Getting Harder to find younger hunters to commit?

Im not a hunter. how ever I would love to get into hunting. I follow many of the bunting threads here and learn a lot. And I am hoping to get my gun license and hunting license mabe end of the year or early next year. I'm an avid out doors man and grew up playing in the woods and fishing and all that. I was not born into a hunting or an out doors family for that matter. Its just me and my 2 other brothers. We are all in are 20's. Me only being 20 and my oldest brother being I think 28 lol. We do a lot of fishing together and the past few years we have been seriously looking into getting into hunting. We were just talking the other day about going for the one stop up in Uxbridge vary soon.

As for us young people being stuck to are phones it couldn't be farther then the truth. I love get5ing away from it all but havent been able to for most of the year with the gf being sick. For me it might be. As my gf is not well and its a must for me to be In sell rang in order to be sure that she is ok. Unless I can find someone like a friend who can make sure she's ok if she's having one of those days were she can't do much. I love when I can turn my phone off and go play in the woods or fish or just be outside. But living in the city can be vary hard at times with it being a long and costly drive to some places. And not to mention the time for me just isn't there right now mabe next year. Now when I do want to get away she doesn't hassle me cause she knows how happy the outdoors makes me and its a big stress re leaver.

I go to school and I work. Joining a camp for deer or moose at this point and time and putting out $1000 or more is not in the budget.

like most are saying if you don't grow up around it the chances are you wont ever get into it. My gf loves fishing and being in the woods with me. She even says she wants to get In to hunting with me and my brothers and she's from a family that doesn't look upon hunting and fishing as fun and even less so on hunting. So without me and my brothers chances are she would never have gotten into it.

the bottom line is unless you are brought up in a family that is some what Involved in the outdoors you probably wont be into it. I have found it hard getting started myself being in a non hunting family. money is also a big factor. Also just cause I can aford a phone and a tv and all that ( the only things I ow ln that are gaming systems are the original xbox that I got for my bday when was 14 and a wii I got last year witch only have fishing and hunting games for:fish::rolleyes: ) doesn't mean squat. My phone is for work and emergencys and I don't have a house phone no need. Truck is a toy and my transportation. Tablet was for school. Trust me I would love a nice trailer and atvs to go with it but they don't pay the bills and the gf would have a fit lol.

BUt I better go before I rant on some more hahahahha:D




Just my take

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Originally Posted by Fionn

I'm hesitant to agree with you - I don't think this is the norm. I'm one of the younger members (just a little under 30) at our camp, and I love turning off my work phone and disconnecting.

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Originally Posted by Naiscoot

Id like to echo Fionn's reply (which was very well written and I feel addresses many of the common facts that face todays 20 somethings.) Like every camp the two biggest issues we encounter is recruitment and fitting in with the guys. Luckily we have 3 guys in our roster of 12 who are under the age of 30, so things are looking up for the long term survival of the camp.

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Originally Posted by Oddmott

Tech access or lack of it doesn't factor into my decisions to hunt at all. Before you even get to the point of worrying about jobs and finances... what about the fact its nearly impossible to take off a week of school as a HS senior or throughout college? That's a 4-6 yr stretch of no big game hunting right there. Then you graduate and land a crap entry level gig and have no discretional income or job security for another 3 years.

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Originally Posted by kdp89

I am 23, so I guess that makes me one of the young guys. I am about an avid hunter as they come, but this is the first year I will really have any time or money that could be put towards any kind of hunting trip.

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I'd like to say thanks to the guys for those posts, for taking the time to 'enlighten' me on some the tribulations you younger guys face in today's world. I sounds like it has become much more complicated and demanding that it was for many of us older guys.

We make fun of the guys (two of them) that sit with their iThingy out answering in incessant ring tones while they carry on text conversations with their GF's. Maybe that is just the way it is now to help them accept being away, we don't really get it, but then we never had the opportunity to call anyone back in the day....long drive to the closest pay phone :)

I'll try to be more understanding this year.....

I just wanted to put my two cents in about younger hunters. Since I was able to get my younger members to be able to come up on a consistent basses. The son in-law and son, I have learned a few things. For years I complained how come you cant get away its only a weekend or two or a couple weeks a year. Then after putting in some thought here is what I found. As others have posted. School - first job- then marriage and new babies. Each have taken up tremendous amount of time for them. now that they have settled into there lives they have a bit more time for the things they love to do such as the out doors. It is a juggling act but still more time. As far as me being older I have had a learning curve with it all. I realized I was in the same boat as these young men. I did not have the same amount of time for teaching my own kids do to the same situations. now that I do, have the time to teach them and my grandkids what little I do know. As well they have the time to teach me. I now see the benefits of texting out in the field as apposed to communicating over a walky-talky although we bring both. I can see the practical of synthetic or composite over wood. The benefits of having there young strength and endurance as well as new ideas and enthusiasm. Has brought new light and life back into our camp. It took a bit of give and take on both sides, but now that I was able to get them out of bed at 430am every thing is great.
Don

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Originally Posted by Fionn

Hunting 60+ years ago was a necessity. It provided meat for the winter. It is obviously not a necessity on most areas of Ontario anymore times have changed.

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Well, not really. Only for a small minority of Canadian hunters living in more remote areas. As early as ~1880, hunting had essentially become a form of middle class recreation, and the middle class sportsmen began crowding out the subsistence hunters who had preceded them and introducing a class-driven code of fair chase intended to reserve game for recreational use. But let's not pursue that particular digression....

I think many people here are seriously underestimating the barriers to entry. I am 44 years old & live in the suburbs (well out in the suburbs; I can see a silo from my backyard). I'd love to hunt moose. But I don't own a truck -- it's not a practical vehicle for my family what with the cost of gas, the fact of three kids, and so on. I don't have a place to keep a trailer and an ATV, unless I somehow convince my wife that the garage should be used to store something I will use only a couple of weeks a year. Even if I could store the trailer and ATV all year, the cash outlay for truck, trailer, and ATV is simply unjustifiable. So there will be no moose. That's reality for a lot of people.

I Think it all has to do with how the younger hunters were brought up and how they were introduced to hunting.. Every year since I can remember my dad has taken me out of school for a couple days of the moose and deer hunt. Every year I would always be excited for hunting season and still am. Now a days I still go hunting with my dad and the same group of guys I've gone with for many years. I don't have problem leaving the cell at homeland just spending time in the bush with my dad.

Economic times have changed. Gone are the lifetime jobs that paid well and offered decent holidays. Most mid30 guys couldnt afford to hunt moose even if they could get time off from the two jobs many are working. It isn't the world I worked in that's for sure (I'm 61).

DanO, when you were a kid it was exactly the same way. In the early 50's there were mostly low paying jobs, parents had to work multiple jobs, few were permanent, nobody had more than one radio and when TV's came in, nobody could afford them, let alone have one for every room. But I remember the kids still got out--hunted and fished. They either walked, biked or hitchhiked.
Now the hunting and fishing pastimes are competing with Xboxes and cell phones.

Ok well can anyone connect me to any groups that are looking for new members. I already have a couple places to deer hunt and I have a group that I moose hunt with but I am always looking to connect with other hunters. I would def be open to joining a group for the deer hunt. I can always bow hunt at my other spots and would really to be able to open some doors to more hunting opportunities.

It's been said multiple times already but I just wanted to add my spin. As a 25 year old rookie hunter working 2 part time jobs (despite having a good education) I would love to spend a week Moose hunting. However, I am unable to commit to a full week off not only due to financial constraints but also because as the low man on the totem pole you want to be as dependable as possible in order to put yourself ahead of the next guy vying for that full time with benefits position. As far as contributing financially it would depend on the amount. For myself this being the first year of hunting the start up costs for me to deer hunt has left my budget stretched. I'm thankful I live on a rural property with my stand in walking distance and gas costs or travel time are not a factor. It's just not possible for me at this time in my life to afford an additional week long hunt that could could me $1000+.
As far as technology goes, yes my smartphone does come into the bush with me. However its purpose is to mark GPS locations of my stand, signs etc. From May-October I spend a great deal of time fishing with my 50 year old father and he spends likely more time on his smart phone than I do so while yes my generation does typically let their lives be dominated by technology it is not necessarily confined to teenagers and 20somethings.

Geez, based on all the comments posted here it would appear that I am very fortunate to have recruited 2 enthusiastic young lads. (well, this year anyway). We shall see what the future brings. We are having a meeting this afternoon to finalize the logistics of our trip. Mainly, who is bringing what for gear and making the food list.

All four of us are employed with full time jobs. The priority is hunting and taking time off for that activity even though 2 of the guys will receive zero wages. Now that is commitment!
The secret is that employers no longer care about their employees so loyalty to a company is no longer an issue. You have to look out for number 1 which is yourself. Ten years down the road you say to yourself I should have done this or that but guess what, it's too late. You will never recoup those lost years. Enjoy yourself while you can because life is too short not to do so. Where there is a will, there is a way even if it means taking a Grey Hound bus or train to the moose destination to save on cost and hook up with a group already on site. Four guys in a truck also helps to keep the expenses down especially for fuel. You don't all need an ATV. Just a couple for the group is plenty to haul a moose out of the bush. Go back to basics and you will find moose hunting affordable.

The gang!

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