Moose Droppings

Rite of Passage

Nov 17, 2006 @ 12:13 am by Moose

The decline in the ranks of hunters from the younger generation is well documented trend that we need to work to reverse. Additionally a positive news article about families introducing youth to hunting is also a declining trend. I was pleased to read a positive story about a family of hunters in the Citizens Times.

Brevard resident Ethan Phillips has earned his bragging rights as a hunter.
The 10-year-old boy left for his first hunting trip with the skills he learned from his father and returned as a man with some marksmanship.
On his recent first hunt at his family’s farm in Virginia, he killed his first deer, joining the ranks with his two brothers, mother and father as skilled hunters.
“It was awesome,” said Ethan, who is already planning his next trip. “We got up real early, like at 5 a.m. I slept a little in the deer stand. We didn’t get to talk much.
“The deer came right behind us in the stand,” he said. “It came up on the trail, in the corn, and it stopped, and I shot it.”
Phillips is one of the 44 percent of America’s youths who are interested in hunting — a declining number that the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission attributes to urbanization and fewer hunters passing down the tradition to younger generations.

Check out the rest of the story it’s a great read and a thumbs up to the Citizens Times for running it.