Of course I don’t ever remember my mentor complaining about having a rotten time while hunting even though there were many days nothing was harvested or darn little sighted.
The kids I started hunting didn't have that problem since we could always see enough deer to keep hunting interesting. None of them started with squirrels because their parents wouldn't eat them and there was no other small game available.
The simple fact is the demographics of our society hasn't changed significantly since 2004, but junior licenses sales are still declining despite all the youth mentored programs. You can't convince kids that hunting is fun when they go for days without seeing a deer no matter how many smiley faces you put on.