How many hunters is in Ontario...?

[Glen Murphy]

I am constantly looking to build a new hunting group, I have been trying to mentor my daughters friends. One of the young guys forgot a piece of his stand when we went to set up and it never left the ground the rest of the season, the other guy came out four times, I went 17 times. Last year we went out and set up our stands, again the one guy set his stand up and never came out, the other guy did better and hunted 8 weekends. Im 60 years old this year, I'm in pretty go shape, I can climb hills and walk the woods with the 28 year olds. I would like to find a few guys my age who can hold their own, have the money to hunt and the time to be consistent. It's hard to find guys that want to hunt and not just sit around drinking after travelling far distances to hunt. I like to tip a few beer, do a few shots and puff the odd joint with the boys too after the guns are put away for the day, but I get up before light and get to my Moose watch or deer stand before light. I am successful a lot of the time, Im sharing meat with people who don't like to get up and hunt. It pisses me off to be honest. If hunting was easy, every kid would do it. It's not easy and it's expensive, that's why i take it serious. As a kid, my Dad would never have taken me hunting if i only partied and slept in. I thank my Dad for the tough love of hunting and the knowledge of dressing moose and deer in the field.
I've built an amazing comfortable hunting camp with the knowledge handed down to me, there is nothing better then hanging out at the hunt camp with the team.

[anglodrkns]

I personally think alot of it does have to do with time and money. As a young hunter who has had no one to teach me the ropes or hand me gear to get me started I can say its been a hard and long effort to get myself into it. To start I make decent money but with the economy today still have to scrounge for those few extra bucks for tags and ammo and any gear needed for hunting season. And time is hard pressed as well, working 9 hour days plus travel to and from work. Private property to hunt is harder to come by as most property at least around the Barrie area is already held by groups of older hunters, or the owners simply will not allow hunting. And public lands are very crowded during big game/ turkey seasons. So you now have to travel farther north, which is more time and again money on gas making weekends where you can only hunt Saturdays a stretch. Most people who are in my age group simply cannot afford to keep up something like hunting anymore. Many of us even working 2 jobs just to afford life.

[rodmcd]

anglodrkns
You make a lot of very good and valid points. All of the above were much easier when I was younger. Good luck.
rodmcd