Getting Harder to find younger hunters to commit?

[welsh]

We older guys aren't slamming technology. There's nothing wrong with buying a GPS or any modern hunting device. We're saying that a kid with $500 in his pocket isn't going to spend it on a rifle, ammo or gas that he gets to use at most one week of the hunt.
He's going to spend it on a cell phone and contract that he gets to use 365 days a year.

Many of you older guys are also complaining that he can't be dragged away from his electronic toys, characterizing him as lazy, and condemning his choices. Let me quote an example:
If they can't do it in front of the TV , use an Ipod or Text iten they're not interested. Just about any activity involving physically moving their body they have little interest in--unless its borrowing daddy's car.

Who posted that gem? You did. Post 11.

I could go on.

People have been complaining about "kids today" since Cain slew Abel. It's tiresome.

[northernontario]

I'll weigh in on the discussion here. I'm young by some standards (29), but I'm also an incredibly young hunter; This will only be my 2nd year deer hunting, and this weekend was my first ever attempt at bird hunting (unsuccessful). I've killed more grouse and small game with my car! There was a point where up until last Fall, I had never actually seen a deer in the woods. I had seen them on roads, in fields, and coming out of the trees... but I had never sat in the bush and watched a young buck with his head to the ground hot on the trail of a doe. I grew up in farming country in Peterborough County, friends and neighbours and extended family hunted... but not my immediate family.

I don't live a lavish lifestyle; The cars I own, I don't make any payments on (10+ and 18+ years old), with minimal upkeep costs. I have a mortgage, but on a house in the country and not something in the suburbs or a McMansion on a lake. I work 9-5 in a good job, but I also bust my when not at work... volunteer firefighter, small business owner, single-dad to two kids (50% of the time), I cut firewood and supplement my heat with wood. I have minimal credit card debt (ie... paid off monthly).

By all standards, I should have lots of extra income (when I see people making car payments, loan payments, putting their kids in hockey, etc etc)... but the money isn't there. I haven't been able to put anything into an RRSP in almost 12 months. Laid off for 3 months in the spring set me back a lot.

I have 5 days of vacation this year, because of the new job. ALL of those days will be used for deer hunting. I've caught one fish all season. I want to go hunting, I want to gain the experience as well as put food on my plate. I just happen to live in an area where I don't know many people. I can't take off on the weekend and go hunting, as that's when I have my kids.

Excuses excuses... we young people are full of them. I overheard some coworkers saying they wouldn't be moose hunting because they keep getting calf tags and it wasn't worth it to them.

But at the same time... I'm one of the younger guys in our deer camp. This camp has been around for over a century, passed down through the family. We've got 3 young guys, a young female, and the rest is middle-aged (50+) guys. It's a family; the wives and daughters are there. I spent time there as a kid with this family, but always in the summer, never hunting. Now I live 7 hours away, and I wish I could be there every weekend, even though it's all crown land. At least 3 members of the camp will be coming in from Alberta to hunt for the week. This place is their sanctuary, and they've opened it up to me. You haven't experienced the joys of the hunt until you've stood in a stand of mature oak trees at dusk, watching owls fly by and calling each other. Or listened to crows flying overhead during the day, singing songs to themselves.

Every day that goes by, my kids get a little older, and I get a little closer to being able to share those experiences with them. But until then, I'm full of reasons why I can't commit to joining a moose hunting group, or going duck hunting, etc etc... life just gets in the f'ing way.

[Craig_l]

I imagine a lot of "younger" guys could be like me as well. And that is that they are willing to join camps but not willing to be camp b!t@# for the next 10 years. I'm all up for doing as much as I can and spreading the work around, but I am not for being treated like your piece of crap because I'm the new guy.

[Oddmott]

There you have it... 4 pages of quality answers as to why younger hunters are hesitant or unable to commit to expensive, weeklong hunting excursions.

Plenty of great reasons such as important education commitments, important employment commitments, important family commitments (all of which greatly impact the fact that "the hunt" has become too costly and too complicated for many to partake in at certain points of their young-ish lives) and the fact that being mistreated by older established camp members is not anyone's idea of a good time.

Nowhere did anyone state their reason for not being able to join in a $1000+, 5-10 day, remote moose hunt was poor cell service or lack of satellite television.

I'd like to throw another reason into the mix (one that sadly isn't the case for me, yet).

More and more women are taking up hunting. Since 2005, something close to 30% of new hunters in the U.S. and 24% of new hunters in Canada have been females.
Because of this, many husbands/fathers are choosing to step away from their traditional male dominated hunt camps to introduce their wives/daughters to hunting in a less testosterone charged atmosphere.

Quite simply, times are a-changing, and hunt camps will have to as well.

I know one moose group that has taken to a lottery system. It's co-owned by 40 individuals (roughly 1/4 are women) who ALL can't attend every single year. So they draw lots to see who will attend each year. I believe it's something like Yr 1 - men, Yr 2 - co-ed, Yr 3 - men, Yr 4 - women... so on and so forth.

Every member gets to hunt every couple of years, which is all any of them could really afford anyways, and they get to enjoy both gender exclusive and inclusive camp atmospheres.

[MikePal]

There you have it... 4 pages of quality answers as to why younger hunters are hesitant or unable to commit to expensive, weeklong hunting excursions.

Nowhere did anyone state their reason for not being able to join in a $1000+, 5-10 day, remote moose hunt was poor cell service or lack of satellite television.

Still allot of reasons sound like excuses....I personally know guys here who find time to fish every weekend all summer and take vacations with the families down south during the march breaks etc etc....but they can't commit to a day of clearing trials or a day of fixing up the camp come fall. So I'm taking some of these 4 pages with a grain of salt..what gets said here is often not reality.

Even the comments about being 'Camb Btch'...I find it hard to believe that to be true...we don't make the young members do more than anyone else, but yes they do get asked to do more of the physical stuff like filling the water tank on the roof of the buss. because we don't want to send the 65 yr old guy with a bad hip up there. Makes me wonder if some guys just aren't used to be asked to do stuff in general.

And like I said in a earlier post...we had two young guys (family of members) who choose to go to the other camp, based specifically on the fact that it had satellite TV and they didn't find sitting around playing cards with the camp 'fun'.

I know for a fact that the camps around here are dieing off....ours is one of them. We've had a few new guys come in and stay and a few left after a yr or two because of the reasons mentioned earlier ( family/money stuff etc.) We adapted a bit by holding our Deer camp the second week, so more guys (with low seniority at work) could get time off etc. That worked and we retained two other guys. But the numbers are no where near what they were 15 yrs ago.

[Oddmott]

As an outsider who isn't really part of a hunt camp... unless you'd consider a father & 2 sons a hunt camp... I can't really try to disagree with you MP. Maybe youth are lazier and less willing to help with camp days.

But judging from the stories shared here by Gilroy and yourself and others, and from my own observation of men in work and recreation and in general... I'd be willing to bet that the #s are pretty well split down the middle for lazy unreliable old farts vs lazy unreliable youths.

My dad's old camp started building a new cabin in 88 when i was 8 yrs old. Dad made all sorts of time to help with building it (easy for him as he lived closer than 60% of the crew, and being a construction foreman he provided most of the tools) but it still wasn't completed by the time he quit the club at the age of 32 in 1992.

The main reason for the delay in completion? Lack of commitment by the CAMP OWNERS, a pair of brothers who were about 20 yrs older than most of the members. One of the bros lived on site and preferred to spend most of his time drunk vs productive, the other brother managed at Schneider's in southern ON and rarely had time to drive 5-6hrs to the camp for work weekends.

For every story an older guy may have about younger hunters... a younger hunter can match with a negative story about an older hunter.

[greatwhite]

I agree hunting equipment is expensive, but I disagree that you need to have every piece. I have to make choices I have a young family still so I make do with all my equipment. I rarely buy anything other then ammo, when I do buy something I probably by used and fix it to suit myself. Hunting doesn't have to be expensive assuming you can hunt not far from where you live. I own several guns various shotguns most from my youth or purchased more then a decade ago all purchased used. I hunted grouse and rabbits most of my life with a single shot and even hunted ducks with a 16 gauge when lead shot was legal.

Most of my equipment I have gathered over a lifetime. Coleman laterns purchased over the years I have , Coleman stoves 3, about 5 dome tents all still used the oldest is 30 years (When they first hit the market)

Fishing equipment the same thing axes, chainsaws, boat, canoes (2).

Point is hunting is only as expensive as you make it. Heck I still don't have a game cam yet. One of the things I teach kid's is to make do with waht you have.

Someone mentioned he won't be anyone's at any camp. Well I will tell you when I go out hunting or camping I do expect the younger fellas do a good chunk of the work if they are capable of it. That's part of the learning process. When camping my kid's are expected to pick up the firewood after I cut it all. When I took the you lad out duck hunting the other day. He loaded my truck got my boots. Also before we even left he helped me plant some shrubs. It's called respect. In return he got his first duck hunting trip he used my gun well I handled the canoe. Heck I haven't even hunted with my gun yet.

Enough of my rambling just my 2 cents. I guess I'm just old school and becomming another old fart.

[MikePal]

I'd be willing to bet that the #s are pretty well split down the middle for lazy unreliable old farts vs lazy unreliable youths.

For every story an older guy may have about younger hunters... a younger hunter can match with a negative story about an older hunter.

You right Oddmott...there is an 'Old Slug' in every camp...difference is they've been a fixture there so long nothing is ever expected or asked of them...

[johnjyb]

I resemble that old slug at our camp come deer season, and a big reason for that is the countless hours I spend throughout the year that you never see when I am out fixing/building stands, clearing trails, dragging out firewood, hogging trails, keeping bait piles active, and an assortment of the other "biatch" work that has to be done but just isn't noticed by the 1 week wonders who also expect to do nothing and be catered to. I expect to relax during the deer season as this is the big reason I put all those hours of my time in to the camp, and it doesn't really feel like work either.
John

[justinanika]

I find it is harder to get any age group of hunters to commit. Our camp is slowly shrinking, middle aged guys says they have no money, older guys with health problems, all ages not able to get time off work, and the kids too young can't miss school. Also women don't come to our camp so the ones who have girls only for children don't come at all.