help getting youth hunters

[Nomad]

Lots of talk about the youth hunts and our loss of young hunters, well heres one idea,feel free to add your own.

Change the hunter ed classes. My two are now in college but when in high school the hardest part was finding time to take the class !!

Most we found were 3 nights, 4 hours a night ,plus travel time during the school week. Well for those with no kids, the demand on their time by the school is great. If you play sports as my girls did you play YEAR round, add in a monster load of school work,vollentier work, part time jobs, clubs and 3 free nights during a school week don't exist . I know kids who never went because of this, they tried but something always came up and they could not make it . Mine had a very narrow window of time and a Dad who did not mind giving up 3 of his nights driving back and forth 2Xs a night 3 nights in a row......

Put most of the class on line or dvd, add some interactive stuff, and have a one  night class where the kids show they know safe gun handling skills and test them. Lets keep it hunter SAFETY, remove all the 'history of muzzle loaders', "how to ask for premission to hunt " etc.

Put it online and have a one night hands on class and test. Its not 1,977 any more where you got 1/2hour a night of homework and the coach did not mind if you missed practice, because he hunted too.....

[ELMER J. FUDD]

1) Turn off MTV & video games. Don't let the tv babysit your kids.

2) Be a good parent, lead by example. (god knows this is the hardest part!)

3) Promote work ethic. How can someone enjoy hunting if they feel it's too much work. Work ethic creates appreciation for the luxuries which are taken for granted these days.

4) vote republican! (naw I'm just kidding on that one!) for the politix forum guys

[Doc]

Begin a campaign of hiking, fishing and camping and teaching woods lore to instill an enjoyment and appreciation of nature and outdoor activities. Do that early in the child's life and make it a lifestyle. All that stuff taken together is what creates the desire to be involved in the rest of it (hunting).

[Doewhacker]

So Cub scouts, if the kid doesnt have a outdoor family would help. This is one of those topics that I never have considered simply because it hasn't been an issue in our family. I hunt because my dad does and so on. Lucky I guess.

Also, if the kid is watching TV, maybe tune in the outdoor program instead of Sponge Bob and actually take the time to explain it to the kid and then take them out to see what they saw on TV.

[Doewhacker]

Basically what I'm getting at here is, if we can't fight tech then maybe we can use it to help us out in the long run?

[ELMER J. FUDD]

I could swear there is a link between Spongebob and autism.

[Doewhacker]

I could swear there is a link between Spongebob and autism.

As far as a cause of it? No. There might some other type of link like a characture acting like he has a form of autism. Autism's cause's aren't really clear other than genetic's. The type my son has affects a very small number of kids and mystify's many who try to figure out why. Simply put his brain works different than ours and he is real smart already..lol

[WNYBuckHunter]

I love Spongebo, lotsof adult humor in there if you are paying attention. 

[Karpteach]

I also love Spongebob. However, as a parent and an educator I feel it's the parents responsibility to monitor their child's TV intake. My daughter watches hunting and shows with me as well as 1 hour of TV a day. She gardens with us and loves to hike in the woods. Bottom line is parents input is imperative.

[jusputtn]

Larry,

 

  Don't tell us, tell the NYSDEC.  The hunter ed programs, gun and  bow, have mandated minimum lengths as well as mandated course content.  Instructors are volunteer employees of the NYSDEC while in class.

 

  Become an instructor.  Then you will be able to tailor your class schedule as best you can to fit your needs.  It's not a full answer though, due to the mandates that I mentioned above.

"If you play sports as my girls did you play YEAR round, add in a monster  load of school work,vollentier work, part time jobs, clubs and 3 free  nights during a school week don't exist . "  How's a kid with this kind of schedule going to find time to hunt?  Time to rearrange priorities.

[Nomad]

Thanks for the replies.Jusputtn I did become one 20 or so years back .

No not for long though, long story...

As far as priorities. Well talk to the high schools or really the colleges.

Its very competive they want AP classes,vollenteer work, clubs (if an officer thats better), sports and so forth. Then again the high schools set the homework load .

My prioities were good grades for my kids and what was needed to get in good colleges.

It paid off in 2 on the deans list and scholastic scholarships.

One hunts one doesn't , but would like to but a college load leaves little time to spend 3 nights in hunter ed. For what my other kid who never even read the book said, " was the easist test she ever took in her life"  .......

I will send my thoughts on to the dec. Some states don't even have hunter ed. others are all on line.Seems to work well for them .

[spltlim]

A few years back NJ went to the Hunter Ed being course being a do at home thing....Basicly the classes are on a DVD you watch them complete a take home workbook...Then do a one day "field" session, where you take your written test, conduct a trail walk to show safe weapon handaling, and a proficincy shoot...

Now my son just turned 10 so he is now old enough to get his license and he is currently in the proccess of doing the at home portion....I understand the convience of it being done at home, as it is hard to find time to go to an acutual class or classes ....

However i really wish it was they way it was years ago...with hunter ed instructors giving the classes....I remember being his age and really looking forward to going to the classes with the other kids...kind of a right of passage type thing i guess

[Doc]

Frankly, I enjoyed the different classes too. But I also understand the extraordinary inconvenience that the length of many of these courses creates. Anyone preparing for gun hunting and then bowhunting, and then trapping is in for a whole lot of hours to be scheduled. Probably enough to deter a certai number of youngsters that are just considering getting involved with these activities. You would think that there would be a way to streamline some of that. I think that the use of the computer for at least parts of some of these courses is not really a bad idea.

[wdswtr]

Interesting this topic came up.  I have 3 kids 16, 13 and 11.  16 year old is my duaghter and she has always been on the fence wether she would actually like to hunt or not.  She has no ill feelings towards hunters or hunting, just doesnt think she could pull the trigger.  Fine and I can respect that, however she does go out with me quite a bit just to sit in a blind or still hunt, she loves to do all the deer calling and rattling when she is with me.  The expressions on her face when she get a deer to come in from her doings is rewarding enough, never pulled the trigger when she is with me either to respect her feelings, she does help butcher every deer I have ever shot and actually like doing that part.  The 11 year old has been out with me and he just has zero desire as he has no patients and can not sit still through a cartoon let alone hours in the field.  The few times He has gone out with me he made it a point to scare the turkeys away or the deer away.  I dont know where he gets that from at all.  Like most Im from a long line of huntersand he is the first boy in the family to not like the sport at all.  So now her I am at the 13 year old, with the same exact problem, plays hockey, baseball, football.  He gets excited about hunting season and goes out with me every chance he can. He has seen every aspect of it and enjoys it all.  Now it might be somewhat of my own doing but I have always preached when one of the kids makes a commitment they follow through with it till the end.  So everytime a hunter ed course opens up he is not available to spend the time and is disapointed.  Last year I was taken back a bit to see there is no other way to get even part of the ed course in online.  Not the choice I would prefer as there nothing that can replace a hands on but when we live in a fast paced got to have it, got to do it, need it right now world I was rather shocked.  I personally would love to see a course offered in our school for those interested, volunteer hunter ed instructor making a visit once a year.  Any thoughts on this or how to implement it?

[Doc]

I know it is ancient history, but when I took my original gun course, it was held at night in the school bus garage. I have no idea when they stopped that or why, but it was handy.

As far as online hunter safety training, there is an awful lot of it that is simply lecture. I would think that that part could be handled on-line with some of the more "demonstration" type parts of the course handled in a much shorter time-frame at an actual class. If needed, a short test could be administered just to check that the online stuff was actually read. I think it might be surprising how much actual class-room time could be eliminated this way without losing any of the effectiveness of the course. We're in the computer age ..... let's use them.

[Nomad]

Thanks for the input guys, Doc were on the same page,wdswtr been there. I too did not care what my kids chose to do, but once they start they will finish it just like you !

For me i took a one sat. class back in the '70's. Hunted some during high school then stopped for a few years. When I went to work in a factory tons of guys hunted,so because I had the class years back i jumped right back into it.

This is one reason why i feel its important to get kids through the class.

With college,the Armed Forces what ever they may stop, but then later on its easy to pick up again.  The easier it is to get many through the class the more we'll have now or down the road. I have no idea why this is now slanted......I guess a computer class would not work well for me.....

[spltlim]

(quote) " I personally would love to see a course offered in our school for those  interested, volunteer hunter ed instructor making a visit once a year"

Now I think thats a great Idea

I do like the at home hunter Ed that NJ has gone to..  But while my son was/is going through it, 

One big problem that came to my mind was,  if a kid was taking a online or at home course , that didnt come form a hunting family or have a mentor with a hunting background and he or she had a question about something.  They dont have anyone to ask

[bubba]

sure they do.  If you sign up for the online class, it has to be offered by an instructor.  So the child has the instructors information and can contact them with questions.  As far as the classes being offered at times that are convenient,  there is no answer.  I have been an instructor for 24 years, almost 25.  I used to do day classes as I worked evenings.  I filled those classes.  I have had classes in mid summer when high school kids had more free time.  They were never attended well.  Every one wants the class 2 weeks before deer season and want their kids excused from the classes due to school activities, or get mad when the classes fill up and gripe at me they can never find a class.  I had a class in April during school break this spring. I had 8 yes 8 people attend and 5 were adults.  I guess if you want a certificate bad enough, you can make it a priority for a week.  We used to do after school classes 2 hours nce a week at school.  With new rules etc, you can not bring a gun to class in a school. The majority of the class now is on DVD.  However the  instructors have the dvd's and I am not going to hand them out to not get them back.

[wdswtr]

Well guys tonight watching a hunting show they gave this link to people looking to take a hunter safety course.  Although in NY you still need to take a class by a certified instructor to get the certificate this is a good start to get them on the right course.  http://www.huntercourse.com/usa/newyork/