A Challenge I Hope We’re All Up For

The following article is written by Guest Blogger Dan McLaughlin, author of Moose Droppings.

A Challenge I Hope We’re All Up For

Is there anything better then a sunrise on a cold fall Maine morning overlooking a swamp hoping for a Bull Moose to respond to your cow call? What about a cool Carolina spring morning when your owl call is cut short by the rattley call of a gobbler on the roost? These and countless other experiences are some of the special memories I have of the great outdoors and I hope to have many more. Think about your own outdoor experiences and how they have shaped your life, now think about how different your life would be with out the outdoor sports.

Studies show that 80% of hunters took up hunting as a youth. That is a staggering figure when you think about it and should be a wake up call to all of us about how important it is for all of us to be involved in getting youth in the field & woods. I believe that it’s never too young to get young people involved in the outdoors granted you have to tailor it to their interest.

I recall a number of years ago I was deer hunting in Aroostook County Maine when I met up with another hunter and his young hunting partner. Terry and his son who was probably 5 maybe 6 years old at the time were walking along the old set of railroad tracks looking for some deer tracks in the fresh fallen snow. The little boy had a plastic toy rifle with him and as I approached I heard his dad reminding him about his gun safety and keeping the muzzle in a safe direction. Wow I thought that was cool and although that boy may not remember that particular encounter we had I bet these 15+ years latter I bet he knows how to safely handle a gun.

The anti’s (I call them wackos on my blog) want to end many of our traditions and outdoor activities and by cutting off youth participation that will eliminate them. We have to stand up against that and fight.

The Families Afield Website has a lot of great information on this topic and I urge you to give them a visit. Here are there suggestions on legislation guidelines that are helpful to our cause;

Four Key Principles of a Families Afield Bill
-Parents know best when their sons and daughters are ready to begin hunting.
-Permitting people to learn and experience hunting first hand from a mentor before taking hunter education results in better recruitment numbers and ultimately more hunter education graduates.
-Access to big-game hunting is critical to improving hunting numbers. Big game hunting has the highest participation, therefore the largest number of potential mentors.
-In general, restrictions on hunting result in lower participation. Restrictions should be implemented only if necessary or factually based.

Besides the legislation part that we can take some part in there is the important part of getting young people involved. We all can participate in this even if you’re not a parent. There are plenty of young people that may not have the opportunity but you can step up and be a mentor for them, it will enrich your life trust me. Many states have a youth hunt only day and that’s a great chance for you to take someone out. If your state doesn’t have a youth only day maybe that is something you can push for. Take a kid out to turkey hunt, dove hunt, rabbit hunt, deer hunt whatever just get them out there. That gobbler sounding off will get you excited but that’s not half the excitement of sharing that experience with someone who has never done it before.

I’m going to ask you for one thing and that’s a commitment on your part to take at least one youth afield this year whether it’s a spring turkey hunt or a fall deer hunt. Like my preacher reminds me of often a commitment can easily be rationalized away if there is no public acknowledgment of that commitment. I hope that you’ll add a comment to this post saying you’ll take at least one youth afield this coming year as your public commitment to this important endeavor. Now on behalf of Tom ( the danger of asking someone to pinch hit for you is they can commit you to something) when you do this hunt send him a photo trophy or no trophy and he’ll post it up here.

-Moose-

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