Archery in Washington hard on kids

[coastie hunter]

 I guess you guys are missing my point. there are some good youth hunts. The best I believe to be is vail 667 where they let the kids in a week early before modern and the deer are not hiding in their holes. There are some nice bucks shot out of 667 during this time. but seeing how my boy is a archer and I cant afford multi season for him this hunt is not an option. I am aware that we can shot doe's because we do shoot them and we love to eat them. but my boy has his heart set on a nice buck this year and we do not get to hunt the rut in archery. Unfortunatly this is not the good old days where the majority of kids grow up hunting and playing outside. I feel that young outdoorsmen should getting every advantage possible to expose them to a positive hunting experience at an early age. When I was growing up I lived in Wissconsin where hunting is a big deal. I am proud to say that I  have continued those traditions with my kids and I just want them to have the hunting opportunities I grew up with.

[winshooter88]

Do as much scouting as you can and try to find an area with bucks in it, lots of nice bucks are taken by archers every year. Your son still has a chance of taking a buck even without more youth hunts. As far as kids being involved in more things, that is a personal choice of whats most important to them, if that buck is that important then make it a top priority over other activities. A good friend of mine had four daughters that were heavily into sports, but they made time and took animals almost every year. Most of them were bucks and all they ever hunted was archery season.

[Johnb317]

    
No special seasons when I learned, Hunting with my father was a right of passage.
Don't want to start a firestorm, but could it be that those who want youth hunts want the added time so they don't necesarily have to give up their hunting time?   Or would rather not take son or daughter hunting with the ol gang?   
What's next, a special hunt for women, then vets, (add your special group here)?

Don't get me wrong, good and excellent reasons for youth hunts etc., but where do we stop?   When govt gets involved good intentions have a way of hosing things. 

 

[buckfvr]

Take advantage of what the state offers, and dont look for it to get any better soon.  This aint Wisconsin, Dorothy.................

[Kowsrule30]

I never applied for youth permits as a youth..... Just hunted with everybody else..... The only youth hunts I've ever been on were the 2 day upland hunts.... You want a kid to get spoiled busting roosters with a limit faster than you could imagine... Do those and them take em to regular season bird hunting..... They will soon realize the regular season deer hunting is way better then regular upland!!!!   

[BULLBLASTER]

I grew up hunting the general season for muley bucks and does when I drew a tag. Lots of years I.didn't kill a deer and that was life. I don't think that your son should get a special season just because he wants to kill a buck. There is already ample opportunity for bowhunting deer to kill a buck in the general. ...you can kill bucks outside thebrut believe it or not.

[Machias Bowhunter]

I guess you guys are missing my point. there are some good youth hunts. The best I believe to be is vail 667 where they let the kids in a week early before modern and the deer are not hiding in their holes. There are some nice bucks shot out of 667 during this time. but seeing how my boy is a archer and I cant afford multi season for him this hunt is not an option. I am aware that we can shot doe's because we do shoot them and we love to eat them. but my boy has his heart set on a nice buck this year and we do not get to hunt the rut in archery. Unfortunatly this is not the good old days where the majority of kids grow up hunting and playing outside. I feel that young outdoorsmen should getting every advantage possible to expose them to a positive hunting experience at an early age. When I was growing up I lived in Wissconsin where hunting is a big deal. I am proud to say that I  have continued those traditions with my kids and I just want them to have the hunting opportunities I grew up with.

I do agree, get out and do some scouting, I bowhunt and took advantage of the modern youth tags to get the kids into hunting and not because they had their heart set on a nice buck, my daughter missed a nice 3pt last year with her bow road hunting cause she got bored sitting in our blind lol. The point is the youth hunts are for the kids to get into hunting, not to have first chance at that nice buck.
And we do have a option for hunting the rut if you are willing to travel for it, and its the prime time for hunting the rut for whitetails, in the NE corner, we also get the only shot at the rut in 101 where no other weapon has a chance.

[D-Rock425]

Well isn't that special missed a nice deer while road hunting.  That teaching the right way .  I'm not really against it I just wouldn't brag about do it on a open forum.

[elksnout]

Well everyone has an opinion it appears but the smile on that lad's face say's quite a bit!

[throttlejocky20]

Kids are the future of are sport nothing more important than getting them in the woods.

Some people are too selfish to understand this but I agree completly!

[SkookumHntr]

When i was in the youth age bracket there were zero youth hunts! None! So I wouldnt gripe 2 much

[winshooter88]

It doesn't take a youth buck hunt to get youth out in the woods. Just support for it from the family.

[Machias Bowhunter]

Well isn't that special missed a nice deer while road hunting.  That teaching the right way .  I'm not really against it I just wouldn't brag about do it on a open forum.

That is like saying everyone should keep their opinions to themselves, did you read the part about sitting in the ground blind before that, we had spent 3 days, about 8 hrs a day in one, saw a couple of deer but didn't have a good shot, so ya when she got bored took her to the truck to keep her interested in hunting. So tell me where i wasn't teaching the right way!! If we don't keep the kids interested in hunting we are going to lose our future in this sport.  I grew up hiking in miles to hunt, as well as spent time road hunting as a kid when I got tired of walking or sitting in the cold or rain, dad kept me interested by changing it up and not allowing me to start disliking going out to hunt with him.

[D-Rock425]

I know I was just kinda being a 

[Sneaky]

I was 11 years old when they opened the okanogan for any deer youth and harvested my first deer that year. Supporting a family of 6, my dad had trouble finding time/money to get us kids out in the woods just to hunt, so scouting was pretty much out of the picture. Although looking back I'm not sure I agree with the seasons they had in the okanogan on a herd management basis, they were pretty much what made my success as a youngster possible! I was already hooked from age 3 when dad would take us duck hunting/fishing, but being successful and harvesting a nice doe is what really ignited my passion as a big game hunter.

Now, 10 years later, I dump 300 bucks just in licenses back into this state annually to hunt and fish in licenses alone! I'm not so sure I'd be doing that if I never drew youth tags and didn't have any opportunity apart from general seasons. Those memories are what I think about while forking over all the pennies I saved this year while working and going to college. I look at youth seasons/permits as an investment  in the health and well-being of future generations as well as a continuance of the sport of hunting/fishing that might not otherwise exist.