How involved are you with new hunter recruitment?

[wooly]

 Title speaks for itself....

 

I won't try to steer this conversation in any direction so I wont comment any further.

[ATbuckhunter]

Currently I will be taking a good of mine friend and his father out deer hunting during the 15 season. I also am helping another friend get into hunting. I hope ill get quite a few people into hunting. 

[Jeremy K]

I don't really have any friends anymore that i talk to all the time so i would come off weird trying to recruit a stranger to start hunting.

[bkln]

Last year got a buddy from work hunting, he got his first dear too, he was happy as a little kid.... Passing the tradition.....

[scolopaxmatt]

I'm of the mind that hunter retention is just as important as recruitment.  Taking a friend who hasn't gotten out in years past (wife, kids, job, house etc.) and reacquainting him with the pursuit counts I would think.  He/she may have previously been a hunter but for all practical purposes wasn't for whatever reason. 

 

Or a stranger for that matter.  Basically you guys are all strangers to me, but I wouldn't think twice about offering company on a bird hunt nor accepting same offer. 

 

I also take recruitment to mean persuading non hunters that what we do is not simply murder.  When I run into hikers, joggers, dog walkers and the like I make an effort to be friendly.  I keep my action visibly open (broken as it were) and wave.  I've recommended wearing some blaze orange or other bright color and steered some away from areas I know are full of traps that could harm their dogs. 

 

I've gotten the hairy eyeball a few times, most often from other hunters, but when an interaction seems to end well its a plus for all hunters.  We're not the beer swilling bubbas we are sometimes portrayed as, nor are we bloodthirsty murderers taking aim and anything that moves. 

 

Proving that point to anyone who will listen, for however long, goes just as far as taking a buddy out on his first hunt in my mind.

 

[grampy]

This year it's my two grandsons, who are 11 and 13 who have been going out with me for a few years now.

A nephew asked me a few weeks ago if I could get him started hunting. We are now looking for a hunters safety course for him. He just bought his first truck, and will be spending a lot of time with me this spring and summer. Hoping to see him with his first deer this fall. I hunted with his father, my B.I.L., many years ago, great guy but not so great woodsman or hunter. He hasn't hunted in over 20 years.

There is a young family man I met through work, that got his start bow hunting last year with me. We had a couple of close encounters, but no deer yet for him. His time was very limited, working two jobs and a family. But this year I hope to see him be successful in taking his first bow buck.

After putting 40 plus hunting seasons behind me, anything I can do to see a young hunter, with that gleem in their eyes, shaking hands, and huge smile on their face, standing over a deer. I will gladly do. Hunting is not just all about me anymore.

[Paula]

I have a nephew who would like to get into hunting so he can go with me.

All I can do is remind him about hunting course

Edited March 25, 2015 by Paula

[Sogaard]

My twin boys turned 14 this past summer.  Took them deer hunting for the first time on the Youth Weekend.  Both got their first deer (a doe and a spike buck).  I'm hoping I've hooked them for life.  

[stoneam2006]

I will take anyone who wants to go anytime....currently just my kids and cousins....but still trying to get my buddy and his kids into it....we will see

[Hock3y24]

1 nephew 9, who's finally showing an Intrest, nephew 5 wants to go and 3 year old stepson already comes out

Looking for squriells with me. Trying to do my part!

[Four Season Whitetail's]

I dont know of any young un's that want to get into hunting so about all i can do is open the gates to guys that ask to hunt my land that want to take young kids.

[Borngeechee]

People I know in NYC already think I'm crazy. I do talk to people about it though. All the city ppl I know that aren't afraid if guns are afraid of the woods lol.

[Doc]

I have added quite a few new hunters over the years. I certainly have seen to it that when I am gone I have replaced myself many, many times over. The problem is not always simply adding. There is also a need for keeping people in the sport once you have gotten them here. It is a two headed problem. We are getting to the point where recruitment is not keeping up with losses. Both have to be worked on ...... somehow. That is one reason why we need to examine new rules and regs to ensure that we are not driving out hunters that we already have. When you drive out an existing hunter you not only lose him, but also all the new recruits that he could have been responsible for throughout his life.

[Big Indian]

My daughter is in the safety class now. ( she still also needs to pass my course) but that will be an ongoing lesson....Cant wait for the youth turkey hunt and what the future will bring for her and I as we get to spend quality time together

 

Edited March 25, 2015 by Big Indian

[LI OUTDOORSMAN]

I host on average a dozen DEC hunter safety classes at my shop a year. This spring my son and I are both each taking a young hunter on their first spring youth turkey hunt .I took my kids on youth hunts until they grew out of it and always pick a youngster every year for a duck or turkey hunt.

[Huntscreek]

Over the years I have taken my Daughter & Son out since the were able. When they hit middle school I started taking kids in there school out hunting during Christmas break. Some want to hunt & shoot but either there from a family where no one hunts or single parent home with no time. Important to make it fun and follow rules, teach them right. If we don't kill anything is not important its getting them out. At the end I break out the 10/22 and let them have at it, which gets them hooked. Keep it fun, I seen one of the kids I've taken at the gas station now grown up doing the something. I was happy to see it his family never owned a gun nor hunted, now he is out there giving back.

[Four Season Whitetail's]

I have added quite a few new hunters over the years. I certainly have seen to it that when I am gone I have replaced myself many, many times over. The problem is not always simply adding. There is also a need for keeping people in the sport once you have gotten them here. It is a two headed problem. We are getting to the point where recruitment is not keeping up with losses. Both have to be worked on ...... somehow. That is one reason why we need to examine new rules and regs to ensure that we are not driving out hunters that we already have. When you drive out an existing hunter you not only lose him, but also all the new recruits that he could have been responsible for throughout his life.

That i am afraid is a battle that will be lost. Land to hunt will be the big deal breaker. State land will have no animals and deep pockets will have the rites to the best properties. On another post there is talk about bow,muzzle and gun, Well if you look you will see that most that bow hunt are hunters that are after the top animals in the woods. Real hunters if you will. Most guys that just gun are the tag fillers or the weekend warriors if you will. The weekend warrior will be the first to drop and the bow/muzzle hunter will be the one to dig deep and lock down property.

[Nomad]

Got a friends son started in hunting years ago, my oldest daughter as well. Currently working on a guy at work, he's a gun guy but does not hunt. I give him a deer when the opportunity arrives as he and his wife enjoy the meat.

He also has one of my trail cams In His yard and is loving all the pics he's getting , we're getting close......

[bubba]

25 plus years gun instructor  10 plus years archery instructor.  I could not begin to count the number of people I have certified and sent out into the world.  Plus there have been some who I have taken out after the class and got them started.  I do at least three classes of each every year and they seem to fill up pretty regularly. 

[Curmudgeon]

The attrition problem is big. I traded in a tractor on a UTV a couple of years back. The tipping point was my Dad's ability to get in and out of the woods. It's his all during deer season and has added years to his hunting life.

 

How do replace the aging hunters, or those who have lost interest? Urban/suburban kids frequently don't have the tradition and/or opportunity. In rural schools, sucess is defined as getting out - leaving. Now that my daughter lives in a city, she has an interest in hunting. When she lived at home, she did not. It's too late for her to learn from me. She is 2000 miles from here.

 

The only new demographic group of hunters I am aware - that could be recruited -  are the foodies. Those that want local, safe food, that they acquired. They have different values, and many are women. The young woman I have been mentoring has felt belittled and disrespected at the gun club she joined near an upstate city. I won't say where. Maybe it's your club.

[Elmo]

I talk to people I know about hunting.  I'm willing to take any of them but none of them so far has come forth and asked me nor am I going to push anything on them.  I only openly talk about my experiences and the reasons why I hunt.  I even cook some of the meat and let them try it.

 

As far as strangers go, Since I've started hunting 5 years ago I have personally taken 4 strangers out hunting so far.  Of those, it looks like only 2 of them still hunt and I keep in contact with them here and there.  If every single one of us get 2 people to hunt our numbers would triple.

[Dom]

Comming from and having a large family we have gotten many people involved with hunting.We try to help them with their friends as well so far I have gotten about 6 of my own friends into the sport since I started hunting alone.The best way to get kids/ people to be more involved in the outdoors is to take them Hiking and fishing to start then they usually will take up hunting.

[Elmo]

I also didn't have any friends who hunt so I made some new friends who do hunt.  It's pretty simple.

[josephmrtn]

I try and get any of my friends that are willing to join me in the field.... Also last fall I got dad his first deer ????

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[Sogaard]

People I know in NYC already think I'm crazy. I do talk to people about it though. All the city ppl I know that aren't afraid if guns are afraid of the woods lol.

 

 

You must not know a lot of city people, or you hang out with the wrong crowd.  

 

I'm not sure which cliche about NYC I hear more on this board, we're either invading your towns every hunting season (but you still manage to take our money), or we are all non-hunting, non-gun owners who would get lost and die if we got turned around in Central Park.

 

I'm happy to say that all of my long time, childhood friends either hunt, shoot, or camp.  And we were all born and raised in Brooklyn.  I know many, many hunters from the city.  Staten Island alone has 3 different gun clubs/ranges, an indoor, private and an outdoor, public archery range and at least one very active conservation club.

Edited March 27, 2015 by Sogaard