we are a dying breed

[300UGUY]

I've been meaning to write in this thread for a few days, and being a non-native transplant to the OP's state of Virginia, and a non-hunter with hunting ambitions, my commentary might be relevant.

I never grew up in a hunting family, but we've always been outdoors people. It wasn't until I moved to VA and had a small amount of property that I really started thinking about harvesting my own meat. The first obstacle that I came on was that my rifle wasn't legal. I needed a shotgun to hunt in VA. Boom, $300. Secondly, I planned on hunting on my own property, but looking around the area found my with little to no public options for hunting. Enter the "hunt club". In my county (King Wiliam), the landscape is completely rural, but a hunt club is pretty much the only place that one can legally hunt without tracking down and gaining the permission of the landowner. EVERYTHING is private land. Hunt clubs are traditional men's hangouts, with sometimes 4 generations of hunters as members. In addition to not feeling invited ("not from around here"), you sometimes have to be put on a waiting list or vouched for to gain membership.

Then, there's all of the "gear" that I had no idea whether I needed or not.I think what others said about mentorship being important couldn't be more accurate. I've only been hunting a few times since I first started, but I couldn't tell you 100% that what I did was correct or even 100% legal! The laws are very complicated. I mean seriously, do you really need A BOOK to tell me the rights and wrongs of hunting?

There are a few other barriers to entry that I can think of, but the main ones for me were the cost, lack of accessability, and lack of confidence in what I was doing. I would like to go hunting more often, but until I find someone to take me under their wing I'll probably just scavenge some venison from coworkers.

Most hunt clubs here are family groups, you pretty much have to be invited to join. Or marry in? LOL

 

[Jstpssng]

I've been meaning to write in this thread for a few days, and being a non-native transplant to the OP's state of Virginia, and a non-hunter with hunting ambitions, my commentary might be relevant.

I never grew up in a hunting family, but we've always been outdoors people. It wasn't until I moved to VA and had a small amount of property that I really started thinking about harvesting my own meat. The first obstacle that I came on was that my rifle wasn't legal. I needed a shotgun to hunt in VA. Boom, $300. Secondly, I planned on hunting on my own property, but looking around the area found my with little to no public options for hunting. Enter the "hunt club". In my county (King Wiliam), the landscape is completely rural, but a hunt club is pretty much the only place that one can legally hunt without tracking down and gaining the permission of the landowner. EVERYTHING is private land. Hunt clubs are traditional men's hangouts, with sometimes 4 generations of hunters as members. In addition to not feeling invited ("not from around here"), you sometimes have to be put on a waiting list or vouched for to gain membership.

Then, there's all of the "gear" that I had no idea whether I needed or not.I think what others said about mentorship being important couldn't be more accurate. I've only been hunting a few times since I first started, but I couldn't tell you 100% that what I did was correct or even 100% legal! The laws are very complicated. I mean seriously, do you really need A BOOK to tell me the rights and wrongs of hunting?

There are a few other barriers to entry that I can think of, but the main ones for me were the cost, lack of accessability, and lack of confidence in what I was doing. I would like to go hunting more often, but until I find someone to take me under their wing I'll probably just scavenge some venison from coworkers.

Does your state offer hunter safety courses? That would be a good place to get some of your questions answered. I confess that I'm rather hesitant about trusting friends to teach me the ropes in new areas...most of my blatant game law violations were because I was with friends who "knew the area."

 

[Dr_Zinj]

The need for outdoor recreation is greater than ever. Sure, those 1st person shooter computer games are nice and comfy. However, in a game, you are only exposed to a tenth or even a mere 100th of the sensory stimuli and decision making that you would experience in a real outdoor setting. That stimuli has been found to be critical in developing and maintaining cognitive functioning. Even if you live in a city, and the bad part of town, it's healthier for your growth and longevity to get out for even just a walk of an hour every day.

It may hurt to use it, but if you don't use it, you lose it.

 

[DeereMann]

We limit the electronics based on how good school grades are. Same holds true for outdoors activities. And we do everything we can to encourage outdoors activities - take them on age-appropriate trips, not like our fathers on their all-day fishing trips!

 

[dave1949]

We limit the electronics based on how good school grades are. Same holds true for outdoors activities. And we do everything we can to encourage outdoors activities - take them on age-appropriate trips, not like our fathers on their all-day fishing trips!

LOL.

Our family vacations to Michigan when I was a kid were planned around my Dad and Bob (father of the family we often vacationed with) going fishing. The six kids from the two families always had fun, but that was incidental. :laughing:

Those were good times. Tent camping right on the lake shore with the boat tied-off to a tree.

 

[gwdixon]

We limit the electronics based on how good school grades are. Same holds true for outdoors activities. And we do everything we can to encourage outdoors activities - take them on age-appropriate trips, not like our fathers on their all-day fishing trips!

I see an issue here. Electronics are held up to be a reward. A reward is desirable, thus electronics become desirable and coveted by the parents' use of them as positive reinforcement. If you want to promote electronics then you are doing it correctly.

Outdoor activities can best be promoted as a requirement rather than a reward. A reward is only as good as its desirability and it therefore is something that can be ignored. It is more productive to say, "Today we are going to...." or "Its time to...." and leave the electronics at home.

Nothing wrong with an all-day fishing trip. There is a lot more that goes on beyond fishing. Adult/child interaction, cultural issues, stories, bonding, patience, awareness, and much more. Too may kids take their "electronics" along during such times and lose out on enhanced stimulation of a natural sort.

 

[rsallen]

Ever go through a neighborhood and see those a-frame yellow 'children at play' signs?
Ever see any children actually playing? Ever see anything but an empty yard or drive way?
I don't. I always wonder where those mystical children are playing.

 

[MacLawn]

Amen. Y'all said it.

 

[jonnyc1999]

Most hunt clubs here are family groups, you pretty much have to be invited to join. Or marry in? LOL

I'm pretty sure its the same way here. When I inquired to a coworker about finding a hunt club, he basically said don't bother unless you have a family member already there. He was tickled to death about the prospect of hunting on my land, because there just isn't any public land to hunt on. Some of the state parks in the area allow hunting on one or two weekends, but its a lottery. As a learning novice, I'm not going to buy gear in the hopes that I hit the lottery!

As far as finding a farmer to buddy up with, I'm not sure how I'd go about it. I'm a "yankee" in the south. I know farmers around here lease their land to hunters during the season, and I know of one guy that harvests quite a lot of venison from a farmer friend. But, he's lived in the county his whole life and grew up with the guy. I mostly like the "walk in nature" aspect of hunting, rather than the sit in a tree all day and shoot something aspect. FOr that reason and the others that I've previously stated, it makes more sense to go hiking than hunting. Although, I'd have to travel at least 30 minutes to find any trails to even walk down!

 

[wngsprd]

Does your state offer hunter safety courses? That would be a good place to get some of your questions answered. I confess that I'm rather hesitant about trusting friends to teach me the ropes in new areas...most of my blatant game law violations were because I was with friends who "knew the area."

Virginia does offer a Hunting Safety course. In fact it is required in order to obtain a hunting license.

Good news for Jonnyc1999: There are two Wildlife Management Areas in the county next to King William, about 15 to 20 miles north, total 3,500 areas. In the other direction there are two others a little farther with over 9,000 acres. However, these are also "shotgun only" counties. Most of the rifle counties are in the mountains or foothill counties, where there are 3 million acres of National Forests. The VA DGIF has maps and description of all of the WMAs on their website. Don't give up. Happy hunting!