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Lossing touch with the outdoors

L

Lope

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It is a shame to see the decline in outdoors activities by our youth, I make sure to include my childern in those activities my oldest girl will go fishing but has no desire to hunt, my boys on the other hand are well on there way, even though my oldest boy found some different interests (girls) this year he still managed to make a few outtings,

It is interesting that the story made it to a major news broadcaster
 
Well im 18, and im still going strong! I love the outdoors and i would never give it up for todays latest video games! But then again am i normal? hehehe In fact im taking a trip to Montana this Septemeber for an elk hunt!
 
The article really hit home for me.

I walked in the front door on Sunday after adding straw to the bird dog's kennel and sharpening my chain saw. My 9 year old daughter was playing a "Game Boy" and my 7 year old son was on the computer playing Wild Wings Turkey Hunting. I yelled in the front door, "Who wants to hit the woods for some shed hunting!?" After boots, coveralls, gloves, and stocking caps where all located we were off. They found cow bones, ribs bones, a pig skull, and an old piece of a shed up to the G2. The important thing was they had a good time with me being in the timber. It's also a great time of the year to start teaching them how to read deer sign.
They have already asked when we are going again.
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bowhunter84,

When and where are you going in Montana. Outfitter or on your own? I went out there with friends a few years back near Darby, MT over by the Idaho border. We went to early that year (first two weeks of Sept.) and the temps were in the 80's & 90's. Terrible elk hunting weather, but it was a great trip!
Good luck and keep hunting, alot of my friends lost interest when girls entered the picture. It just makes me sick when my boy comes home from school and tells me that some kids in his 2nd grade class don't like guns or hunting and they have probably never touched a gun or entered a woods.

My six(girl) and seven(boy) year old will be turkey hunting, shooting BB guns and having campfires with me this spring.

Nonres
 
Hell I'm 22 and trying to get into the sport but I don't have anywhere to go! This coming season I'm thinking about just driving up to farmer houses and offering chores for a tree to hunt in.
 
Whiskeybent,
You'll be surprised how many spots you can still get on just by knocking on a few doors

It is great to see all of you sharing your the outdoors with your childern.

I heard something that really troubled me this year though, competetion between a father and son, the father seemed to get upset because the son shot a nice buck, so much so that he refused to help him pull it out that evening, and went as far as telling him he would be banded from the property if he purchased another liscence. This type of thing would turn me off hunting in a heartbeat.

If my son was to shoot a deer bigger than any I had shot I would probaly be twice as excited as him
 
Whiskeybent

For places to hunt arround Davenport check our Scott County Park, I think they have a special bowhunt there. If you go down below Muscatine you can go to the Mark Twain area along the Miss river, called the Breaks, or to Klum Lake, all public areas but with lots of acres. You can talk to a guy named Scotty Saures at Scott's Outdoor World on the south side of town. He is a bow hunter and a good guy and would point you to a good area. Drive arround because there is lots of public ground in your general area.
 
Good article, sad story. I was having mixed feelings about my sons outdoor interests, he's 19, until this past season. He's been deer hunting since he was 12. I sometimes felt as if he wasn't into it as much as I was. Sort of like he was doing it to make me happy. Some times I'd have to ask him if he wanted to go. This season he really came into his own. He found a drop of blood going to his blind one day. The next morning he was there trying to track it. Nothing ever came of it but I think he's finally got the old man's curriosity. He's been going to the blind even since season ended just to sit and watch the critters. He still does the video games but at least his outdoor quests are taking hold. My daughter likes to fish but not hunt. She did go with us and sit in the blind one time though. At least when she does speeches in school, she's a sophomore, it's about the pros of hunting. One of her classes she had to do a demo/speech about a subject of her choice. She took her recurve to school and demonstrated how it is used. Sorry to have rambled so long but theres 2 kids here that are gaining outdoor skills. Maybe I'm a little proud.
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Thanks for posting the article. It seems quite well written and accurate which is quite a contrast to the Andy Rooney commentary I just posted.

Take a kid hunting or fishing!
Old Buck
 
It's always good to be proud of your kids. I have started to take my 4 year old daughter in the woods for short hikes and looking around. This year I will take her shed hunting for some carefully placed sheds so she can have the experience of finding some. Enjoy them. Also take someone elses kids in the woods so they too can enjoy it.
 
I didn't add anything to the post about the most memorable hunts because there have been many, but most all of them revolve arround my son. We shot our first quail together when he was only two and riding on my shoulders and the dog busted a covey and autopiloit took over. I remember all his firsts of everything we have hunted. He is 28 now and doesn't hunt as much as I did at that age, but enjoys deer, bird,small game, and turkey hunting.

My point is that we can never tell how what we do will take hold down the road. I did my best to teach him about hunting, fishing, and the outdoors, but for a while he drifted away but now he is back. Now he is a science and biology teacher and even though he doesn't have any children, he teaching about 100 kids a day about some of these things. He even made the effort to save hearts, lungs, livers, and other organs from our deer this year to use in class. We can all try to teach our kids and influence them about the outdoors, but I am convinced that an outside source can have as much or more impact. Don't get me wrong, I still believe that as parents we need to get kids involved if we want to see them in the outdoors, but what about the kids who don't have parents who hunt or fish? Who can influence them?

I guess I'm kind of proud of my son also, but for more than the obvious reasons. Through his work he can influence a lot more young people than I will ever know, and I think this is how we can try to get young people back to the outdoors. Teachers and school influence young people much more than we realize and we need to get teachers who can help us rather than hurt us about hunting and fishing.

Last thing, Son caught his first trout Sunday down in southern Mo. on home made flies. Now he is talking about aquatic insects and what kids can learn about them and how they relate to us environmentally. I could never do that!
 
If my son shoots any deer I'm bragging him up, if it's a buck bigger than mine, I would be buying the first round.
 
Although I am still rather young(16), I have have had the oppurtunity to enjoy the outdoors as long as I can remember. I truly believe hunting and other various outdoor activities help install a sense of respect and teaches youths morals that will be useful to them for the rest of their lives; thus helping them become a more sensible person. I believe that the outdoor activities that we enjoy are not quite as appealing to my generation, as other activities,due to their lack of mainstream popularity.

A lifetime of hunting/outdoor memories are woven into many strands; the places we go, the animals we take, the animals we don’t take, the opening days, and the closing sunsets. But more than anything else, the memories are built with the people whom we share these special times.
 
im going on 16 and absolutely love hunting and in the off season you can find me at a river or lake. i started to hunt in 3rd grade. turkey hunting. i was skunked my first three years, O well. i loved it. i have so much fun in the woods. i guess thats why i get all my turkey hunting thngs ready in mid july. and start in march with my bowhunting stuff. my dad definetly deserves a big thanks for getting me started right. so far i have harvested a buck, a doe and 1 gobbler. i love it. i also have a passion for birdhunting. i got 5 pheasants this year. along with my dads 8 and brothers 1 that aint to bad. we also started my other brother who is nine. he loves walking with us through the grass. if one thing im proud of though its how i can hunt with my family and no im safe because of the skills my dad has stressed my whole life. sorry to bore you but when i have a chance to share my love for hunting i dont hold back.
 
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