Hunting Season

STAMFORD – Junior hunters were in the woods last weekend with adult mentors, to hunt  big game in New York State. Licensed 12 to-13-year old hunters may only take deer with a firearm in counties that participate in the youth pilot program. Most of the state's counties do participate. They may only take one deer during the Youth Big Game Hunt, of any sex, with no antler criteria.

The purpose of the youth hunt is to spark an interest for the sport of hunting with the number of hunters dwindling. Hunting game is the best way to control wild deer and bear populations, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

The youth hunts, which include both small game and big game seasons, allow the youth a kind of "head start" on the season, working with an experienced adult who has a valid hunting license. The intent is to instill the importance and ethics of hunting and to develop a love of the sport. The age limit for hunting big game used to be 16. 

I have never killed an animal while hunting, but I enjoy the sport. Both of my parents hunted and my father served as the family scout. He would go to some of his favorite spots or he would notice a key spot to get permission to hunt. Then he would scout the area, looking for signs of the game. 

There were many weekends during the hunting seasons, the Pages hunted with firearms or bows, along with family and friends. The large kitchen table at our house would be surrounded by several generations. Some actively hunted while others were put afield without bows or firearms to drive the deer.

It was fun, it was good exercise and it also had social aspects. The social aspect was the large kitchen table surrounded by hunters, set to eat piles of mom's pancakes, hear hunting tales and telling jokes. I remember my sides aching sometimes from the laughter and tall tales. It brings a smile on my face just thinking about it.

My father loved to hunt, it wasn't just for necessity. He instilled that love in three of his four children. However, mom was the firearms instructor. For her, safety was paramount in handling firearms.

What prompted this story is how much the hunting season demographics has changed over the 40 years I have been a reporter with the Mountain Eagle.

There are no longer pages of Conservation Blotters, listing the indiscretions of those hunting over bait piles, traveling with loaded firearms, hunting with spot lights, failing to use their hunting tags, using the hunting tags of another and lending their tags to another. The laws are still there, but there are many fewer hunters to break them. 

The Mountain Eagle always put out special hunting tabs, with maps and hunting guidelines. The tabs were popular and we had a hard time keeping them stocked. There was small game season, followed by big game season. We no longer do the hunting tabs and there is almost no mention of any hunting season, except for a picture here and there of a successful hunter. We would interview local hunters and Region 4 biologists to get the scoop on the prognosis for hunting each season. 

Hunters moved into the area big time for the firearms portion of Big Game Hunting Season. They came from downstate and out of state to fill hunting camps, hotels and motels, as they moved in over the weekend to be ready for the opening day, which back them, was always the Monday before Thanksgiving. You encountered hunters in the grocery stores, sport shops and gun shops, gas stations, local bars and restaurants. It brought a lot of revenue to the region.

There were big buck contests, visits from the DEC commissioners, and photos of the big racks. It was not uncommon to see deer slung over the hood or fender of a vehicle. There were deer check stations at various locations and along the Thruway, where biologists aged the deer and recorded biological data. Deer were seen hanging in back yards and processing venison was big business. Now you have to look far and wide for a venison/bear butcher and there are seldom stacks of deer waiting to be processed.

Now the season opens the weekend before Thanksgiving, giving hunters a full weekend to hunt right at the beginning of the season, before they head home for Thanksgiving and in some cases, that culminates the season. They don't always return to continue hunting.

The social aspect of big game season is lost.

In those days there were generations hunting together and the hunting tradition was handed down. Hunting license sales peaked in the mid-1970's with what are today's Baby Boomers. It became a concern, according to retired DEC biologist Bill Sharick, because hunting license fees are what pay for conservation efforts and the cost of licenses couldn't be increased enough to cover the gap. "At some point people in the state and federal levels realized there were no young people getting involved in hunting," said Sharick. The internet also played a part as young people turned to surfing the internet over stalking in the woods. Grandfathers and fathers were aging out of the sport and selling off the hunting camps. Surveys indicated that the age of 16 seemed to be the age that determined interest in hunting, or not. There also were no girls coming into the sports, so the concentration moved to getting youth started in their early teens and inviting more girls to get involved  in the sport.

So the youth hunts were developed and the age limits lowered. Each county had to approve opting into lowering the age limit. Only one western county and the areas of Westchester County and below did not opt for the lower age limits. The youth hunt still requires them to take a safety course to receive their valid hunting license and they may not go afield without someone over the age of 18 who is a licensed hunter. The mentor does not carry a bow or gun during the youth hunt. They are there merely to advise. Youth hunters are safer than the older hunters, so the number of hunting accidents has not increased, said Sharick and the results have been successful.

So, the youth hunt is a way to get youth interested in the sport and the youth hunt weekends give them a little bit of an advantage before the regular season starts. Columbus Day weekend was chosen for Big Game Youth Hunt because it is a three-day weekend prior to the opening of the regular season.

It is unlikely we will return to the days of massive hunter influx, but it remains a sport that is still passed down from one generation to another. 

The local Rod & Gun Club recently held a sighting in day, similar to the "good old days", to allow hunters to sight in their firearms ahead of the upcoming seasons. There is also a local high school trap team that is keeping youth involved in shooting sports.

Although some people dislike the killing of animals, hunting is a sport and it is  necessary to keep deer and other populations in check. There are not enough hunters.

Photo: Jakob Aldaddah is all smiles as he poses with the spike horn buck he bagged during the special Youth Hunt on Saturday, using his mentor’s 30-06 rifle. It is his first deer and he was very excited and-leased, according to his hunting mentor, Bill Sharick. The Big Game Youth Hunt went from Saturday-Monday when junior hunters with a valid license could bag a deer while hunting with a licensed mentor over the age of 18.