WHAT: Ohio kicks off new effort to open doors to youth mentored hunting.
WHY: 80 percent of Americans support hunting, but 34 states, including Ohio, restrict youth participation in hunting.
WHO: The National Wild Turkey Federation, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and the National Shooting Sports Foundation created the Families Afield initiative.
QUICK FACT: Of the 14.7 million hunters active in 2002, only .0001 percent were supervised youth involved in an incident.
A new bill could make it easier for young people in Ohio to hunt with their parents. This proposed legislation kicks off the Familes Afield program, a national campaign created to sustain America’s hunting heritage.
Bill HB 296, introduced by Ohio Rep. Stephen Buehrer, R-Delta, will create an apprentice hunting license allowing qualified, licensed, adult hunters to introduce youth to hunting before completing a hunter education course.
"Introducing our children to hunting is important for several reasons," said Rob Keck, National Wild Turkey Federation CEO. "First, hunting allows families to spend time outdoors and share quality time together. Second, research shows those who start hunting early in life are more likely to hunt as adults. With those positive outcomes and the proven safety record of young hunters, why would we prevent young people from hunting?”
Declining hunter numbers and resulting consequences such as drastic cuts to state wildlife and habitat conservation programs and more economic hardships for rural America, has caused alarm among sportsmen. The National Wild Turkey Federation, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and the National Shooting Sports Foundation look to address these growing concerns with the Families Afield program.
Nearly 80 percent of Americans support hunting, but 34 states restrict youth participation in hunting. Theses states restrict hunting before age 13 or prohibit the introduction of hunting before the completion of a hunter education course. Ohio is one of those states. Families Afield argues that parents, not politics, should decide when youngsters are mature enough to join their families for a hunt.
Young people are not being introduced to hunting, while state age restrictions and rigid hunter regulations may compound participation problems. The total number of hunters has dropped 23 percent in the last 25 years. Currently, for every 100 American hunters lost, only 69 hunters take their place.
Ohio was chosen to introduce the Families Afield because the state has lost hunters in recent years.
“Rep. Buehrer’s bill has a real chance to help reverse the trend of declining hunter numbers and preserve Ohio’s rich hunting tradition,” said Keck. “He needs our support to help educate other legislators on the necessity of lifting these barriers.”
Families Afield shows the time to introduce youth to hunting is now. Currently, hunters 25-54 years old – a demographic with youth mature enough to be introduced and mentored in hunting – represents 64 percent of hunters or 9 million people. There are considerably fewer hunters between ages 25 and 34, leaving fewer opportunities to pass on the hunting heritage in the future.
“By the time kids are in middle school, they’re already being pulled away by the allure of video games, organized sports or other activities,” said USSA President Bud Pidgeon. “We want young people to have the choice to participate in hunting, because it teaches respect for life and nature, responsibility and accountability.”
The three sportsmen’s groups will also use the Families Afield initiative to emphasize that young hunters are safe hunters. Data compiled and analyzed by Silvertip Productions and the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance, shows young hunters, supervised by an adult mentor, have one of the lowest injury rates of all hunters. Of the 14.7 million hunters active in 2002, only .0001 percent were supervised youth involved in an accident.
“Hunting is revered in our country’s character and economy,” said Doug Painter, president of NSSF. “It’s indelibly tied to conservation and is statistically safe. It adds richness to the lives of participants. We shouldn’t allow age restrictions to compromise its future.”
Familes Afield is an education and outreach program designed to work with elected representatives, agency officials, hunters and the general public to help states eliminate unnecessary barriers to youth hunting. The program’s founders share a vision of creating opportunities for youth and, by doing so, benefiting all Americans who appreciate wildlife. After all, through license fees and excise taxes on ammunition, firearms and archery equipment, hunting underwrites much of the country’s habitat and conservation programs.
For more information about youth hunting or Families Afield, contact Jonathan Harling, the NWTF, (803) 637-3106, Doug Jeanneret at the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance, (614) 888-4868 or Steve Wagner, National Shooting Sports Foundation, (203) 426-1320. For more information about the NWTF, call (800) THE-NWTF or go to www.nwtf.org.
About the NWTF: In 1973, when the National Wild Turkey Federation was founded, there were an estimated 1.3 million wild turkeys and 1.5 million turkey hunters. Thanks to the work of wildlife agencies and the NWTF’s many volunteers and partners, today there are nearly seven million wild turkeys and nearly three million turkey hunters. Since 1985, more than $202 million NWTF and cooperator dollars have been spent on over 31,000 projects benefiting wild turkeys throughout North America.
The NWTF is a nonprofit organization with nearly 525,000 members in 50 states and 12 foreign countries. It supports scientific wildlife management on public, private and corporate lands as well as wild turkey hunting as a traditional North American sport.
For more information on the National Wild Turkey Federation, call (803) 637-3106, check out our web site at www.nwtf.org or e-mail questions to nwtf@nwtf.net.
