4 day youth deer hunt state wide during teachers convention

[TODDY]

I've posted my comments on a different HSOforum but thought there was a lot more discussion on this one so I moved them here.

Let me first say that the following thoughts and feelings are mine. I mean no disrespect to anyone's thought or feelings as I appreciate all views on this subject....so keep em coming.

** I hear that youth hunts allow for "Extra opportunity" to spend with kids hunting? No it doesn't. The bow season in our state runs for 3-1/2 months. I see no reason that someone can’t find some one-on-one time with a youth hunter in that time frame. They have lowered the 12 year old deer hunting age to 10. Two more years of “opportunity”.

** The duck season is generally 60 days for Minnesota. The flight patterns of the ducks are such that the best opportunity for “anyone” to harvest them is early in the season (local ducks) and late season (migrating ducks). The middle of the season is usually slow for duck flights. I have no doubt in my mind that the youth hunt disrupts these (local ducks) in early season. This is not fair to the rest of the duck hunters. Before anyone uses the word "selfish" with me I haven't duck hunted in MN in about 5 years.

** On a side note: How many people do you know that bring kids out to hunt during these youth hunts hunt public land for the youth hunt, then hunt their private land for the rest of their hunting? I have heard this a lot over the years since these youth hunts first began. No objections here to owning your own land; but if it doesn’t affect the ducks then why hunt somewhere else?

** People are afraid of exposing their children to the "orange army"? My assumption is that you are talking about deer hunting on public land. I hunt public land as well as many Minnesotans; we have lots of it. Who makes up this “army”? Moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandpas, uncles, cousins, etc. These people in many cases make up “Deer Camps” throughout the state. “Deer Camps” have as much importance to hunting for many people as the actual hunting that goes on in the field. You certainly don’t get that with youth hunts, at least to any degree.

** How about youth grouse hunting, youth squirrel hunting, youth rabbit hunting? All the learning of safety, teaching hunting techniques, time a field, and bonding time you want and (almost) no one else to get in the way. More opportunity.....but the DNR keeps focusing on MESSING (and I really feel MESSING) with the three things that have the deepest Minnesota traditions embedded in them: Deer hunting, Duck hunting, and Fishing. “Opening Day’s” of all three could rival Christmas for the excitement and anticipation it brought me as a kid. YOUTH HUNTS ARE NOT “Opening Weekend”.

** I was hunting a few years back I ran into this gentleman on a trail as I headed out of the woods in the mid afternoon. After the pleasantries I asked him if he had any luck today. His party got three deer today. I told him great job and asked if he needed any help field dressing or dragging so he could get out of here before dark. He smiled and said “no thanks” and that he just had finished getting them to the truck and was going out to find a place to set up for the next morning. I asked him why he would have to “set up” for the next morning, just use the stand you’ve been using. He said he has his three kids out hunting with him. All morning he spent setting up portables stands for each kid making sure they were set for the day. By the time he got the last kid set up, one of the other two already shot a deer. A domino effect took place all day hauling deer for his kids. He didn’t have time to hunt for himself that day. As we finished up we heard a shot not too far away from us. Right after that a call came over his two way radio saying “Dad I got another one!"...and he was off again. One of the luckiest guys I ever met!

** You don’t need a youth hunt to affect the lives of today’s youth hunters in a positive way. You need adults willing to set "THEIR TIME" aside because they want to.

** A final thought because I’m tired of writing tonight: Activities of today's youth have really become increasingly time consuming. Many evenings and weekends are filled with them. I really feel parents/guardians need to have a "SPECIFIC DATE" to put into their Blackberry's to take them hunting. Why not? They schedule football practice, softball games, dance class, etc. Put a date in your Smartphone now, during the regular season, and stick to it. You don't need some DNR regulation to set that date for you.....Just GO! It's that simple.

TODDY

[CANOPY SAM]

Guys! There's already several youth deer hunting seasons in existance during the Minnesota hunting season. This is a legislative effort to simplify these varied regulations. That's all! It's not a new idea that's going to take away your hunting opportunities, or change the hopeless future of our lost youth.

Please try not to blow this up into something it's not. Some of these comments are downright comical.

It's a change - therefore I fear it, which makes me dislike it! C'mon?

[mcgarth]

i sure hope this does take place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just something else for SOME of you to cry about.

[Musky Buck]

Don't think we're really crying about it, we just realize our state is good at trying to put bandaids on bigger wounds. None of us asked for these societal changes that are forced on us. Everything revolves around, can't even call it a paycheck anymore, net take home pay on your direct deposit. I think my son should skip and will skip this MEA hunt. I'm done, never even started, giving in to the youth of today. He better hit the books harder if he thinks he'll be able to afford land some day. Don't want my kid to think of me as a friend. He gets what he gets and he better not throw a fit. His deer hunting day will come, patience is what I see a lot of kids lacking, everything is hurry hurry hurry nowaday. See he's just a nubbin buck that needs to shed a few sets of antlers before he's ready for the big time. If I felt he was ready for this hunt, I'd talk to him about doing it, for now he can hunt geese/ducks/pheasants/grouse over MEA and hone his skills. lol guys

[mrklean]

haha nicely said musky

[Bear55]

Good one musky. How will any of these kids even become deer hunters if they don't have the patience to sit in the stand for more than 1-2 hours at a time. Just imagine when we have another opener with 20 below zero temps again, they might cancel the season!

[Bowfin]

HMM, trying to instill patience by not letting the kids hunt as much? Limiting our choices of what to hunt and how to hunt instead of expanding choices? I don't buy it. These days kids have computers, video games, phones, etc, etc, if they are not hunting. I say give our kids more choices and opportunities to compete with non-hunting activities. I say get the kids out as much and as many times as possible to make hunting part of their lifestyle. If the DNR gives us an MEA youth deer season, I'll try to participate with my 11 year old. If not we will be hunting either grouse or ducks or maybe bow hunting - whatever fits into the plan. So I rather have more choices for hunting with my son than less.

Also, we should be getting out with our kids doing all sorts of hunting. Just participating in the firearms deer hunt a week out of the year does not make a lifelong hunter. I'm taking my 11 year old to a game farm this Saturday for pheasants, in June we head to the deer shack for 4 days to do some fishing, scouting and some deer stand work in preparation for next fall, in September he may start some bowhunting if'n he is ready - is proficient with his bow and shows interest, then youth waterfowl day, opening duck, hopefully some grouse hunting and October ducks, MEA? - we'll see its either a youth deer hunt (at the shack or a youth only State Park hunt) or grouse/duck trip, then the MN rifle deer season, then the Wisconsin rifle deer season, then back to MN for the muzzleloader season (OK we need more seasons than most to get our deer!). During winter we usually make a couple snowshoe hare trips.

Boy that's a lot of hunting. Maybe my wife is right - I am brainwashing him!

[Bear55]

Just having some fun Bowfin. I however do think more opportunity does not always equal more hunters. Wouldn't you say we have more opportunity then ever before, yet everyone says hunting numbers are slowly declining. To me its up the parents or relatives to get the kids out in the woods and on the lakes, it doesn't matter when or where just get them out there and have fun no matter the season. Even then that might not work, the kid still has to decide on their own if they like it or not and sadly they seem to be finding a lot of other stuff to do. When I was a kid growing up everyone I knew hunted and fished, now maybe half of them do. I don't think a special hunt is going to fix that.

[Musky Buck]

Time is a major factor. Adult or kid(s), seems to be less of it, we need a 9 day week or something.

[Bowfin]

Yes Bear getting out there with our kids and giving them a lot of exposure and memories in the field or on the lakes is the key. Though the world is a different place now then when we grew up. Lots more non-outdoor activities pulling at them and stuff which sap our time. I fear the traditional activity of hunting is slowly taking a back seat to everything else.

[Coach1310]

WARNING.... RANT BELOW

To be honest, I am quite surprised to be in the ABSOLUTE minority on this subject. I figured most would say NO, because just about anything proposed by the DNR these days is met with a lot of NO's. My thoughts on some of the reasons folks say no:

#1. "When I was a kid we didn't need a special hunt.... it should be like the good ole days.... why are we always coddling..."

Many things are much different now then they were then.... If we want it to be like the "good ole days"... I expect us to get rid of our rangefinders, compound bows w/ 80% let off, expandable broadheads, high powered scopes, comfy portable treestands, trail cameras, carbon clothing, gps, etc... It isn't the "good ole days"... so many things are different and we have embraced lots of these things with how we hunt today instead of keeping it like the "good ole days".

#2. "The deer are under enough pressure.."

We have a ton of time to hunt for whitetail deer in MN, no doubt.... Archery, rifle, muzzy, etc.... If we are so worried about all the pressure they are under, I propose NO HUNTING no matter what the weapon from November 1st to November 20th. This break will definitely give the deer a "much needed break" since they are under so much pressure. I can't imagine the outcry we would have if such a thing was proposed... I mean the deer are under too much pressure, right?

#3. What about the bow hunter hunting a certain area like a field and working a big buck. Now opening day of the youth hunt it is shot at 200 yards by the youth...

The issue of it interfering with YOUR hunt. To me, this issue is the biggest issue in hunting today, the entitlement many feel to a spot, a deer, an area etc. This leads a countless number of bad experiences in the field every year.... a special hunt may help in preventing that because the orange army isn't out and about yet... A FIRST POSITIVE experience is worth its weight in gold... I'm not saying kids can't get a positive experience during the regular firearms season, I'm just saying chances are a special hunt would lead to less issues for the participants and better chance at seeing the goodness of hunting..

**I completely understand a lot of the issues people have with this idea. You are all entitled to your opinion and by no means am I trying to degrade that opinion with my post above. I just think that the opportunity this creates can have a great affect for the future of our sport. We will all have to sacrifice some, but good things don't come easy.**

**for the record I have an almost 5 year old, almost 2 year old and 1 on the way. I hope they are all as passionate about the outdoors as I am and even without a special hunt, if they choose to, they will get plenty of days a field each season.**

[Musky Buck]

Time will tell if it has a "great affect" for our sport. I thought the 9 day zone 2 hunting instead of the split season zone 4 would have a great affect, wrongo. Thought the all-season tag would have a great affect, wrongo again as the traditional muzzy guys lost their season altogether. Time will tell.

[lungdeflator]

Where are they at on these decisions?