Good Hunters and New Partners

Usually I hunt with the same partners every year. But this year I've partnered up with some new folks with great results.
The first opportunity was on a farm that had been closed to hunters for years. After a year of talking to the owners they agreed to let me hunt for resident geese that were causing problems for a neighboring farm. A few weeks before the opener I got a call from a guy I knew was an avid waterfowler. He told me he had just talked to the owners and they told him I was in charge of who hunts on the farm. That was news to me! I could have said sorry - this is mine, but having been on the other side of the fence I offered to meet with him and talk it over. He turned out to be a great guy (he also had lots of decoys) So on the opening day he and his partners and my partner and I hunted the farm with great results. I got several offers for duck and bird hunting with good dogs that I intend to cash in soon.
The next opportunity came at 0500 on the opener of duck season. I had scouted out a wet area in a corn field that the woodies and mallards were using. But when I arrived in the dark a fellow and his son where already setting up. I introduced myself, apologized and offered to hunt the other end of the field. But the hunter said he had heard about me and if I wanted to he'd be glad to have me hunt with him and his son. So I added my decoys to his and we had a great hunt along with some interesting hunting talk. It turned out he had a scrape with the Wardens a few years ago, but had been treated fairly and was showing his son the right way to hunt.
Lastly, the store keeper near where my partner and I set up squirrel camp every year, invited us to hunt on some farm land that he does conservation work on and oversees hunting for the owners. Turned out to be a wonderful squirrel and grouse area. We haven't hunted together yet, but we intend to as he is an avid waterfowler and deer hunter.
It is easy to get paranoid about who you hunt with, but with some checking, clearly articulating expectations and safety issues, you can make some new friends and open up new opportunitites. I highly suggest it!
While your at it invite a new hunter to go with you. We all had someone help us, it is lot's of fun to see a newbie get all excited...
Happy Hunting!

All Young Hunters May Participate in Vermont Youth Hunts

All you VT hunters - here as a great opportunity to reconnect with your out of state buddies and relatives. Invite their kids to a youth hunt weekend, its a great deal, a ton of fun and they can help harvest some antlerless deer to boot!

VERMONT AGENCY OF NATURAL RESOURCES

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: July 21, 2009

Media Contact: Thomas Decker, Chris Saunders, 802-241-3700

All Young Hunters May Participate in Vermont Youth Hunts

WATERBURY, VT –Nonresident young hunters may now participate in Vermont’s special youth hunt weekends for deer and turkey. Vermont’s legislative statute governing youth deer and turkey hunts was amended to include nonresidents as well as residents, effective July 1, 2009.

“Vermont’s three special youth hunting weekends are helping to ensure that young hunters get the quality training and experiences they need for lifelong participation,” said Fish & Wildlife Hunter Education Coordinator Chris Saunders. “We wanted to help make it possible for both resident and nonresident families to enjoy a Vermont hunting experience.”

Anyone under 16 years of age who has successfully completed a hunter safety course and purchased the required licenses may obtain free youth deer hunting or youth turkey hunting tags to participate in Vermont’s special youth hunts for deer and turkey.

The young hunter must be accompanied by an unarmed adult over 18 years of age who holds a Vermont hunting license. The adult may accompany up to two young hunters. Landowner permission is required in order to hunt on private land during the youth deer and turkey hunt weekends.

Vermont’s youth deer hunting weekend is November 7 and 8 this year, the weekend before the rifle season. A young hunter who has obtained a Vermont hunting license and youth deer tag may take one deer of either sex during youth deer hunting weekend. The antler restriction that applies for other Vermont deer seasons does not apply for youth deer hunting weekend.

The next youth turkey hunting weekend will be April 24 and 25, 2010, the weekend before the May 1-31 spring turkey season. Vermont’s youth waterfowl hunt weekend will occur in late September, the dates to be announced later. Youth waterfowl hunting weekend had always been open to nonresidents.

Finding a place to hunt during the youth hunting weekends is relatively easy in Vermont.

“These youth hunts are very important positive experiences, and hunting on private land requires landowner permission during the youth hunts,” said Fish & Wildlife Operations Chief Thomas Decker. “Connecting with local landowners is very important in establishing places to hunt. Vermont also has over 300,000 acres of public lands open to hunting.”

Vermont’s youth hunting licenses are $8 for residents and $25 for nonresidents. Turkey hunting licenses, required in addition to the hunting license, are $17 for residents and $25 for nonresidents.

A 2007 survey of more than 1,600 Vermont youth hunters, past youth hunters and adult hunters confirmed that these hunts are recruiting and retaining young hunters. The majority of young hunters who participate in the youth hunt weekends (77 percent) keep hunting into adulthood. Youth hunters and their mentors are having a lot of fun, and, as a result, they want to hunt more. For the majority (69 percent) of participating young hunters, a youth hunt was their first time hunting.

The survey was conducted by Responsive Management, an internationally-recognized natural resource survey firm, on behalf of the Fish & Wildlife Department. It measured current youth hunters, past youth hunters and the general hunting population to gauge the effectiveness of the youth deer, turkey and waterfowl weekends at meeting hunter recruitment and retention goals.

The results are clear: current youth hunters, past youth hunters and their mentors were highly satisfied with their experiences, and this is translating into an increased desire to hunt in the future. Perhaps most telling of these youth seasons was that for the majority (69 percent) of youth hunters, the youth hunting weekend represented their first time hunting.

In addition, the study indicates high support among all Vermont hunters for the youth hunts with 87 percent of all the hunters surveyed supported Vermont’s youth hunts, even if they thought the hunts were impacting their chance of success. However, concerns that youths are racking up the deer before they hit sixteen years-old proved unfounded. The majority (61 percent) of youth hunters hunt only one or two youth deer weekends, and most (75 percent) fail to get a deer.

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Caption for attached photo:

Photo from VT Fish & Wildlife

Research shows that the majority of young hunters who participate in Vermont’s youth hunts continue to hunt as adults.

youth hunter - Jeff Grab.JPG 996K View Download