06/28/2005
Ohio Takes a Stand for Hunting
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A new bill could make it easier for young people in Ohio to hunt with their parents. This proposed legislation kicks off the Families 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.
Families 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 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.
Ohio was chosen to introduce the program 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.
For more information about youth hunting or Families Afield, contact Brian Dowler, 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.
