I see no cons in youth hunts, watching kids harvest an animal is by far more enjoyable than harvesting yourself.

Just another participation trophy .

Since 2011 I have helped 4 different kids take their first deer Some of them where my family ,some where family of my hunting partner ,and some where neighbors .For those adults that shot a deer and make the kid tag it shame on them .As far as the special season ;I am not a big fan but times change .I grew up on a farm 50 years ago .I had many relatives that also farmed so access was a given as far as a place to hunt. Small game was the starting point them .Now a pheasant is less common than an 8 point buck . I certainly wish it could be like it was when I was a kid .But if we want to keep our hunting traditions alive we at least need to be able to accept change even if we do not agree with the results .Also for those that added the comments pertaining to those with health issues you are 100% right. I have been taking a friend that has some health issues with me to check traps for a few years now . We both have benefited from those morning ride alongs .My thought is we should look for ways to make the youth seasons work even if we are not in complete favor of them

I take youth hunters to our camp and work on gun safety for a month every weekend both days. Then we start with squirrel hunting and eating. The two boy's I am currently working with are brothers with no father in their life. I belive they learn more than just hunting from me. They are both family and we hunt hard all day from dark to dark we hike about six mile's every day still hunting. I always look forward to teaching youth about hunting. We have five youth at camp this year. We have them help at camp with firewood stacking cleaning up and getting ready for the season. In Vermont where we hunt deer don't come easy. We hunt non posted forested steep mountains. The black bears seem to be very plentiful as most hunters wont harvest them. the hunters are just starting to find out yes black bears are good eating and they have an effect on our deer herd. I will be looking for another youth hunter when done with the two I have know.

What do you mean? I said that for the first year in KY you could only shoot does during the youth hunt which made no sense. This was also at the same time that you were not allowed to shoot does for all but the last weekend of rifle season.

I have no problem with the youth hunt. Have taken all my kids on the hunt.
They had a great time. The also archery hunt and hunt the regular season.
Its a great opportunity for them to get out and get excited.
The people that don't like it think the kids are shooting their deer.

If you put a youth season as the first opener, my guess is they are getting the first crack at the deer. If this is important in order to get the biggest deer, then you are taking an opportunity from all the deer hunters that follow. Remember this isn't hunting, this is sport hunting. People like fair rules in their sports. Big deer nut parents would certainly want youth hunts that give them an advantage in their game.

Unless there is some reason youth cannot participate in other hunts, I see no compelling reason to give parents a special hunt.

agree

I agree too. The hunt is about the parents.

This.

I am pretty sure there is at least one person on this forum, that wants to provide to everybody here, the allusion that he's a great guy, because he helps all these kids.

Well I have a kid, he is 28 years old now. He had to wait til he was 12 to go deer hunting because there was not a youth season back then. We were in the woods together since he could walk upright and learn to be quiet. Squirrel hunting was his favorite and I openly violated the law by letting him take the .22 from me when we had one treed and let him head shoot it, I suppose he was 8 or so when that started. We discovered a lot of stuff together through those years and when he was of age I could trust him completely with marksmanship, safety and common sense. He still loves to hunt today and maybe those were the best days as he still loves to hunt squirrels more than anything. Maybe folks still spend that kind of time together, I sure hope so but handing an 8 year old kid a rifle for a day or two a year and hoping it will pay the same dividends, well maybe so.
I don't mind a youth season, I do question if Little Johnny really WANTS to go or if it falls along the same lines of dad was a great football player and now you are going to be one too.

Zim

Bingo !!

God forbid they cut their teeth on something . Father of three here . Youngest just turned 10 and he'll never participate in a youth hunt. He's gotta earn his place at the adult table.

Youth hunts are awesome. Upland birds is the best. Little to none competition for the walk-in hunting areas. Which is important in Kansas because 99% of the land is private and usually leased up for deer hunting. The kids shoot so much. It's a blast. They would get a few birds but never limited out. The selfishness of man can not be overestimated. The regular season opener the walk-in areas are lined with cars. Even if you get there early some bunch of dudes will jump right in and cut in front of a drive or drive towards you. They don't really care if your taking your kids hunting or safety for that matter. Maybe one or two errant men would make the risk acceptable, but it happens every time. Teaching moment for the kids, but every time?

I've had deer hunts with my kids during regular season where dudes in trucks will drive right through the property to jump deer. They know your there. Don't think they care about anything but themselves. It's gotten worse over the years.

There will be time enough for my sissy children to experience the realities of life. A couple of days a year hunting without worrying about a group of adults acting like idiots makes it fun for them and me.

I have to go now or I would expound further. One of my sissy children has an uncomfortable feeling and I need to get them to their safe place so they can express themselves without judgement or self-recrimination.

Yes, just because your child didn’t get one during the two day youth weekend doesn’t mean they wouldn’t love to go if they truly are interested in hunting, on opening weekend of regular season. I don’t see too many adults giving up their opener for the kids. As someone mentioned above, sitting there with your child when they are successful is just a small window in time where that is even possible and should be considered in life.

Ok. I'm back. Thankgoodness the kid only had to poop.

Deer hunting is a whole nother deal. Unless you wanna pay 3-5,000 to hunt a deer, you have to hunt walk-in. I explained what happens with that. Call the game warden you say. One for three counties I say.

I love my sissified kids but I'm not going to pay that. Darn it, I got to go again. I raised my voice without provocation and one of my pansy kids is crying.

Thanks Les
Dang.., you caught on. My illusion is busted

Oh well. The 4 youngsters that got there first bear this year and the 2 youngsters I took this past weekend and got thier first deer still think I'm an alright fella.

Now if YOU would stop trying to run everyone out of your county ...

The problem with some of these youth hunts is you set them up for failure. You are not teaching them the right things. Actually in many cases, reinforcing the wrong things.

Take the pheasant hunt. You would be better to hold the youth hunt on opening day. Instead of going to public, take them out on private. Show them how to get permission, show some appreciation for landowner, and maybe even schedule a work day with the landowner, etc. Right now, they go from absolutely no competition so a complete zoo and we wonder why they never stick around. We never taught them how to avoid the zoo outside of find a kid. LOL

They do the same thing here with turkey. Put the youth season on the front of the season. Complete mistake. It should be at the end of the season. Why? Well, if they learn to hunt the later seasons, nearly 100% of landowners will give them access in the last two weeks. You have eliminated the number one reason why folks give it up. Nearly no one will give them permission in the first half of the season. We have thousands of tags that go unsold for later seasons so they can shoot multiple birds. Accordingly, I am going to set up a learn to hunt turkey program on the last week of the season. Those hunters will have a way better chance of sticking around. Once they get to know the landowners and built a relationship, the landowner will give them access early in the season. IMO, we have to quit doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

People need to keep in mind..........It's just a dumb deer they are after, not your life savings.

Geesh, let the kids kill a couple.

Geez, I guess the 6+ years my boy hunted rabbits, squirrels, pheasants, coons,,, etc... didn't earn him the right to shoot a deer at the age of 11.

The adult table would be the regular season.