2017 Young Hunters
Wisconsin
Some here are starting to sound like crochety old men that have no hope in the younger generation....just like all previous generations so.....
Let's hear some stories about young hunters we either helped personally or your know that had a great 2017 bow season.
Those that helped the young ones...did you glean any lessons from their experience?
Share some pics too.
Saturday at my club, assisting in youth winter leagues, the place is always packed,,, kids can not get enough of shooting their bows, and they love the novelty shoots,,,,,,,most of them, want to hunt, or are hunting,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
A young bowhunter, high school age. He was the subject in Part II of a four part magazine series I did titled WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A BOWHUNTER? He explained a part of his perspective and success as a young outdoorsman. My hope is that this sort of focus will keep him and others like him in this bowhunting game for a long time. His father added, "He has had abundant success in his first couple years bowhunting (12 pointer, 13 pointer, and a turkey) but I am more proud of the enthusiasm and positive energy that he has shown me. I thought I was teaching him, but it turns out I am learning more than he is."
Like GH said, I cannot believe the number of kids, including more girls than boys, who participate in the winter archery league at the shop I frequent. It is awesome!
Young hunters are not the issue . I have a garage wall with 9 bows , 200 arrows & assortments of stuff . I have 6 targets in the back yard . 8 grandkids & neighbor kids come over to shoot . This group is not the ones we are losing .
We are losing the 20 to 30 age group . The ones that hold the future of bowhunting . This is the group that is migrating away .
You are correct Ruger, that age of kids have no desire to work to achieve something, they just want the end result now with as little effort as possible. My kid who is 20 always comments he wants to bowhunt. When I get him going on shooting, he doesn't want to practice, no effort, just go. Drives me nuts.
I don't see that either, at least around here,,,,, leagues are all packed, at least ours are, they are being run by that age group,,,,, our club has grown because of their involvement, they also run the trap leagues too,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, go to some of the 3D shoots around here in the summer, and there is a lot of them, lots of younger shooters......
I guess every area is different,,,, my local bow shop, the guys with money now, early 30's, they are always buying new bows, and heading west, and or on bear trips etc,,,, it may be different in some areas, but archery is still strong in my opinion,,,,,,
cabelas in Richfield can not keep the Sitka and Kuiu on the shelves, ,,,,,, one thing us older guys forget, and my daughter who is 29, reminds me of,,,, Successful group as they are, have money to spend, and social media is what they are on, not here so much, and they live for the outdoor shows, and adventures,,,, not all of them are married, and buried in jobs they do not like
My girls, now 23 & 22 yrs of age still bow hunt and shoot in archery leagues, as do both their 20 some yr old boyfriends.
Some of you are missing the point . Maybe its my fault . Of course most of the people on this site have a real passion for Archery & Bowhunting . That passion carries into their family , friends & local bowclubs . Thats 5 % that we don't have to worry about .
We are losing a chunk of the other 95 % every year . we need to have a plan to slow that down or we will be in trouble .
Youth checklist for 2017 season:
3 bow hunted
1 first archery buck kill
Target practice every time at camp
6 gun hunted
1 first gun kill
1 Doe harvested with gun
Passes on smaller bucks
Camp chores done each weekend
Basketball practice in neighbors garage and local HS (in between sits)
1 Division 1 scholarship to West Virginia University
2 on number 1 ranked team in WI Division 2
4 multi sport athletes
Tag team efforts in blinds and stands on multiple occasions
Team efforts on tracking and game recovery
Drivers license practice with UTV, leading to successfully passing driver's license test (3 kids)
Much more too. Pretty successful season by the youth.
Getting rid of crossbows sounds like a good start.
I agree, no healthy person under the age of 65 needs a cross bow, except for any season a gun may be used,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
I have to chuckle and I mean no disrespect, because we all do it. We "tend" to generalize.
"We are losing the 20 to 30 age group . The ones that hold the future of bowhunting . This is the group that is migrating away ."
And then we have " You are correct Ruger, that age of kids have no desire to work to achieve something, they just want the end result now with as little effort as possible"
Come on guys, CaptMike shed some light here on things he's seeing with his girls. It's easy to say and generalize, but overall it's actually a mixture of age groups that we are losing. Statements like these are not fair or do they truly reflect ALL young people in that age group!!
I have a daughter myself in that age group, kinda like CaptMike. She, her friends and her husband are hard working, educated and motivated individuals.
"ALL" is way to inclusive.
And as this site has shown....many here are in those lazy 20s and 30s
Oh, and 3 of the hunters I mentioned in my above post are female by the way.
