AB All age group tag #'s up........incl. the hipster crowd?

Suka

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Actually when I read this I thought of that gentleman who mistakenly shot the grizzly. Southern general season starts tomorrow, let's be safe and good luck to everyone. If you go to the link to read it you'll see the graph; htg licences by age group:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/hipster-among-younger-albertans-embracing-hunting-1.2356289

Hipster among younger Albertans embracing hunting

Hunting season is well underway and this year more Albertans are heading to the bush, rifle in hand.

According to the province, more young people are getting into the sport. In the last year, there was a nearly 10 per cent increase in the number of young hunters getting licences among 26 to 35 year olds, as well as a slight upswing among 18 to 25 year olds.

Despite growing up in a hunting family, 28-year-old Joel Burke made his first kill this fall — a large white-tail deer.

“I first started thinking about it a few years ago,” said Burke.

“I decided I wanted to stop eating meat. So I did that for a while and started thinking about more ethical ways to eat meat. I thought hunting was probably the most ethical way to do that. I like to be an informed consumer. So I decided that would be the best way to go."

Burke is part of the trend of young people who want to know where their meat is coming from and want it grass-fed, free-range and organic.

“I'm all for it. I like hipster music and clothes and that stuff. I think as long as they're approaching it with respect, then I'm all for it. I think it's careful to go slow when you're learning it. Take your time, don't be in a hurry. But go for it.”

Burke’s says he’s determined to use the entire carcass of the buck he shot — even the hide.

“I'm going to make kind of a man purse, maybe. I don’t know. I was trying to think how I could actually get away with using that in something I would wear. And I think a man purse is a good idea. Yeah, it's totally hipster. But I mean, whatever. Who else has done that? Do you know anyone else? I think it's pretty cool. I killed the deer, skinned it, tanned the hide, sewed it all together — that's pretty cool.”


Improperly trained

Butcher Noel Jervis, who owns Ryan’s Meats in Calgary, says he’s seeing an influx of novice hunters, many of whom aren't as aware of proper practices as Burke is.

"What kind of problems do I see? All kinds of stuff, such as animals not tagged correctly, wrong species of animal with the wrong tag on it. Worst thing we'll see is someone will shoot an animal think it's one thing and it's actually another thing and they've got the wrong tag on it all together,” says Jervis.

“I don't hear enough people telling me they're learning enough about species identification, other than safety, safety, safety. Safety's great, but you still gotta know what you're doing.”

Jervis says he’ll have guys come up to his back door saying “I’ve got a white tail deer in the back of my truck.” And he'll go out, and it's a mule deer — which makes it poaching and means that he can’t butcher that animal.

He also sees first-time hunters who don't know proper hunting techniques — everything from not knowing how to shoot and kill properly to not knowing how to field dress an animal.

"I'm going to throw away half your critter because the meat's rotten,” says Jervis. “It's a waste. It's a total waste. You need to teach these guys properly what to do first in the field.”

Bob Gruszecki, who is president of the Alberta Hunters Education Instructor's Association, says he sometimes hears stories of novice hunters, but program facilitators are working to get more people exposed to their training.

“Does it happen? Of course. And is it our job, our task and our dedicated effort to try and stem the flow of those types of things? Absolutely. And so we think education is the tool to make that happen and I believe that we're achieving it, one person at a time."
 
This is a newbie problem- nothing to do with hipsters. Why is the hunter training course not catching these people?

When son took the course it wasn't online, it was a weekend thing. The manual was actually a really good book. Don't know if they still use the same book or not, and like Mark alluded to, passing the course is one thing, caring to learn may be another?
 
Reading about how to gut an animal, and doing it in real life are two VERY different things. Education is key - but it's pretty tough in a classroom environment.
 
Because you can easily get a licence in Alberta without hunter training.

Not any more. Starting next year you will have to provide proof of passing a hunter safety course before you can get a license. Up to this point you could just lie and click the box that said you had taken a course. I'm not sure how hard they are going to check for proof, but it is a start.


Reading about how to gut an animal, and doing it in real life are two VERY different things. Education is key - but it's pretty tough in a classroom environment.

It's even harder online. The Alberta course is now online only, no more classroom courses are available. The AHEIA summer camp for the kids should still be hands-on, but there is nothing else being offered that I have seen.


Mark
 
Not any more. Starting next year you will have to provide proof of passing a hunter safety course before you can get a license. Up to this point you could just lie and click the box that said you had taken a course. I'm not sure how hard they are going to check for proof, but it is a start.



Mark

It's a step but a very small one. There's still another very easy way around it that's perfectly legal and commonly used. I'm hesitant to say it on here for fear some use it but one of the other requirements for getting a licence in Alberta that negates the need for hunter safety training is having held a hunting licence in another jurisdiction. How hard is it to buy a hunting licence somewhere in the U.S. on line these days? Bingo, you've held a hunting licence elsewhere and are legally qualified to buy one in Alberta, sans hunter safety training.
 
Hunter education is one thing. Experiential education with a mentor is another. This is my first year with a hunting license and I have been out duck hunting and will be going deer hunting next weekend. I took the online hunter education course, but I would still not want to go out on my own without a mentor to teach me. Fortunately I have plenty of people to help me learn. When I am confident with my ability I plan on teaching as many people who are willing to learn.
 
what no cell phone reception in the bush.... how am I going to google 'feild dressing' I need the youtube video....

I had to help out a new hunter a few years back with this exact problem.....

And I was not going to get my hands dirty :) they have to learn the hard way sometimes.
 
Sounds like a revamp of the requirements are needed then. Pretty hard to learn everything you need in a weekend and tough to recruit new hunters when the course takes 3 months, so there must be some middle ground. Mentors, step up!

It won't solve the OP problem directly, but this thread prompted me to 'donate' two lessons in butchering game to a charity fundraiser. Gotta start somewhere.....
 
Mentors, step up!

I'm working on it. Took my 12 year old out last year for his first season. He got one shot at a mulie doe, but missed her in all the excitement. This year he is back for more and I am taking two friends and their 12 year old out as well. They aren't rookie hunters but haven't been out for a number of years since they moved to Alberta.

IMO, there is no way any hunter safety course can teach many of the finer points of finding/stalking/harvesting/gutting/butchering big game no matter how extensive it is. The only way to learn is to have a mentor teach you. I am far from a veteran, this is only my 5th season of hunting (7 deer so far), but it is too important to our heritage to not help the numbers out when I can.


Mark
 
When my friends and I did our Hunter Safety course here in NB, we all challenged the test, but it was a big deal for us. We all got just about everything right. Now, of everyone I know who took the course ... they all are sloppy. They don't follow the rules, often because they don't know them. They just sat in a classroom and were passed, and never saw the need to maybe once in a while review the regulations. The general ignorance of them all is appalling and I have started to call them out on it because I am sick of it.
 
Hunter education is one thing. Experiential education with a mentor is another. This is my first year with a hunting license and I have been out duck hunting and will be going deer hunting next weekend. I took the online hunter education course, but I would still not want to go out on my own without a mentor to teach me. Fortunately I have plenty of people to help me learn. When I am confident with my ability I plan on teaching as many people who are willing to learn.

Well said. A hunter safety course no more teaches the art of hunting, than does a boater's operator card teach one to sail...

Instead of complaining about young/new hunters, folks should be trying to share their knowledge and skill sets whenever possible. Thing is, I find many old-timers to be quite stingy about "their" spots, ergo unwilling to take newbies out with them. Too bad, because one needs the other.
IMHO.
 
A massive +1 to the mentor/mentee relationship...I took the hunter education course back in school, and my wife did it online a couple years ago....but all I really learned about were the rules. Everything practical I learned from an experienced hunting partner.

IMHO, this relationship is so important to the future of our recreational pursuit (which puts 100% of our family's meat on the table) hat now that I know what I'm doing, I take a first time hunter out every year. I've got 5 under my belt this far, and after practicing with a newbie all summer long at the range to then watch them drop the hammer on their first deer...what a great feeling!! Then to help them turn their kill to sausage and steak...that's a whole new level of sharing a meal with friends.

Cheers,

Brobee
 
Ps...forgot to add:

Don't forget to pay it forward with the old timers. When I'm 80 years old and in a wheelchair, I deeply hope some young guy/gal will remember years past and shows up at the old folks home to get pick me up, park my wheelchair at the edge of the bush, put a rifle in my hands, and help me deal with my deer in the aftermath.

Cheers,

Brobee
 
Because you can easily get a licence in Alberta without hunter training.

I have some Albertan family and friends, and I was surprised when I was informed of the lack of hunter training there. One friend was asking me all kinds of questions about hunting hare and grouse. I asked him if it was covered in his hunting course. He said "what course?"

Absurd.
 
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It is pretty crazy. I just renewed my WIN card online the other day... just checked off the little box that says 'I'm smart and took a course and won't kill something that's not the right species' and BAM - license granted. It's a little weak to say the least.

Then again, if it was really a huge problem, you'd THINK they would have changed it by now?
 

Or it shows that there really is little point to a course and that people can figure it on their own without the nanny state holding their hand.


Then again, if it was really a huge problem, you'd THINK they would have changed it by now?

This is likely the case. No issues = no attention from the authorities.


Mark
 
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