Learned a wealth of great news this week. #1 is that of the 6 young people that I have had the pleasure to help mentor in their development into young adults over the past decade (through bird hunting of course) 4 are still wildly involved in the sport. two of these kiddos came hunting with me again this past weekend on public land, and even brought a friend, and all three bagged their limits of 6 each on Saturday and another 8 between them on Sunday morning(pictures coming as soon as I get them). The neat thing is that very few hens were shot, the kiddos were not stressed by other hunters and we were able to take the time to work the ducks, really learn to identify the birds on the wing, and call the shots, and my dog got a lot of work in. 2 more young people are joining the first 2 again and coming out with me (and their fathers) next weekend for the general opener. Interested in getting your dog ready for prime time? start them a week early with youth hunts.
#2 I just read that the percentage of hunters in the general population has INCREASED over the past 5 years by 11%...Fantastic news, congratulations to all of you working to bring young people into the sport.. I work in public Ed, have no kids of my own. I hear all the time from people who don't work with kids that this new generation is too busy with their IPods, video games etc to care about conservation and the outdoors. Bullpucky! In every case I've seen, teaching the skills and providing a kid the chance to go camping, hunting, fishing etc will get that kid interested in the sport. They just need someone to take and teach them. If we old guys want to assure that we have the birds, space and help we will need to hunt deep into old age.... Take as many kids with you now as possible. plus the memories, for everyone, are priceless.
#2 I just read that the percentage of hunters in the general population has INCREASED over the past 5 years by 11%...Fantastic news, congratulations to all of you working to bring young people into the sport.. I work in public Ed, have no kids of my own. I hear all the time from people who don't work with kids that this new generation is too busy with their IPods, video games etc to care about conservation and the outdoors. Bullpucky! In every case I've seen, teaching the skills and providing a kid the chance to go camping, hunting, fishing etc will get that kid interested in the sport. They just need someone to take and teach them. If we old guys want to assure that we have the birds, space and help we will need to hunt deep into old age.... Take as many kids with you now as possible. plus the memories, for everyone, are priceless.
