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DNR Wildlife Rules: ICN Public Meeting, Feb 25, 2015, 6 -9 PM

If money is the issue because they can't afford the equipment, there is no excuse. I had three part time jobs by the time I turned 16 along with school and sports and lived in a house with 5 other siblings. We hardly had anything given to us. Bought all my equipment before I was 12 with lawn mowing money and started riding out to the woods with my dad. We always sat in separate areas on public ground. The first year I hunted, I saw ONE deer. Never once even got a youth tag because I didn't want to be restricted to hunting with-in arms reach of someone at all times, heck I don't even know if they existed to tell the truth, but I wouldn't have wanted one anyway. If kids want to spend all their money on video games that cost $60 each, so be it. We don't need to keep giving youth tags to Adults that can legally die for this country, IMO. The best way to learn is to get out there and try and do new things and they'll get a better grasp on hunting by making their own mistakes. Quit messing with the seasons and regs, because everything has been working just fine the way it is for years.
 
AIRASSAULT said:
If money is the issue because they can't afford the equipment, there is no excuse. I had three part time jobs by the time I turned 16 along with school and sports and lived in a house with 5 other siblings. We hardly had anything given to us. Bought all my equipment before I was 12 with lawn mowing money and started riding out to the woods with my dad. We always sat in separate areas on public ground. The first year I hunted, I saw ONE deer. Never once even got a youth tag because I didn't want to be restricted to hunting with-in arms reach of someone at all times, heck I don't even know if they existed to tell the truth, but I wouldn't have wanted one anyway. If kids want to spend all their money on video games that cost $60 each, so be it. We don't need to keep giving youth tags to Adults that can legally die for this country, IMO. The best way to learn is to get out there and try and do new things and they'll get a better grasp on hunting by making their own mistakes. Quit messing with the seasons and regs, because everything has been working just fine the way it is for years.
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This^

Bowdude, if $24 is really the issue like I said earlier hunting probably isn't for you. New my camouflage is $500, my shotgun is over $500 not including the Nikon Prostaff on it, my Bow is over $650 including accessories, my rifle is $650 and has a $400 scope on it, my range finder is $300, that's not including gloves, hats, muck boots, snakeboots, backpack, hand warmers, stands, blinds, decoys, gas money, lunch money, ammo, rattling antlers, flashlights, scent cover, doe pee, saws, knifes, and everything else. I've easily spent over $5,000 on hunting in the last 2-3 years. Don't try to tell me $24 is going to make or break me. That buys me a box of sabots or maybe a crummy pair of gloves.

I'd say 98% of the times the kids aren't the ones with all the bills they have to pay in order to hunt. The parents are the ones who foot the bill, not the kids. Most kids aren't going to work their butts off during the summer to make 5 grand and spend over half of it on hunting.
 
TeenageHunter said:
This^

Bowdude, if $24 is really the issue like I said earlier hunting probably isn't for you. New my camouflage is $500, my shotgun is over $500 not including the Nikon Prostaff on it, my Bow is over $650 including accessories, my rifle is $650 and has a $400 scope on it, my range finder is $300, that's not including gloves, hats, muck boots, snakeboots, backpack, hand warmers, stands, blinds, decoys, gas money, lunch money, ammo, rattling antlers, flashlights, scent cover, doe pee, saws, knifes, and everything else. I've easily spent over $5,000 on hunting in the last 2-3 years. Don't try to tell me $24 is going to make or break me. That buys me a box of sabots or maybe a crummy pair of gloves.

I'd say 98% of the times the kids aren't the ones with all the bills they have to pay in order to hunt. The parents are the ones who foot the bill, not the kids. Most kids aren't going to work their butts off during the summer to make 5 grand and spend over half of it on hunting.
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I am done arguing this point, you have just said what I think is wrong with hunting today it is all about how much money you have.. IF YOU WANT TO MAKE IT A COMPLETE LIFE STYLE that is your choice. You have spent more money on hunting EQUIPMENT in the last year than I have in the last 10years, but that is my choice. A person should not have to make it a life style decision to hunt.

Instead I have taken my family on vacations, hunting is not a life style for me it is something I love to do but not my priority.
And it should NOT have to be my priority, my insulated coveralls I have been wearing for five years, if I shotgun hunt I use a Mossberg 9200 I put on layaway when I was a newly wed 20 years ago and it was on clearance.
My bow I bought on clearance while on a family trip at Cabelas in MN. The place I hunted the last 16 years I made payments on with two other guys for 10years. (and I am sure for most people on this site my little piece would be a joke to them).
I am pushing 50, and I can't afford to spend $5000 a year on hunting equipment.

And the other comment from the other person above I am just saying they should be able to get a youth tag until their 18th birthday not after. If I remember they can't fight for there country or vote until they are 18, we do not consider them adults until they are 18. It is just one way to get more money.
If you want to know I have every right to say this because I work for the State of Iowa and know how fees work, plus I am a Desert Storm vet, and I don't mean I was just enlisted, I was in the middle east the whole time during Desert Sheild and Desert Storm so don't talk to me about serving your country.

I grew up with a family farm I could hunt in Adams County, my grandfather dropped dead of a heart attack, and my grandmother had to sell the farm to cover medical costs when she developed a brain tumor. SO now a days I kid in this situation would have to compete with leased land, I admit I did not hunt again until I was 16 and could drive myself.

I think we should allow a 16/17 year old kid who wants/needs to keep hunting with a supervised adult license holder to use a youth tag and not pay for a hunting license until he turns 18. Now if he wants to hunt by himself at 16 go ahead and let him purchase a hunting license.

Good day to all from the POOR hunter.
 
BOWDUDE said:
I am done arguing this point, you have just said what I think is wrong with hunting today it is all about how much money you have.. IF YOU WANT TO MAKE IT A COMPLETE LIFE STYLE that is your choice. You have spent more money on hunting EQUIPMENT in the last year than I have in the last 10years, but that is my choice. A person should not have to make it a life style decision to hunt. Instead I have taken my family on vacations, hunting is not a life style for me it is something I love to do but not my priority. And it should NOT have to be my priority, my insulated coveralls I have been wearing for five years, if I shotgun hunt I use a Mossberg 9200 I put on layaway when I was a newly wed 20 years ago and it was on clearance. My bow I bought on clearance while on a family trip at Cabelas in MN. The place I hunted the last 16 years I made payments on with two other guys for 10years. (and I am sure for most people on this site my little piece would be a joke to them). I am pushing 50, and I can't afford to spend $5000 a year on hunting equipment. And the other comment from the other person above I am just saying they should be able to get a youth tag until their 18th birthday not after. If I remember they can't fight for there country or vote until they are 18, we do not consider them adults until they are 18. It is just one way to get more money. If you want to know I have every right to say this because I work for the State of Iowa and know how fees work, plus I am a Desert Storm vet, and I don't mean I was just enlisted, I was in the middle east the whole time during Desert Sheild and Desert Storm so don't talk to me about serving your country. I grew up with a family farm I could hunt in Adams County, my grandfather dropped dead of a heart attack, and my grandmother had to sell the farm to cover medical costs when she developed a brain tumor. SO now a days I kid in this situation would have to compete with leased land, I admit I did not hunt again until I was 16 and could drive myself. I think we should allow a 16/17 year old kid who wants/needs to keep hunting with a supervised adult license holder to use a youth tag and not pay for a hunting license until he turns 18. Now if he wants to hunt by himself at 16 go ahead and let him purchase a hunting license. Good day to all from the POOR hunter.
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I'm saying it's expensive to start up, not to maintain.
 
No one needs a $500 bow and $500 camo to hunt. The hunting industry is just that, another place for people to make money. People have killed plenty of deer in jeans and flannel shirts with stick bows sitting on the ground.

People clearly have different opinions about stuff and that's perfectly fine - it's their opinion. If you're super adamant about getting something changed or kept the same, talk to the DNR and your legislators about it.
 
I started working when I was fourteen. 16 is a great age to end youth tags. I've bought everything myself and the things I haven't are things I asked for Christmas. Leave the age the same. No need for a blind or treestand to hunt deer. I shot my first on a camp chair with my bow. Also you can get all the camo you need at Walmart for under $200.. Kids don't need all the high tech "scent control" technology. $200 bow will kill a deer just as well as a $1500 bow.
 
Not really sure why it bothers you TH and CW to extend the youth age. You two were obviously brought up in a family where hunting was a priority and you were trained very young on the trade. That being said late in your youth hunting years you knew how to hunt efficiently harvesting multiple deer. My family has never been hunters I am self taught starting at age 25 not harvesting a deer until my 3rd season. I've done my best to get my two nephews and one of there buddies started in hunting but with my own three toddlers and the nephews and friends busy school/sports/4H/church/etc it gets tough getting enough time to really teach these kids the right way. Between the three of them in four years of hunting they have a grand total of three deer with one of them not even getting a shot yet. As far as equipment/tag/license expenses every year my sister grumbles at the cost, not that it breaks the bank but if you take into account all the costs of raising kids I see where she's comming from. While extending it makes a great opportunity to harvest multiple bucks for experienced youth like you there are many out there who struggle to even get a shot. Correct me if I'm wrong but in all the tags sold youth and adult most do not get filled year in and year out so if we can help a young person out why not extend it to 18.
 
Bowdude.. I'm not talking to you or questioning you on your service. The way you said that they should get a tag until they turn 18, reads to me that when they are 18 they can still get one. Sorry if that's not what you meant. However, a 17 yr old paying an extra $28 to get a regular tag and a little extra for regular licenses is not going to break anyones bank. If they can't afford that, it is simply 100% their fault. We don't need to change regs for a whole state because a few 17 year olds haven't learned how to manage their money yet.
 
Mike311 said:
Not really sure why it bothers you TH and CW to extend the youth age. You two were obviously brought up in a family where hunting was a priority and you were trained very young on the trade.
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I was self taught bowhunting, well any deer hunting actually. I grew up waterfowling.
 
Neutral on the topic... My experience thinking back as I can still remember a lot of this stuff enthusiastically....
In MI, I think our deer tags for youth were like $12 or something. Say, double for adults (guessing) at that time. I think it was later they added a "youth only season", I think but I was fine never hunting one (don't think it was there when I started). Then, youth small game license was maybe $7 or something? Additional deer tag, I think for kids was still like $12? (basically, that was 20 years ago so at least double it vs now).

I probably had $600-800 into gear with my bow, camo, shotgun, etc. We were a family of 7 and didn't have a nickel. I also started with lawn jobs at 11 and then at 14, I "had to" (parents made me, glad they did!) work at farm, pulling weeds in flower fields by hand. $4.25/hour. I still did lawn jobs. So my check per week for labor in fields (summer) was around $160/week. I had about 8 lawn jobs, $8 to $20 depending on size. So, I think that pretty much was how I paid for EVERYTHING and I got some camo or supplies as Christmas or B-day gifts (all I asked for was hunting stuff). Interesting memories. At 16-18 I did factory work, Walmart cart boy, detailed cars and delivered pizzas. Yes, as I got a job as adult out of college, it's crazy how much more "stuff" you think you need but I was able to get it done as a broke kid. Fun memories.
 
Mike311 said:
Not really sure why it bothers you TH and CW to extend the youth age. You two were obviously brought up in a family where hunting was a priority and you were trained very young on the trade. That being said late in your youth hunting years you knew how to hunt efficiently harvesting multiple deer. My family has never been hunters I am self taught starting at age 25 not harvesting a deer until my 3rd season. I've done my best to get my two nephews and one of there buddies started in hunting but with my own three toddlers and the nephews and friends busy school/sports/4H/church/etc it gets tough getting enough time to really teach these kids the right way. Between the three of them in four years of hunting they have a grand total of three deer with one of them not even getting a shot yet. As far as equipment/tag/license expenses every year my sister grumbles at the cost, not that it breaks the bank but if you take into account all the costs of raising kids I see where she's comming from. While extending it makes a great opportunity to harvest multiple bucks for experienced youth like you there are many out there who struggle to even get a shot. Correct me if I'm wrong but in all the tags sold youth and adult most do not get filled year in and year out so if we can help a young person out why not extend it to 18.
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Since I'm filling out scholarships as I'm checking the forum, hunting is probably last on my list. If you'd like a copy of it, I'd be willing to send it to you.

My father has never picked up a bow in his life, nor was he the one who really started me hunting. My Uncle and family friends were the ones that started me hunting. I'd consider myself self taught, members on this forum helped me over the years too.
 
Thinkin Rut said:
IMO youth season should end at age 26, the same time a kid is dropped from their parents health insurance.;)
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:D :D ^ ^ That was the same thought I had when I read this thread...only I didn't chime in with it.

But really, if the concern is a financial one in that younger hunters do not have the funds to spend, etc,...then how about lowering the cost for the hunters aged 16-18? Keep youth tags for kids aged up to 16 as they are now and drop the price a little for the older teens, 16-18, and voila...problem solved. :D

Personally, although I am a big fan of getting kids involved in outdoor sports, I am not persuaded that the answer is to continually make things easier and easier for them. Many tend not value things that are "easy" and several in this thread alone have already written great accounts of how they had to "work for it" when they were younger. Not surprising to me...these are the types that "stick with things" later in life.

I would rather see a kid work for something, even if fewer of them will do so, than to give the kids the easy way so that everyone participates, etc, as they will often drop anything that is "hard" at the first sign of difficulty anyway and they tend to not appreciate the work aspect that goes into getting something.

Although I like the youth tag concept overall...I have never been crazy about the situations where dad does ALL of the work and the kid is just the triggerman at the end. My boys got youth tags, yes, but I made sure they did the work in advance of the hunt, or should I say "shoot", too.

Yes, kids are our future...but that does not to me mean that we should make their path without obstacle, work or trial. Forgive me, but I have hired too many "kids" over the years whose parents got them everything and/or did all the heavy lifting for them, etc., whereas the ones that actually rose up and bought their own motorcycle, shotgun, paid their own way to camp, etc. almost always outwork the first group by a rate of 5 to 1.
 
Well said Daver I could not agree more. I host several youth here at my farm and we have them come down and help with setting up and moving blinds as well as working the food plots. We also have them do the scouting to pick their blind location. they need to know there is more to hunting than pulling the trigger.
 
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