Columbus Day Youth Hunt....

[JakeyBaby]

Was just wondering what other people thought about the youth GUN hunt that is happening this year on Columbus Day weekend?? This is going to go for 3 days, sat,sun, and mon! This is also our first weekend we bow hunters are able to enter the woods. I personally dont get the point of doing this besides just another way for NYS to recieve more money!Plus you know damn well that if that buck of a life time walks out, there will be some guardians of these kids that will take the gun to take the deer for there selfish selves!! I dont like it one bit!

Matt

-Jakey Baby-

[143447]

"guardians of these kids that will take the gun to take the deer for there selfish selves!! "

Well hope this doesn't happen . Teaching a kid to break the law on his first deer hunt what are we passing on here.

My daughter is 11 now. She is extremely excited about taking the hunter safety training class with Dad and going hunting when she is ready. I have had her out on bowhunts and gun hunts from(not hunting just sitting with Dad) a blind we do have a ladder stand she is really interested at this point. My son started out the same way and the youth turkey hunts played a key roll in his interest, he thought it was really neat and special that the state would set aside time for a young kid to go out with Dad or an adult hunter.

I have no problem paying for an extra license to get my daughter interested in the outdoors and spending quality time with Dad.

Kids are in general not intersted in the outdoors instead consumed with the virtual world of gaming and out of touch and disintersted in the outdoors and all it has to offer.

What are you worried about? This is nowhere near peak rut for bowhunters when your chances are best arrowing a big buck. a few kids get to shoot a deer and experience something special...we gotta pass this man

[JakeyBaby]

I aree with you 100% as far as getting kids in the woods!! I have a 3 year old that I take in the woods to check my cameras look for sheds and even took him to my ground blind last year when he was 2! iI even whent as far as buying him a life time license when he was one month old, so i to have no problem paying for an extra license. It was awsome and cant wait till he can experiance why we all love this sport so much!! Thats not the problem i have at all, it's just the state decides to put this in place 2 weeks before the season begins. And i just realy hope people do the wrong thing as you said. Also, there will be the few hunters that will be "selfish" and say well if they are going to let kids use a gun then I will just take a gun in the woods and know one will ever know. Thats my biggest isue not the fact of taking a kid hunting, I apologize if thats how it sounded.

Matt

-Jakey Baby-

[143447]

Bow opens a few days before the youth hunt Oct.1st

Hey np I see yer point, there are a few that will take advantage of this I'm sure it just seems like a huge lapse in judgement to sit there with a youngster expecting this time and circumstance there own only to pull rank and fire at a whitetail out of pure selfishness. What is the point?

"mmmm jr. fell asleep, hell I'll just poke the 50cal out and bang mr. big right here"..what happens after that?

[skipper19]

Needless to say, once a buck is fired at with a gun, you can bet that you won't see that deer in normal routine again if missed by inches. More activity in your well preserved area of attracting efforts can't be a good thing either. I'm all for helping youngsters get started, but what is wrong with regular seasons? My kids learned just as much AFTER bow season, AND during bow season. It's called bow season for a reason.

Mark

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[Warhorse]

it is all about the kids..

[RUNNIN REBEL]

Get the kids involved with you hunting and fishing. Just a simple 15 minute sit in a deer stand can be fun for BOTH of you.

Go at your own pace anytime !

Jerry

Rebel Charters

[machzrcr]

I love they are opening a special youth hunt and see how the timing may be benefical in a kids eyes. deer havent been pressured yet so kids are most likely to see more deer to get excited about and their possibily of being successful is very good, as well as having such a small attention span.

But on the flip side. that is the FIRST time a lot guys are going to be able to go out and having to watch over their back not and being in orange for gun hunters deffinitely is going to put a damper on things, if it was like the 2nd or 3rd weekend and a 2 day hunt i think it would be more generally accepted than the 1st weekend.

[dukhnter8]

Jakeybaby, The DEC has had the youth hunt in place for a few months but Coumo has a bill on his desk that can nix the youth hunt (not allowing firearms for deer during an archery season). But he still has not signed it as far as I know and supposedly is waiting till after elections to decide to sign it or not. So DEC had things together but yet again politics get involved in wildlife management.

[Gill-T]

I never like the idea of hunters with full camo in the woods the same time as gun hunters.

[fishon]

Just Another bad idea by the state...

There is a lot of people I see that hunt that never had a kids day. I would think any Dad or Guardian would be more than happy to give a opening day to help a child have a good opening day. When does the state become so set on the idea of harvest, or killing of the animal is what these kids need to be interested in the sport. Many good stories and memories I have are not all days were we harvest something. These kids will get two easy years of hunting then become 16 and find out it not easy and most kids of today will give up. Its like little league all kids get a trophy, no matter what they place or accomplished. What happen to work hard get first place and receive a trophy.

Public land to Private are two different woods to hunt. Since turkey youth hunts on public property I hunt, the toms are already call shy compare to Opening days of the past. Deer on last opening day were in shotgun mode by noon. I believe three days with guns will be the same. The rest of bow season will be harder for people. On state land five uncle's can drive off woods after woods to get the kids shots? more people hunt there driving deer then sitting. three days of this I think will change the deer’s behaviors. You will see less deer taken on opening day of gun season and bow season. So people who have been hunting will be frustrated sooner and the sport will lose more people.

How about safety, Bow hunters were orange or orange band around the tree like PA??

I have two girls who I hope take a interested in the sport so I can share these traditions with them. I just don’t feel this will be accomplished in three days youth hunt. It will do more bad then good for the sport. I remember sitting in the stands just to see deer two years before I could even hold a bow. Joel

The State is running out of youths hunts, soon will be catch a king in the bath tub day!

[143447]

I think it's a great idea.

Swallow your pride guys. If you are an accomplished bow hunter you will still pull it off in November after Holloween when they start to walk. Come on with the "once the shootin starts they will go into hiding" guys small game hunt in October and push deer all over.

Climb into your tree at 4am on November 5th and be ready guys..same deer same circumstances.

A young kid gets a chance to kill a nice deer and everyone gets in an uproar over it...rediculous

[bill]

I have 2 boys 7 and 11. I have had them out a handful of times squirrel hunting this year (public land). I have killed a lot of small game before deer season in my early years and still had great hunts through bow season and gun season. I can't say I over excited about an early youth hunt but, I don't expect it to have any affect on the rest of my season. When Nov 1st comes, the bucks will be chasing does and the arrows will be flying. If I kept a journal, I bet most of the deer I've killed with the bow have been between Oct 31 and Nov 6. Let the youths take a few does. You may see more bucks this year. I know if it goes well my son will be hunting does next year. I can tell you one thing. If you expect the woods to sound like opening day I wouldn't count on it. I try to tell my boys to sit still and they are playing with sticks and banging them against trees. We are lucky to see a squirrel once in a while. If your so worried about this early bowseason, find a nice bottleneck and use the extra pressure to your advantage. Just my thoughts. Don't consider the season over til it's over. Bill

[FX]

I never like the idea of hunters with full camo in the woods the same time as gun hunters.

Right on Gill T - It's NOT safe! Enough said.

I'm all for a youth hunt, but this doesn't appear to be well thought out. IMHO it would have been better to start the season off (like this weekend) with a youth hunt than during bow season.

Shawn

[Tank]

Is the proposed youth hunt a Doe only hunt? Thanks, Tank

[Gill-T]

Don't even get me started about the clowns that wear full brown Carhart.

[Mortigan]

Don't even get me started about the clowns that wear full brown Carhart.

A buddy of mine just started hunting a couple years ago and he's hard to fit, standing 6'11" and weighing 300 lbs. He proudly told us when he finally found a warm hunting coat that fit and, you guessed it, showed up one morning wearing his brand new brown Carhart! We had to scrounge all the spare orange we could find...

[JakeyBaby]

Tank NO its not doe only. And all responses on the fact that you can go out small game hunting then go back a few days later and see all kind of deer.... the reason being is you are not shooting at them! Think about it, the week leading up to opeing day of gun season the amount of shots that ring off. Then you hit the woods and there are usaly deer all over the place, because the shots are not intended for them. By day 3 of the gun season you are lucky to see a squirl if your lucky, do to the fact they are being shot at! Again I am NOT against kids hunting at all or a youth season but more on the fact of what is really going to happen and the manner the state put this into effect! Whats next crossbows during our regular bow season..............................thats my guess!

[jaychunter]

its going to make the deer nocternal quicker . im all about the youth . but keep the youth as the season is ....

[skipper19]

There is a very distict difference between small game hunters and deer hunters. As a small game hunter the activity is focused on flushing game. A rather noisy approach in most cases. Scent control is not used and sometimes there are dogs employed. Yes there is shooting, but the small game hunter has announced their presence long enough for deer to calmly leave the area and not be affected by the shooting. It is just not close enough to them for them to be alarmed at any shooting during small game.

Stalking deer and getting close to deer unannounced is what alarms them. Throw a couple rounds at them and they are more alert to EVERY small disturbance in the woods. Sure there will be bucks getting short memories when the scent of does come on strong, and that is your best chance for a buck to fall prey to your plans. However many bucks go into nocturnal mode too.

Kids have just as much chance during regular season and it is safer by all means when everyone is on the same plan. Get them out there on opening day and teach them about ALL the aspects of gun hunting in the regular season, including the part of hunting with the presence of other hunters in the woods for instructions on safety.

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[machzrcr]

just read up more and the hunt is for 14 and 15 year olds only

[Legacy]

I never like the idea of hunters with full camo in the woods the same time as gun hunters.

[momay4000]

Guys/Gals,

I am an avid bowhunter and more importantly a father of two young girls and I am 100% in favor of the youth hunt. Personally, I think the majority of the responses here are trying to justify reasons why a youth hunt is bad, but I can imagine "deep down inside" most of the bowhunters simply don't want a youth hunt during "their season" out of fear that it will ruin "their hunting". I share the same concerns, however, regarding safety.

Here's some of my thoughts:

1.) There is absolutely no validity to the "deer will become more spooked" and "bucks go nocturnal" logic. Yes they might become a bit more skiddish a day or two after, but once the rut hits do you actually think a big buck is going to still be spooked two weeks later after a one weekend gun hunt? If this logic was true, you would see very few deer taken after opening day of gun season, but if you look at the 2011 Deer Take stats (FX posted this a few days ago) notice that 66% of deer taken last year were taken AFTER opening weekend of Gun Season.

2.) I share many of the same concerns over sharing the same woods with gun hunters when I am in full camo with a bow. However, a solution for this would be to adopt similar regulations that Pennsylvania has which requires archery hunters to wear 250 square inches of orange if they are hunting during a portion of their season that coincides with big game or turkey. We have been sharing the same woods with turkey hunters and small game hunters for years and to the best of my knowledge there have been very few - if any - fatalities of bow hunters being shot b/c someone mistook them for game. If safety is truly your utmost concern, than any bow hunter would adopt this in a heartbeat. I would also argue that the majority of the youth hunters would be hunting on private land so the odds of an accident would be slim.

3.) As far as poaching - poachers are going to be poachers no matter what. And yes giving them an additional opportunity during a youth hunt could conceivably increase their opportunities to take Johhny's gun and shoot a big buck, but I imagine this is going to be few and far between. An adult is not even allowed to carry a gun during the youth hunt, and I think this is a great idea.

4.) The youth are the future of our sport. With dwindling numbers of hunters year after year and shrinking areas to hunt, I think we need an opportunity like this to promote our sport and get younger kids hooked for life. To hunt during a weekend with fewer hunters in the woods, better weather, and a good chance at seeing a nice deer can help promote this enthusiam. I would argue that there is nothing that could hook a kid more than to harvest a big game animal such as deer. I remember shooting my first deer like it was yesterday, yet unfortunately I have completely forgotten the details when I harvested my first squirrel and turkey.

I argue that we need to all look at the big picture and encourage participation in our sport. Is the DEC's current proposal perfect? Absolutely not. Does it have flaws? Certainly. But I think we can use it as stepping stone to adopt other policies to make our sport safer. Initially my gut reaction to a Youth Hunt during Bow season was the same as many of you stated above. However, after I thought about it more I think it is a good idea for everyone.

Just my two pennies and I hope I have not offended anyone - good luck to all in the field,

- Chris

Disclaimer - I do not work for the DEC and none of my family have any relations to the current law. I am simply an avid hunter and family man and I love to promote our sport

[Gator]

One idea I've heard is to move the youth hunt to the Saturday and Sunday prior to gun season, then use a traditional Monday opener for the rest of us. But I'm guessing that DEC realizes having people in the woods shooting at the deer WILL cause a change in their behavior, and that this would lead to a greatly reduced harvest (since ~40% of deer are harvested on opening weekend). Since hunting is a management tool (right??) DEC won't allow this to happen. The fact that it is happening Columbus Day weekend is tacit recognition that there will be an impact.

I truly believe that if you have to bribe a kid with his own hunt to get him/her into the woods, then I don't want them there anyway. The kids I know who hunt don't need incentive...just another example of the government trying to micromanage EVERYTHING. I'd like to incentivize them staying the he!! out of my life.

And yeah, I've got an eleven year old daughter who "hunts" with me, so I'm not just some old grump protecting his turf. Like Chris said above though, this is just my opinion, and, like armpits, everybody has them and most of them stink

[andy]

I wanted to add another opinion on this debate. I personally don't like the idea of the youth hunt. But there are gonna be more people in the woods that weekend a lot who aren't experienced so put on an orange hat. ( i know that thought of wearing all camo is way cooler) and get your ass in the woods. Maybe that fifteen year old is gonna kick you the buck of a lifetime. You just dont know. One thing is for sure you wont kill any deer complaining on your computer. With that being said it will change their patterns and make them a little wary but if you hunt muzzle loader at the end of the season you know that time is a great opportunity to kill a nice buck. So either way you gotta be in it to win it. Good luck to everyone this season.