgun.

Isnt "point and shoot" the most basic part of using ANY style weapon while hunting?

Indiana_Bob
Don't hunt with a gun. Only archery.

You missed the question. That's a recurve, right?
I'm just curious, I think I might be even more traditional. I only hunt with rocks, spears and clubs
 
BH

Anybody for slingshots and hand grenades?

Geez yinz is starting to scare me..... I'm goin' home.

I still want drones! That way I don't have to deal with the nasty weather or do all that walking! Maybe do a little selective hunting. I jumped thru all the hoops and got the permit to use a crossbow after loosing most of the strength in my arms and could not pull or hold my compound bow and it proved to be a big mistake cause I could not even carry the dam crossbow. If I had my choice we'd outlaw everything and go back to long bows and flintlocks only.

How did this thread turn from a discussion on semiautos and airguns to a crossbow debate? Oh yeah, Elitist Bob decided to chime in with his crossbow hate in a thread about semiautomatic rifles, lol.

Indiana_Bob Have at it. It's just one more tool for the Lazy hunter and poachers to utilize. I'm sure you are out practicing with your crossgun now, oh wait, your scope is already dialed in, no need to. Now any slob can shoot it now.. No need to practice. Let them bolts fly. I'm sure you are dreaming of a semiautomatic crossbow to show off your true archery skills.

LOL. Spoken like a true hater and elitist. Actually, you don't know me. I currently have 7 crossbows in my inventory. I am shooting all of the time since I like to change it up when going afield. I hunt spring gobbler with crossbows as well.  I do some outdoor writing for a nationally circulated magazine, as well, so tinkering and practicing with equipment never ends.
 
As for the "lazy" comment. My season starts in March when I clear shooting lanes and scout new areas. I spent over 25 days this past archery season hunting. Had 8 different stands set by October. Did 9 all day sits during the rut. Passed 7 legal bucks up before taking one.
 
I would love to compare my "lazy" hunting techniques to the average vertical archery hunter in this state. You know, none of them would do less prep work and spend less time hunting than my lazy butt, lol. There is a reason why the archery shops refer to September as "crazy season". That is because many of the vertical archery crowd wait till the last minute to practice as well.  Some of them practice religiously as they should. Most don't. 
 
Your choice to attack one hunter, solely based on choice of weapon, really shows the type of person your are. Glad you put it out there.
 
BTW, take a look at the 38 page report I mentioned if you are not scared. You know, actually facts, despite you claiming what I said was not fact.

It's your fairytale.. You can tell it however you like. Do you have to bore sight your crossgun?

If I were build my own cross bow from scratch would you still hate on it?