Focusing on Young Hunters

January 28, 2009 by admin

Our Outdoors
Nick Simonson

There is so many uses for Google Maps as well as Google Earth for hunting and fishing.

Thirty, The Big 3-0, three decades of (in)experience under my belt. September 18 marked my thirtieth birthday. I remember when that seemed like “a long time from now” but it is, all of a sudden, the here-and-now. To tell you the truth, I don’t feel much different than I did at 29, or 22 for that matter. However, there is that realization in the back of my mind that I am getting older.

An adage my uncle once gave me as I mulled over ways to get my dad to join us in the field after a multi-year hiatus, laid it out clearly, “You don’t quit playing the game because you get old, you get old because you quit playing the game.” It worked that season, and it will work for this one. Heading back to the field this fall, I have prepared myself for another year of fun hikes and hunts through the prairies and trails of the upper Midwest, and I have no plan to quit playing the game. But if your age, or some other lame excuse, has you feeling less excited about fall hunting, take advantage of early seasons for area youth to remind you of why you play the game.

Youth seasons in both North Dakota and Minnesota serve a multitude of purposes, such as preserving the hunting heritage, providing a weekend especially for youth, and exposing young hunters to a world outside of the many distractions the face on a day-to-day basis.

Pass it on

Many youth seasons were initiated by lawmakers, on the advice of concerned hunters who recognized a disturbing trend plaguing the hunting populace – the number of hunters is decreasing nationwide on an annual basis. A study conducted by the National Fish and Wildlife Service showed that seven percent of the US Population hunted in 1991, compared with just five percent in 2006. The numbers, coupled with the expansion of the US Population over those fifteen years, further compound the trouble of a declining number of hunters.

In an effort to expose younger would-be hunters to upland, waterfowl and big game hunting, states such as North Dakota and Minnesota legislated special weekends where youth would have the fields waters all to themselves. It is an important recognition of the hunting heritage in our American lifestyle that such times would be set aside for young hunters.

A special time

Standing behind a first-time hunter, who was readied behind my yellow lab, Gunnar, as he was rigid on point was an unrivaled experience in the fall of 2006. That moment, and the following explosion of two rooster pheasants from the cover, was thanks to the then-inaugural youth pheasant weekend, opening for two days just a week before the traditional North Dakota pheasant season. Even without a gun in my hand, it was still the most successful weekend of my season.

There was no worry about who would shoot, there was no need to wait for an adult to take a bird or tell them what to do. The young hunters knew it was all about them and that the birds were theirs for the day, and the experience focused on a new generation versus the wiles of nature and some crafty birds. There was no pressure, whether they bagged a limit or shot the air full of holes, the day was about having fun, learning the ropes and experiencing the excitement of the hunt.

Remember that when you get a chance to take young hunters out not only on early youth weekends, but on any weekend. Keep the experience fun, promote a no-pressure atmosphere and expose them to an event that will keep them coming back for more, building up their ideals and instilling the tradition within them.

Back for more

These special seasons will keep young hunters coming back for more of what they experienced during fun times focused on their enjoyment, long after they have matured beyond the eligible ages. That is the first crucial step in creating more conservation-minded hunters who will work to protect wildlife, habitat, the environment, gun rights and the hunting experience long after our generations have passed on.

In that way, none of us ever age, none of us ever truly die when the lessons we convey become the knowledge a young hunter. Our words remain eternal, and the experience builds bonds that cannot be broken by the passing of time They will continue on in the unending quests for a trophy buck, to outsmart a wily rooster, or lure in a flock of wheeling mallards on a brisk late-autumn day, just as we did…in our outdoors.