badshotbob

Heard on the news this morning that males over the age of 16 that hunt and fish is down to an all time low of 25% and continues to decline. It' s sad but if you think about it, how true it is - video games, computers, satellite tv, more after school stuff to do, less land to grow up on.......

My son is 10 and has been shooting a bow for three years now. He' s looking forward to hunting with Dad in a couple more years, but doesn' t seem to have the fire I had when I was his age. I try my best to keep him interested, but I' m not going to push him either.

I guess it' s all part of the brain-washing and dumbing down of America - to get our weapons they first need to convince us that we don' t need them. Take your young' n hunting. Pass it down. Heck, grab the neighbor kid and his dad and take them hunting. I don' t know, what to do.

JZarr

I' m 23 and I' ll tell you what - it' s hard to find anyone my age who fishes, let alone hunts anymore. Out of 10 close friends I went to high school with only one hunts and fishes with me. The rest are content to go to do other things. A few have expressed interest in maybe trying to learn how to shoot a bow and hunt but the problem is I don' t have the time, money, or resources to really help them. I have a hard enough time finding spots of my own to hunt let along places big enough to bring friends with. It sucks cuz I would love to have more hunting buddies.

I just found out 3 days ago that my girlfriend is pregnant and you can bet your bottom dollar that my kid is gonna be a hunter.

Tazman

bob I really feel it is the migration to the cities and suburbs that have brought this about, I like many others was raised with the outdoors as my playground, I saw wildlife all the time I was growing up, I started fishing when I was old enough to hold a rod and started hunting squirrel at about age 7. I really feel that many of our youth have lost the connection with the outdoors, not due to video games or TV, but due to being isolated from the outdoors due to where they live.

BigBore1895

21 years old here, my partners consist of dad, uncles, older guys, my little brother and my girlfriend' s sixteen year old brother. I don' t know many people at my school that hunt or shoot much either. Sad fact, means we have to all pick up the slack.

Deleted User

[Deleted by Admins]

PABowhntr

This type of statistic becomes shockingly evident whenever I head out to the local gamelands to hunt. I would guess that somewhere around 80% of the hunters or more are at least 30 years of age...if not older.

Gryan

Jeeze, I can' t believe I' m going to say this but NJ does a good thing by children. They get free licences until age 16. They only have to pay for permits for special seasons but at a reduced rate. ($10 to my $28) They also have youth days where only kids can hunt. An adult must accompany them but only the kids hunt. They do this for ducks, pheasants, deer, and turkey. That is all well and good but getting non-hunting families to let their kids hunt is tough. We sponsor a kids night at my archery club. Local kids who know a club member can come to our club once a month to shoot a bow. We get between 15 and 20 kids every month. Few will hunt though I' ll bet.

I agree it is a scary statistic. My son is ten also and he started hunting this year. He is not obsessed like I am now and he is less intense than I was at his age. Still he loves it. I really cherish our time together. I try to remember that friends are very important at his age and if he wants to sleep over a friend' s house and miss the hunt tomorrow so be it. I miss him though.

Keep getting him out all the time.

Greg

badshotbob

Taz, I' d have to agree with that. Now that you mention it, that' s exactly where I' m at in life. Grew up out in the sticks on 10 acres. My playground was about 6 square miles. My son' s playground is a 60 x 30 piece of lawn and the streets. (It' s expensive to live in the outlying areas of Detroit)

ButchA

Tazman and Navy both nailed it right on the head.

I' m no kid by all means, but I mean, I' m 42 yrs old and this is my 3rd year hunting. I never hunted as a kid, because I was way too young at the time my dad and uncle hunted (50' s, 60' s). But now I am finally trying to get my start and be successful.

As far as other adults, I must be hanging out with the wrong crowd, because out of all my good friends (either at work, or the high school marching band " boosters" ), I am the only hunter. Nobody else hunts nor wants to get interested in it, to come along with me. One of the band parents is a real good friend and used to go hunting years ago when he lived up near Tazman' s area, near Massaponax, VA. But the rising suburban developement, and lack of public land and issues with trying to obtain private land permission, made him decide to pack it all in and give it up. [:' (]

It' s getting tougher and tougher each season, IMHO....

Butch

Shotgun2273

20 years old here, and I too hunt with my dad, and uncles. Luckily one of my roommates decided to start bowhunting with me this year and plans on shotgun hunting next year. He and I are the only people that I know of at school that hunt. I have tried to talk some of my other friends into hunting, but none of them ever showed any interest. I can only hope that statistic will improve.