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I have a question to anyone that can help me understand. Does your Archery clubs in your area promote Youth bow hunting? If so how? I feel like ours doesn't do a very good job and really bugs me. I do help with the Whitetail Unlimited and we have a youth day but thats it. I've got my son and 2 others youth shooting 3D and two of them shoot almost every weekend and shoot really good like 290 to 295 out of a 300. They both win there class almost every time but never get anything for it. No clubs around here give out anything to the youth. I feel we have to promote it and one way is to make the kids excited and to push them to shoot better so they get something when they win. A $4.00 Trophy goes along way. ( IF YOU PLACE IN THE TOP 2 or 3 ) 40 years ago clubs always gave stuff out to the youth . I am working with my club to change things and hope to promote the sport we all love. As a High School coach and a coach of other sports If we do not get the kids in Archery it will slowly Die. Clubs will get less and less members every year. Any ideas to help or what does your club do? Thanks Mike
When I was a kid, long ago, Trophies or ribbons were awarded to every class of shooter. It did make it fun. I can't image that s few trophies and some ribbons would set anyone back much. Especially if they were charging the kids to shoot.
Our club has been involved with the community education program through the local high school. We offer six week courses every Monday evening during the school year. One in the fall and one in the spring. There's a waiting list. Like everything else, a few loyal volunteers do 90% of the work, for no pay. We bought a dozen Genesis bows about ten years ago. We get a few memberships out of it each year and a few hunting licenses get bought each year I think. I don't know how many of them keep at it though... and this year we'll have to postpone it due to Covid.
P.S. after re-reading your OP, I don't know what the key is to "keeping" them interested. It seems to hinge on whether or not there are small groups of close friends involved. If a youth under 16 without a vehicle doesn't have a viable reason to seek transportation, then it's not worth it to them.
Trophy's and ribbons mean absolutely nothing to most kids today.
Should have been at the Midwest Archery Championship this past weekend you'd have seen some smiling faces fer sure. Our club does our damndest to promote archery to young people .
Need another movie with a archer in it to come out! That did more than anything I've seen in the last 40 some years. Had a lot of girls show up in camo with camo bows at our indoor youth but absolute no interest in hunting. Friday nights for a few years we average 90 kids. This year before things went south we averaged 55 kids.
A few of the "graduates" come back to the club but not many over the years. Seems like when mom and dad (and the club) are done supplying the equipment it's over.
The few that I try to get interested in hunting is hard. I've lost a lot of real estate do too ownership changing hands. Learning new ground with fewer deer is tough to keep things interesting for them.