Getting Harder to find younger hunters to commit?

[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. But it is very hard to find someone who seems to fit in with a group of guys who have known each other for 30+ years. Our camp is very organized and our primary motivation is the hunting, so you cant bring up a group of guys who are looking for a week away to just drink beer (which is ok, but its a different type of hunt).

Of three of us who are under 30, we all turn off our cell phones aside from the times we call home (for a mid week hello to the wives). Depending on how individuals are brought up really dictates they're dependance on modern amenities.

A young guy who hasn't been raised with the enjoyment and serenity of the woods is unlikely to appreciate the "getting away" and is equally unlikely to hunt. So we can take all the pot shots at youngsters today, but its really not fair game.

The hardest thing for me, is the time away from work. As a guy who is a relative junior in our company, I only have a couple weeks vacation a year... Now Id love to spend EVERY minute of my vacation time hunting but it really isn't a realistic practice.

I hunt deer every year at camp, and ensure I'm committed for a full week. But to try to throw an additional week of moose hunting in there isnt in the cards for me YET. I really cant afford to pay for the expense of another week away from work, in combination of the price of food, fuel, butchering, etc. At this stage of the game I will have to pick my battles. I suspect for many younger hunters they are in the same boat.

[JBen]

I usually agree with you Sawbill but this is pushing it. Its not cheap to go hunting, and whether you want to believe it or not, the cost of living has gone up since you were in your 20s. If I wasnt blessed and lucky enough to be born into a family with an established hunt camp, which costs me nothing except helping out, there is no chance I'd be able to take off a week for both moose and deer. In fact I'd struggle with just one week.

Once my father passed ( I was 19) the number of people around me who hunted went from 1 to none. My own life at the time changed directions and it wasnt until a few years ago (when I got divorced) that I decided to hunt again.

Im pushing 50, have free time, both from home and work, dont have the financial commitments youngsters starting out do. And its all I can do, to get started. And theres still some big speed bumps to clear.

My GF wants to start joining me. Her family has property...great...except we need a 4x4 to get into it. We really need an atv to reach certain area's, if not to hunt to do some work.....and what if, she feathers a Doe/Buck....Yeah, we are going to have fun getting it out.....and then what, throw it on the roof of my VW

Heck, I am seriously gung ho to get up there most weekends (its only Huntsville), start doing some work. Fixing old stands, getting new ones in, fix the place up, etc, etc. Her brother who really is the only one with a truck capable...Well he's got a career that ties him to the desk, a young family....

Times have changed, the bigger the more complex an adventure, the harder it will be getting people to commit.

[mbhunter]

Staring down the pipe at the big 3-O, I'm the youngest one at the camp by at least 30 years and the only one of the members' sons to commit to a full week of moose hunting. Work, as many of you have mentioned, is really what dictates how much time young guys can commit these days. I get 15 days holidays a year, 7 or 8 of which are used for moose/deer and the other half with the wife-to-be.

I can say though, once you find a good add to your group or camp, hang on to them. I invited a friend back to the camp for a work weekend (it was spring wood weekend) who had been interested in joining our deer hunt. He asked what kind of work was involved and then opted to not show up . . . his invitation for deer camp that year got lost in the mail.

I'm looking ahead at 45 when the members of the camp will be 75 or older . . . god help me if I'm still the youngest one there for an entire week. Everyone chips in and gets the job done, but at 75 . . .

[Salmonid]

10-15 years ago the starting salary was about $35K and the price of gas was 40-50 cents.
Now the starting salary is about $40k and gas is $1.30 and even higher on some days.

I think inflation is one of the main reasons. In addition, many guys who are in their 20's and 30's grew up playing video games with less physical activities than the generation before. They are used to having amenities and a smaller percentage can do without amenities.

[Fionn]

A young guy who hasn't been raised with the enjoyment and serenity of the woods is unlikely to appreciate the "getting away" and is equally unlikely to hunt. So we can take all the pot shots at youngsters today, but its really not fair game.

The hardest thing for me, is the time away from work. As a guy who is a relative junior in our company, I only have a couple weeks vacation a year... Now Id love to spend EVERY minute of my vacation time hunting but it really isn't a realistic practice.

Nailed it. Any 'youngster' who hasn't been exposed likely doesn't get it. If I were to bring a little cousin out (who is ADDICTED) to his phone, I would take it away from him for the week then let him decide what's better.

I struggled with vacation for a couple years, but I negotiated for more, and more, and more. Now I have so much its tough to use it all... If you're not in a union contract, try to negotiate for more vacation instead of a pay raise next year.

[Scum Frog]

I find it funny that every generation complains about the younger generation....Really? Guess what? the generation before you complained about your generation LOL

Our whole moose camp 10-12 guys aged 30's to 70's stopped going after years of succesfull moose hunting. What started out as $500/wk crept up to $1500/wk. Eventually people say enough is enough. We are all still avid hunters, but stick closer to home with local deer camps, grouse, ducks & geese, etc,etc. Just no moose.
As well, to be honest I just enjoy the deer hunt more than the moose hunt and rather keep my vacation time for that. It was tough taking two weeks off so close together, even more so now with the young lads hockey schedule!

[Oddmott]

Not as young as some here but at 33 and fairly tech-connected I definitely take offense to the bullshyte spouted by sawbill.

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.

So now your time away from big game hunting is pushing a decade... and you have a gf or wife and a kid on the way... this isn't the 50s and women are no longer "fine" with their men just screwing off for a week or two while they're forced to do everything to keep the home running smoothly.

But yeah... its all because younger hunters prefer ipads over camp camraderie. Eff me.

[welsh]

Maybe it's because people prefer not to hang out with people who talk about their entire generation with contempt....

[Brampton Mike]

WOW for someone only 33 you sure are living in the dark...plan your vacations accordingly...i have only missed 1 deer season in over 40 years of hunting! A good student can afford to take a week off school...i have to agree with the post that the majority of young kids today are so hooked on their electronic gadgets that they can't even take a dump without a phone glued to their ears...also they spend hours planted on the couch playing stupid video games instead of been outside getting exercise and fresh air and we wonder why so many kids today are obese!

[blasted_saber]

WOW for someone only 33 you sure are living in the dark...plan your vacations accordingly...i have only missed 1 deer season in over 40 years of hunting! A good student can afford to take a week off school...i have to agree with the post that the majority of young kids today are so hooked on their electronic gadgets that they can't even take a dump without a phone glued to their ears...also they spend hours planted on the couch playing stupid video games instead of been outside getting exercise and fresh air and we wonder why so many kids today are obese!

What does this have to do with the financial aspect of hunting?