Deer Management Stakeholder Organization.

[Hortontoter]

I was referring to the general public not the above average kids associated with the above average TOO forum members.

I've got to agree with Frank. It is probably our ages that make us see things a lot alike. Times have changed, as have peoples mentality. Things that were normal for me as a kid growing up are far from normal today. First is at what age one grows up. Many kids today are still kids pulling at the apron strings at age 40 and beyond. People can't live without a smart phone, which I'll never understand, what happened to just relaxing with a little peace and quiet. Another pet peeve of the "new generations" idea that a dog is part of the family. I like dogs, but I don't own one and probably never will. Dogs when I was a kid were chained to a doghouse in the backyard near a shade tree. Now dogs are treated like kings and queens, going to doggie day care and sleeping in the same bed with their owners. A bit over the top in my opinion.

All of these things are just part of the changing times we live in. Peoples reverence for animals and their softheartedness ties to deer hunting also. Bambi is in the same boat as the beloved pooch. Kids today are brainwashed by the masses such as the ASPCA or whatever those five letters are. I remember when my one granddaughter saw a photo of me with a deer I'd killed. She said "you murderer", she was 5 years old at the time.

I believe the report from PA really paints the true picture. Do to many factors hunter numbers will decline going forward. We can try to change it, but I just see hunting as not being a priority for future generations. Sad to see, but a reality.

 

[Diablo54]

I disagree. I believe there are more young kids hunting today than there where 15 years ago. I'd like to see the youth license stats

 

[MK111]

I've got to agree with Frank. It is probably our ages that make us see things a lot alike. Times have changed, as have peoples mentality. Things that were normal for me as a kid growing up are far from normal today. First is at what age one grows up. Many kids today are still kids pulling at the apron strings at age 40 and beyond. People can't live without a smart phone, which I'll never understand, what happened to just relaxing with a little peace and quiet. Another pet peeve of the "new generations" idea that a dog is part of the family. I like dogs, but I don't own one and probably never will. Dogs when I was a kid were chained to a doghouse in the backyard near a shade tree. Now dogs are treated like kings and queens, going to doggie day care and sleeping in the same bed with their owners. A bit over the top in my opinion.

All of these things are just part of the changing times we live in. Peoples reverence for animals and their softheartedness ties to deer hunting also. Bambi is in the same boat as the beloved pooch. Kids today are brainwashed by the masses such as the ASPCA or whatever those five letters are. I remember when my one granddaughter saw a photo of me with a deer I'd killed. She said "you murderer", she was 5 years old at the time.

I believe the report from PA really paints the true picture. Do to many factors hunter numbers will decline going forward. We can try to change it, but I just see hunting as not being a priority for future generations. Sad to see, but a reality.

I'm agreeing with you 100%. I just hope the younger masses don't tar and feather us too bad.

 

[Hortontoter]

Maybe 15 years, but I doubt that is true. Lets look back 40 -50 years ago when I started hunting. They closed the school on the first day of small game because most boys wouldn't show up anyways.

 

[MK111]

I disagree. I believe there are more young kids hunting today than there where 15 years ago. I'd like to see the youth license stats

I know 25-30 kids under age 21 and only one truly hunts. I have 2 grandson 19 & 21 who have a honey hole to hunt. They hunted when younger but now with full time college, working full time, and girls they rarely hunt. Plus they compete in 3 gun shoots. Maybe later when college is done.

 

[Jimbo63]

I disagree. I believe there are more young kids hunting today than there where 15 years ago. I'd like to see the youth license stats

I agree, but when I looked at the youth deer hunting licenses, they mirror the downward trend of the adult license.

But before we start blaming the woes of Hunting in Ohio on the trends with the younger generation (I have a son who is 16 who hunts with me just about every weekend....and so does as many of his buddies that I allow), let's look at some facts. The US Fish and Wildlife Service puts out data for the entire country, and Paid Hunting License Holds in the United States has had the highest totals in the last 2 years than any other year in the past 10 (at 15,486,123 and 15,413,638 respectively). I think that blaming reduced participation in Ohio on societal trends is convenient, but does not accurately portray what is happening in the rest of the country.

If the youth of America are moving away from hunting....how is License sales on a National Basis increasing? My opinion is that the store does not have adequate inventory (just a little slam on the article that was attached to a previous post).

 

[tracker 6]

Could it be possible that starting 10yr olds out on deer hunting,setting them up for instant success and then having the realitity of hunting on their own when they are older be part of the retention problem?Maybe 10 yrs olds hunting small game and working up to deer might be better way?

 

[Just 1 More]

I've got to agree with Frank. It is probably our ages that make us see things a lot alike. Times have changed, as have peoples mentality. Things that were normal for me as a kid growing up are far from normal today. First is at what age one grows up. Many kids today are still kids pulling at the apron strings at age 40 and beyond. People can't live without a smart phone, which I'll never understand, what happened to just relaxing with a little peace and quiet. Another pet peeve of the "new generations" idea that a dog is part of the family. I like dogs, but I don't own one and probably never will. Dogs when I was a kid were chained to a doghouse in the backyard near a shade tree. Now dogs are treated like kings and queens, going to doggie day care and sleeping in the same bed with their owners. A bit over the top in my opinion.

All of these things are just part of the changing times we live in. Peoples reverence for animals and their softheartedness ties to deer hunting also. Bambi is in the same boat as the beloved pooch. Kids today are brainwashed by the masses such as the ASPCA or whatever those five letters are. I remember when my one granddaughter saw a photo of me with a deer I'd killed. She said "you murderer", she was 5 years old at the time.

I believe the report from PA really paints the true picture. Do to many factors hunter numbers will decline going forward. We can try to change it, but I just see hunting as not being a priority for future generations. Sad to see, but a reality.

I'm with ya on this one ... Not to change the story line here but, i'm going to.. On a flight recently and a woman had a midsized dog with her,, no crate, just on a lease and it laid at her feet on the flight.. She said she had a medical condition that allowed her dog to fly with her.. She seemed healthy and normal so I asked, "what kind of medical condition" and her reply was.... "I'M EMOTIONALLY ATTACHED, i CAN'T BE WITHOUT HIM" and she had a damn doctors letter that the airlines couldn't decline. ....WTF????

 

[Diablo54]

Sadly I cannot find youth license sales info after 2007. Only harvest rates. However in
1999 there where 32,779 youth licenses sold

2002- 34,459 youth licenses sold

2004- 41,573 youth licenses sold

2007-52,282 youth licenses sold

 

[Jimbo63]

Sadly I cannot find youth license sales info after 2007. Only harvest rates. However in
1999 there where 32,779 youth licenses sold

2002- 34,459 youth licenses sold

2004- 41,573 youth licenses sold

2007-52,282 youth licenses sold

Attached are some of the statistics that I alluded to in my previous post that are contained in the 2016-2017 Ohio Deer Summary published by the ODNR

Ohio Deer Permits Issued

Youth
2007 65,647
2008 67,338
2009 67,828
2010 66,300
2011 62,864
2012 64,634
2013 60,961
2014 58,227
2015 58,055
2016 52,706

As you can see from the preceding, Ohio Youth Deer permits have declined about 22% from the highs of 2008 and 2009. This is compounded by a total reduction in Deer Permits issued, declining from a high of 624,908 in 2008, to the low of 445,166 this past year, a decline of approximately 26.6%. This is confounding when considering the same period on a national basis, hunting licenses issued actually increased by approximately 6% (I know that I am comparing apples and oranges (i.e. hunting licenses to deer permits), but it used for illustrative purposes to show that hunting, as a general rule, is not following perceived pattern of societal changes that has be mentioned in other posts.

JimBo

 

[Dustinb80]

Add in electronics.
Wii, Xbox, Playstation, Cell phones etc. Im sure that has something to do with it too.

 

[Diablo54]

Bag limits have changed a lot since 2008 as well. If I remember right we where able to kill 4 or maybe even 6 deer in 2008 in my county. So checking permits issued is not a good way to keep tally on the amount of youth hunters over the years. The last few years my county has dropped to a 2 deer county which would really sway the numbers.

 

[hickslawns]

I like dogs.

Unfortunately, my opinion about dogs, deer numbers, or anything we collectively say don't mean squat. This dog and pony show is simply a waste of Bawana's time. For his sake, I hope he holds a paid position.

 

[jagermeister]

Bag limits have changed a lot since 2008 as well. If I remember right we where able to kill 4 or maybe even 6 deer in 2008 in my county. So checking permits issued is not a good way to keep tally on the amount of youth hunters over the years. The last few years my county has dropped to a 2 deer county which would really sway the numbers.

I don't think simply looking at the license sales from 1999, 2002, 2004, and 2007 is fair either. I mean, did we even have dedicated youth seasons in 1999 or 2002? I can't remember what year those started, but we didn't have any youth seasons when I was a youth. You can't compare youth license sales from a year with a youth season to a year without a youth season... or even the first few years after it's created.

 

[MK111]

My 2 grandsons started hunting youth season in 2007 when they was 9 &12. The 9 yr old took a dehorned buck in 2007.

 

["J"]

I believe the youth deer season started in the 03-04 season...

 

[bowhunter1023]

I don't think simply looking at the license sales from 1999, 2002, 2004, and 2007 is fair either. I mean, did we even have dedicated youth seasons in 1999 or 2002? I can't remember what year those started, but we didn't have any youth seasons when I was a youth. You can't compare youth license sales from a year with a youth season to a year without a youth season... or even the first few years after it's created.

Youth season certainly came along when we were adults. I feel like we had the farm when it came along, which was purchased in 2005, but I could be wrong. I'd also be interested in seeing what T calls a "kid" too. I'd say the numbers 12 and under are way down based on electronics, culture and generally busy lives. Also factored in parents of kids that age are likely to be part of the decline in overall hunter numbers, so even less influence on the 12U crowd now. That said, I feel like in rural areas, every boy that's 12-18 hunts. It's the cool thing to do. They want to be the next Chris Brackett or Instagram pro. Even though I went to a rural high school and 75% of the 100+ boys I graduated with hunted deer with guns, there were not many bowhunters. Maybe a dozen guys or less used bows. I suspect that number is much higher nowadays with technology, media and a flooded bow market with something for everyone.

Just my thoughts on the current convo anyways...

 

[Diablo54]

Yes!! ^^^^^. Everybody in my age group wants to be the next tv star because it is the cool thing to do. That was my point. Thank you for putting it into words that this redneck wasn't able to come up with Jesse!

 

[bowhunter1023]

HA. I was picking up what you were putting down!

I think you draw some reasonable assumptions from this too. More eager (read "blood thirsty") and less experienced (read "more wounded deer") hunters in the woods should correlate to a negative impact on herd numbers IMO. I was that age once, so I feel I can cast a little shade having lived through that phase myself. Especially cause I lived it a peak herd numbers and was told by "the experts" I should shoot as many does as my tags allowed...

 

[MK111]

Years ago I have read research studies in Deer and Deer Hunting that right at 50% of deer shot at and hit by either bow or guns were not recovered.
But remember these studies were done on the general hunting public and not so called control hunts. IMHO results from TOO forums hunters are not the average general public and does not fall into this area.