Indiana's New Youth Seasons

908 Views 24 Replies 12 Participants Last post by vermonster13, Aug 15, 2006

BryanG

Discussion Starter · Aug 3, 2006

For any of you hoosires out there that have not heard, IN will have it's first every (that I know of) Youth only hunting seasons this 2006 and 2007 season!

Sept. 2nd and 3rd, 2006 for Small game

Sept. 23rd and 24th, 2006 for Deer

April 21st and 22nd, 2007 for Spring Turkey

I am so estatic about this! I have a 10yr. old and this will be his first year trying to deer hunt and I think this season just increased his odds 10 fold. Thanks to the Indiana DNR for thinking of the kids! :wink:

Save

21 - 25 of 25 Posts

willie

· #21 · Aug 7, 2006

Chris,

They do get to go back and hunt the regular season too.

I see nothing wrong with giving them a little something extra and sooner than we get it.

I do not believe that it will be a walk in the park for them. Hot, skeeters, leaves on the trees, less deer movement., etc, etc.

Although I must confess I would rather had seen them have the weekend before gun season (less leaves and deer more active) and be able to take any sex..

Shame on any dad that would pop a doe instead of their kid.

Ky has done this for a long time (their's is in bow season) and they are eating ou lunch getting kids involved in hunting.

See less See more

Save

mathews/fish

· #22 · Aug 7, 2006

Indychris

You make some very valid points in your statement. I also have worked with numerous youth. In church and in the field.
Life lessons need to be reinforced in the home. I used to work at an archery shop, and we were also a deer check station. After I reported an incident to DNR, I was threatened by some persons. None of my business, I was told. There is a lot of "I'll fill your tag" going on. Also, lots of illegal weapons for the season / or just totally wrong weapon.
But morallity and citizenship need to be taught, and lived in the home.
Giving youth an opportunity to get out before the unprepared week-end hunters is a safe alternative to getting the youth started. It won't be a picnic for them.
It might be for the 'squitoes though.
We all need to do our part to make this and our hunting priveledes work long term.

Save

Indychris

· #23 · Aug 7, 2006

willie said:
Chris,

They do get to go back and hunt the regular season too.

I know that. But, if they are going to get out anyway, why a "special" season?

I see nothing wrong with giving them a little something extra and sooner than we get it.

I don't see anything wrong with it either. But I also don't see anything beneficial to the hunting community as a whole.

I do not believe that it will be a walk in the park for them. Hot, skeeters, leaves on the trees, less deer movement., etc, etc.

Hmmm... then why are we doing this again?

Although I must confess I would rather had seen them have the weekend before gun season (less leaves and deer more active) and be able to take any sex..

Again, I simply don't see the point of a "youth only" weekend, except to superficially make us feel better for doing something symbolic.

Shame on any dad that would pop a doe instead of their kid.

ABSOLUTELY! But a little shame never stopped a LOT of people!

Ky has done this for a long time (their's is in bow season) and they are eating ou lunch getting kids involved in hunting.

But, let's face it... Kentucky is kicking our rears all over the country in terms of getting kids involved in archery PERIOD through the strong efforts of the NASP in that state. It only makes sense that the number of those young archers will translate into stronger numbers of hunters, too. By and large, those students who have already learned a lot about the discipline of archery are, IMO, way ahead of our kids who can grab a gun and go out the door for a one time trip to the woods.

I'm not really dogmatic about this; I simply think it's another instance where we do something that's not truly substantive in order to LOOK like we're doing something. If we can look back five or six years from now and prove conclusively that this is a successful effort to get more kids involved in hunting for more than just those youth years, I will GLADLY eat my words. I guess we'll see (at least if anyone has actually thought through how to measure whether or not the program is effective!).

See less See more

Save

BryanG

Discussion Starter · #24 · Aug 15, 2006

IndyChris, do you have kids and do any of them hunt? If you say NO to either then you have nothing to base you concerns on. Just like 3D shooting, you have to keep the positive renforcment strong for the young/new kids. You said you started hunting at age 26, you were a bit older and probably didn't get discouraged as easily. If you have kids and they hunt then how the He** can you sit there and not want to give your child the best oportunity and anything new? I know your entitled to your opinion, but remember all new programs will have some glitches to better for the next year and the next year after that.

Save

vermonster13

· #25 · Aug 15, 2006

The benefits are simple. It has been proven time and again that early success leads to much higher retainment of youth hunters and folks we need to add to our numbers not continually diminish them. Using it might get abused argument holds no water, that can happen during the regular season and does, why punish the many more who will do it right for the few that don't? We need more hunters and giving the kids an early shot does nothing to diminsh your hunting, it actually helps ensure that we will continue to be able to hunt. If you feel like it is unfair or doesn't benefit hunting in general to bring these kids in, then maybe you need to reconsider what hunting is about to you.

We have been doing this in Vermont for a few years and it has worked out well.

Save

21 - 25 of 25 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month