New People Introduced?????

kansasbrittany

kansasbrittany

Banned
The roosters harvested thread is a great one, but it is going south due to misunderstandings between some folks. Now, let's talk about something positive.....what each one of us is doing to preserve our tradition for future generations (outside of our yearly PF membership dues and habitat projects that not everyone is fortunate enough to have the opportunity to participate in).

How many people did you introduce to our sport over this past season? Feel free to include anyone you may have taken that had been pheasant hunting, but had never really got to hunt behind dogs, never really got into birds while they were out and so forth. Even if you've taken someone from a site like this that just hasn't had very good luck pursuing ringnecks, you've done something to promote the sport.

I personally introduced 2 teenage boys and 4 adults (a couple more than last year:thumbsup:)to our sport this season. Each one of them I'm certain will be pheasant hunters for the rest of their lives. I invite new people along all the time. Sure, I'm taking a chance on them in terms of gun safety and so forth, but it is worth it. Getting as many people into pheasant/quail hunting as I can is helping to ensure someone will still be buying licenses and contributing to wildlife organizations when my sons are grown;)

My yearly hunter recruitment tally will continue to increase as my sons age. I've made it my mission to see to it that ALL of the kids in my kids' small town KS school get at least an offer extended to each and every one of them before they graduate. Any of them that can handle a gun safely while target practicing will be invited to join us. I hope at least a few of you have set out on similar missions. Organizaitons like KDWP, NDG&F, SDG&F, etc. can only do so much to recruit new hunters. It is up to us to do the rest:)
 
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I have introduced my children and my nephews to pheasant hunting. :)

BUT, if you include introducing hunters to experiencing for the first time hunting pheasant behind good pointing dogs the number climbs up to more than a dozen or two. :)

Fun to watch experienced hunters miss a bird that flushes under point just yards away from their feet. Some times it is tougher when you KNOW they are there. :D
 
I can say I've gotten 5 people into the sport this year. They were into it, before, but always had very limited success. We were able to get them onto good numbers of birds this year which really got them hook, line, and sinker. I know they will be into pheasant hunting for years to come.
 
I've hunted with a couple first timers this year from out of state. They weren't young by any means, but hey... I didn't get into bird hunting until I was 22 or 23. Sometimes if your father or relatives don't hunt, you don't hunt.

I think it's great to get guys the opportunity that don't otherwise get the chance. I always do the best job I can to introduce folks to the sport.

Over the last few years, I've brought out a few older first timers (20's & 30's) in the hopes that they would enjoy it. All of them have and it's fun to see them tell their friends about the sport of pheasant hunting, comradery with other hunters, father son's, and the hunters and their dogs. The trip may not make them a "hunter" per say, but at least it gets that initial fear out of their system and say things to their friends like: "Hunting pheasants is a pretty cool sport. It was a lot of fun." As these middle aged hunters get addicted to the sport and as they have kids, hopefully it catches on and on down the road.

Hunting license sales are down nation wide, so introducing people to the sport is key. It would be interesting to get the correct stats on the percentages.
 
I got the opportunity to take a land owners kid out for the first time. He had just passed his Hunters safety course earlier that year. It is always inspiring to see the excitement on a kids face the first time he gets to go hunting. He did not have the opportunity to get a bird that day but we took him out again later and he got one. He was mighty proud.
 
web guy hit the nail on the head. just bringing someone or telling someone, no matter what age will help gain hunters. if you bring a 40 yr old first timer out. he tells his kids/family. they go out, tell others, so on. take one person to start the chain of events. i enjoy taking first timers out for a good hunt. helps spread the positive word to others about our expensive hobby of bird hunting.
 
Just started hunting with this guy this year - he's mostly a duck and deer guy, but has shot pheasants before. This year he shot his first over a dog though, and he's been talking about little else every since! He's working hard with his dog now, so hopefully Ruby will have a little help next fall!
RobRoosterPB290087.jpg

Last year I got this happy couple into hunting - they BOTH got their first birds this day
JayandTanyaRoosterKillersPB030421.jpg

All three of them are now complete and total addicts!
-Croc
 
Thanks for sharing guys (our sport and your posts!)! I spent yesterday recruiting a couple more. I invited a friend from Concordia and asked him to bring along somebody that hadn't made it out this year. He showed up with an 8 y/o, 10 y/o, and an 11 y/o. Fortunately, I'd brought along a youth model 20 gauge and plenty of ammo. The first place we went to was a milo field and there were birds running across the road into it when we arrived. We got the kids out so they could see em' and about 60 birds flushed within 40 yards of us. We walked the milo field out but didn't really find anything, though that didn't have these kids down. Before we could leave for the next spot, we got stuck up to the axel in the sand and had to be pulled out by the feedtruck (the kids thoroughly enjoyed this!). We went on to have 6 roosters and maybe 40 hens flush within range and a few dog points. I spent the day focusing on gun safety as these kids had never carried a shotgun. Each of them got to shoot at a rooster and the 2 adults got to shoot AT a couple birds each. 2 roosters were rocked, but they were a bit far when they were shot at. Only one rooster flushed within 20 yards and he is in my fridge. He should've waited till I was busy with the kids to flush:cool: HA! What a great time. The kids never once whined and they all had the biggest grins on their dirty faces. We stopped for some food on our way back and my how their stories had already grown;) They're pheasant hunters now too!
 
Last year I was invited on a hunt with a friend, his brother, two uncles and two nephews. The majority had never hunted pheasants before. After the first patch of cover we went to a spot that had a lot of standing water along the fenceline in back. I volunteered to go deep, knowing that with hunting pressure there were bound to be birds down in that mess. The youngest kid, 15, had it figured out and said he would follow me. We came out with 2 roosters for me, 1 for him, we both missed on another and a total of 10 pointed birds. He couldn't wipe the grin off his face and commented on how cool it was to watch that setter mop them up. Great fun!
 
Nice story RangerRick! Thanks for sharing. You made their day!
Thanks again for sharing! Rod
 
New guy

I was able to take a new guy with our group this year.
He had done a lot of quail hunting here in S. Indiana. He was blown away by the number of birds that we saw and were able to harvest. Very gratifying to see his huge grin when he took down his first ringneck!
PRICELESS!!! He's hooked!

The problem I have...once someone goes to SD with me and experiences hunting wild ringnecks they always want to go back and where I hunt I can only take a limited number! Gonna have to develop some sort of lottery or somethin'!?
 
Outdoor Mentoring

I saw that MR Byrd mentioned the Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors program in another thread (Thanks Maynard!), but I thought I'd chime in here.

There are LOTS of kids around these days that will never have the opportunity to see a dog work the field and thrill to a pheasant busting cover at their feet...unless we step up to make it happen.

That's what the Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors program is all about.

If you have a few moments, check out our website at http://www.outdoormentors.org.

Mike Christensen
Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors, Inc.
 
This is all realy great to see, I hunt with a bunch of guy's every year from the city that have youngsters starting out, there always seems to be a new one each year. It's cool to see the face when they shoot wildly for the first time. I have sold a few pups to first timers this last year and have had the pleasure of there company out at training on several ocaisions. Most have been reporting back with good news about there new found success in pheasant hnuting. It seems that there is a heck of alot of kids sticking with the playstations though and hope we all can work on getting more in the field instead. I am donateing a pup to hunt of a lifetime so someone less fortuneate can get a chance to do somthing they may not on there own. It is nice to see these kinds of posts.:thumbsup:
 
PassItOn said:
I saw that MR Byrd mentioned the Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors program in another thread (Thanks Maynard!), but I thought I'd chime in here.

There are LOTS of kids around these days that will never have the opportunity to see a dog work the field and thrill to a pheasant busting cover at their feet...unless we step up to make it happen.

That's what the Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors program is all about.

If you have a few moments, check out our website at http://www.outdoormentors.org.

Mike Christensen
Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors, Inc.
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Mike-

Glad to see you on UPH.

As always, I appreciate the work you do with the kids.

Maynard & Murry
 
I got my Dad back into pheasant hunting after a 20+ yr break. Now when all the crops are out in southern MN and the equipment is put away it's all he calls about.

I'm hoping to get my wife into it this year. She enjoys deer hunting and shooting some clays every now and then, so I'm sure it will be pretty easy. Maybe she'll take a liking to the dog that she didn't want me to get then. :)
 
2009 Youth Conservation Day

We had Youth Conservation Day at Gopher Campfire :
http://www.gophercampfire.com/news/2009 Youth Day Poster.pdf
We had over 100 kids show up even while the McLeod county fair was on.
We had 7 stations for kids to shoot BB guns to Black powder to Bow and arrow and more! We had prizes from 22's to bow's and arrows and much more. It was a great day for kids and for me to help out. It was a joy to see boys and girls having a great time!
Next I feel the same way about trying to help moms and dads with hunting. I just held a contest for and Father son or daughter to send me an email why I should pick them to stay at Feathers Four Us lodge in North Dakota for a week free, the last week in October. The house is furnished, all they have to bring is personal items and hunting gear.
I picked a father and daughter combo this year.
I know it is not alot but a place to stay for free isn't bad either.

Lazlo
 
SD Youth season age expanded

FYI, SD Youth Pheasant season used to be kids 12-15 but now is for kids ages 12-17 (resident and non-resident alike). However, non-resident kids 12-15 get their license for $25 but the kids older than that have to pay full price which I don't really care for. If you are going to let the kids into the youth hunt then give them the discounted license.

I see they also brought the start time in to 10am from noon.

Youth Pheasant Season

Season Dates: Oct. 3-7, 2009
.
Open Unit: Statewide, Both private and public land, including Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge, will be open to the youth hunters. However, only public road rights-of-way adjacent to public hunting lands will be open for hunting.

Daily Limit: 3 rooster pheasants, with a possession limit of 15 taken according to the daily limit.

Shooting Hours: 10:00 a.m. to sunset daily (Central time)

Eligibility: Resident and nonresident youths must be 12 (must turn 12 by December 31) through 17 years of age, possess a valid Hunter Safety Certificate and be properly licensed to hunt small game. All youth hunters must be accompanied by an adult who is not carrying a firearm. Resident youth ages 10-16 may participate in a mentored hunt
 
I introduced 4 adults this past season. This season my son will go on his first hunt(he has always walked with me since he was 2 yrs. old). This year he will have a gun and be ready to shoot birds. Sunday, in fact, we hit the preserve for a warm up for him.
 
Flush 'Em Hard Rocky said:
I introduced 4 adults this past season. This season my son will go on his first hunt(he has always walked with me since he was 2 yrs. old). This year he will have a gun and be ready to shoot birds. Sunday, in fact, we hit the preserve for a warm up for him.
Click to expand...

Congrats on getting your son out there this year! That is great. I can't seem to get mine to tuffen up and pull the trigger on his 4-10. He's 7 years old.....I was shooting a 20 ga. at 7. Not sure what I've done wrong. Maybe he can just shoot the camera? Maybe he'll be a ballerina (sp?)?

Thanks for introducing the 4 adults to the sport. 4 new people is a good year and I commend you. The future of our tradition rests on our shoulders. Introducing someone new to the outdoors can be more rewarding than just about anything else I've done.
 
Last year took a new kid (24 year old) out around Great Bend. He is a big deer hunter here in Missouri, but had never hunted pheasants. Had a good weekend, our group of 6 didn't get a limit, but close, he got a couple birds on his own and doubled with some of us on some others. He also learned a valuable lesson, don't buy new hunting boots the morning before you leave for a pheasant hunt. Just yesterday he was sitting in my office at work telling how he was going to be hunting in Iowa this year with family, and how he hoped to get invited back with us to Kansas. My dang wedding is screwing up opening weekend, but we'll get out a few times at least.

Had been pestered by another guy at work, he's in his mid 40's, wants me to take him and his 15 year old out west. I've offered numerous times, but he always has something going on. Neither him or the boy have been pheasant hunting, I expect to get them out this year.

Introduced my fiancee to bird hunting when she moved up here from Missouri. Two years ago she shot her first pheasant. Picture perfect how it all happened, frost on the ground, sun coming up, big open grass patch, point, bird flushes, cackles, the whole nine yards. Explosion of feathers, dog runs out to retrieve it just like he had been taught. Next thing he knows she is crashing in over the top of him and rips the bird from his mouth. She was excited, and it didn't dawn on her that all the work we had done with him in the yard was what he was trying to replicate. A lot of good hearted ribbing there, about her stealing his bird. She was deadly in the dove field last year as well, and now is doing her part introducing her coworkers at Pitt State into guns and hunting.

The biggest obstacle we have in getting some of these people hunting is the lack of a hunter education card. Its hard to get somebody to sit in class for a couple days learning about something they don't know for sure they want to do.

Not pheasant hunting related, but I work for a company that employs about 6,000 people in manufacturing around the country. Twice a year we do a 'new-leader orientation', where all the new management around the country for the past 6 months comes in to get some training. Each evening we have an activity, and one of the activities is to go to a little gun range, have a bbq and do some shooting. A lot of these new hires are recent college graduates, many coming in from bigger cities back east that have never seen a gun except on tv. Its always a fun to get them standing on the 16 yard trap line and consistently breaking clays. A lot of the girls you wouldn't think could hold up a gun, but they really get into it. Have got a few emails afterwards of them going out and buying a shotgun because they enjoyed it so much. Of course, there are a few of them that after two boxes of shells they never even scratched a clay, some people you just can't help, no matter how good the instructions are.
 
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