well im 16 and plan to hunt till the day i die.

I'm sixteen too and i plan too as well.

Man - I like to hear these guys post! I have 4 boys (god had blessed me) and they are all hunting now ages - 9-15. 3 deer last year, 1 turkey, 2 Caribou, 15 pheasants, 2 coydogs and a mess of fish.

All my boys were brought up not only to hunt but to understand and appreciate the conservation efforts and importance of NRA support. My wife is even begining to sample the goods!

In scouts we advocate hunting and out community is working hard to keep the young ones in the game.

M.T. I didn't leave out high costs. Thats part of it too. I am a hunter and land owner. We have continued to allow hunting on our land but its getting so there are not many that do. Many are charging hunters in part to pay the sky high property taxes. Also as much as I hate to say it, liabilty for what might happen to a person while on your property makes it a bit risky as well. Like you, we used to just stop and ask and permission would be granted. As you said, those days are about gone. Good Hunting.

sorry i must have missed it in the original post, my granfather used to have a decent size farm and i don't remember him ever telling anyone they couldn't hunt, i do remember him making one of my younger sisters freinds leave, he was out of his stand at 7:30 and diggin ruts with his jacked up truck[:@], i understand both sides of this issue as far as land owner/insurance/property taxes and all but i know a bunch of people that the only way they hunt is public land, very few hunts, and the people your hunting with could be the type that take "bush shaking shots"[:@]if you know what i mean, i am fortunate to have a little property and my neighbor allows me to hunt his property, past that for a chance at a good animal, i have to join a good club, or travel to other areas of the country, on of the problems here is that all the bigger farms have been busted up, joe owns 30, billy owns 18, but nobody much owns multi-hundred acre parcels anymore[&o], evrybody wants their little piece of heaven, i understand but it sure makes finding a place to hunt difficult, oh well will adjust and be fine,,,,,

have a good season man, hope you kill the big'un your after

That's great to hear all you "young ens" showing the passion that keeps the lifestyle alive. It just burns my ass to watch new subdivisons go up over pristine land and get filled with a bunch of kids who play video games and listen to their MP3 players...They just don't know what they are missing...I was enlightened by the one reply that cited divorce and single mothers as a factor in the decline of new hunters...It's so obvious. I don't know why I hadn't thought of that...I think men are dropping the ball here...

Seeing that I'm fifteen and the most exciting thing I do all year is go deer hunting your not losing me. I'll tell you right now I'm going to deer hunt the rest of my life. So for nowIm going to try and learn some moreabout the oh so elusivewhitetail.

i think land closures, mega hunting clubs, and bad ethics by our own make it harder for the younger generation to find places to hunt. i used to hunt a dairy farm for ducks for several years. developed a very good relationship with him and his family over those years. even taught his boy to call and decoy ducks. went off to korea for a year, came back and went to talk with him in the spring about hunting ducks in the fall when i came back for mid tour leave (about 20 days). he said he was leased out by "X" club, he didnt have any issues with me hunting. but contracts this and that, he said i should call them and see if i could get a pass or something. i called "X" hunting club went through the rundown what the owner and i talked about. the lady on the phone, said i would have to join their club. so i asked what the cost was she replied it was a 10K buy in and annual dues thereafter of 2-3K dependant on the amount of hunting i did annually. i about choked, i said 10K to hunt ducks for a couple of weeks, you are joking, right? she replied well maybe you shouldnt behunting then. this is pretty common here out west. private citizens blocking off access to public lands, confusing regulations, outrageous lease rights do more to discourage the new hunter than to promote our sport. hopefully when i move out east it will be different, but i really doubt it.

No youths around here hunt.
they all busy on the puter and skateboarding

Thanks for the link. I will check it out. Sounds like a great cause.