Saw a post were they want a longer season early
On another Ky Forum
I know it was proposed for the Western counties
Only because of the disease but admitted if successful they will expand it
I have my thoughts
The Out of State Hunters will love this
Maybe this has been voted on already I don’t recall when the meeting is?
One thing I’ve noticed more and more are the use of “ me and myself” when commissioners talk. I saw that when one wanted to expand trapping into April because he didn’t want to use his deer season days trapping. IF it were to achieve it’s stated intent, get more kids into hunting, it’d be great. But, if the parents or mentor are not already using the first weekend of modern gun and not hunting for themselves at least for the kids to get a deer that didn’t during the early youth season I question their motives and if it’s truly “ about the kids”. I shudder to think how many kids would have to sit still and watch dad or uncle shoot a deer with their 45-70 because it would have been missed or too far out for the kid. I don’t think there is an answer to greatly get youth participation increased in hunting any more than trapping. The love, interest, curiosity, respect and patience is just no longer there. We’re fighting a losing battle. If you have one kid you can truly sacrifice time from yourself for that will carry it on you’ve done more than the average bear. Some of the posts and pics I see from “ mentor” hunters puke me out tooting their own horns actually. I was soured years ago when I saw a guy pack his three small kids to a stocked trout pool and told them to sit down and shut up so he could catch 24. This after he had already left with eight or ten earlier. I also saw the looks on dads and kids faces when I told them during hunters Ed class that if dad shot the deer during the upcoming youth deer season and didn’t let them shoot he’d be poaching. Anything we do “ for the kids” will be ruined by more than what good would come of it I’m afraid.
Kytrapper
I have to commend you for your insight and
For thought into all of this
I sincerely mean this we’re blessed to have you in our Leadership
I’m not trying to blow Smoke just stating the truth
And saying
Thank You
Thanks. Probably more than a few think I’m an opinionated know it all 
Unfortunately you’ll have that, I have an uncle with 5 kids. 3 are older than me, one is my age and the other is a couple years younger than me. I’m sure the statute of limitations is up on this so I don’t mind sharing.
When I was growing up, I remember that he would hunt during youth seasons without the kids, and would also buy tags and licenses for all 5 kids and his wife every year and I doubt the kids have hunted more than a couple times each their whole life. He would also use high powered rifles during muzzle loader season.
I would say that scenario plays out a lot more than most of us care to think about. And the only one that gets the short straw is the kids
Happens a lot here. Wives always kill a Buck first too. In cases like that it actually is disappointing and turns kids against hunting instead of getting them started.
Im against the expansion of muzzleloader and the extended youth I have no problem.with a two day youth only season but when a parent actually cares enough to take a child they take them all season bow ,youth gun, muzzleloader, big gun, late muzzleloader and late youth.
They always try to enhance the hunting by adding more opportunity when in actual fact the exact opposite is what happens,decrease of hunting pressure makes hunting much much better adding gun seasons increase pressure and decrease hunt quality.
Not to mention what they did to the doe population in a big portion of the state when we went too a two week gun season with a 3 doe limit and doing away with doe days. Many areas never rebound from the increase over harvest of does including mine. It also made the creation of a 4th zone necessary, witch I’m sure is something they never considered before they added a week to are gun season so many years ago.
And I’m sure if they have considered eny negative results from this current thought they have pushed them aside in there latest attempt to sale more license.
If you thank I’m wrong I don’t care, I live largely from what I gather from the woods and seeing it mismanaged is like taking food from my familys mouth.
Colt
I rarely hear a shot here during the youth turkey or deer seasons. Seems like guys can take off work to hunt but not take kids. I wonder how many kids are truly interested in going anyway. I’d say half of half of them just get drug out so dad can get out.
I’d say you’re right. Gunnar, my middle one, wanted to shoot a turkey so bad this year that he couldn’t stand it. He shot the .410, learned how to handle it on that tripod and I took that weekend of youth season off for him. We scouted a few times before season. He was a trooper the first day and hunted mid morning and the evening. Him and adalynn got up at 5 something the next morning, dog tired both of them. Adalynn had zero interest in being there but wanted to support her brother. We started out in a blind with his tripod and listened to a symphony of five gobblers blowing the tops out of the trees well before daylight. About an hour or two of being there they all went silent but one. I told Gunnar that I knew if we got out of that blind we could get him, and he was all for it. We walked about 300 yards to our right, crossed a shallow creek and set up where I thought the gobbler was, and he was close, I mean hear the rattle in his throat close. I realized that he was behind us the way we came, we turned around and with Gunnar in my lap and me helping him support the gun, the gobbler appeared. He got to about 30 yards and gobbled right straight at us and I could feel Gunnar’s little heart beating 100 mph. He got him and still talks about that every day. If he didn’t get one youth, I was taking him every day of regular season I could get before I ever attempted to go. That one morning with those kids means more to me than any time I’ve ever pulled the trigger or released a string. The same as when Adalynn killed her one and only deer a couple years ago. I can’t imagine robbing them of that just to say I shot another one
I guess I’m just getting old, I sure do miss muzzleloading season the way it used to be, it was the third week in October if I remember correctly (I was in TN at the time) and I would hunt the whole season and rarely see another hunter. But that was before the days of inlines and easily scoped rifles, now there is so much more pressure on the animals. I guess that is good for the Dept in license revenue but it sure takes a lot of the fun out of it. Not bashing those that like inlines, as they are a perfectly legal way to hunt during the muzzleloading season but just kind of longing for the way it was before. Up until 3 years ago I hunted with a side hammer percussion gun with open sights, now I hunt mostly with one of my 2 flintlocks.
I don’t like the muzzleloading season being extended especially the proposal to add straight wall cartridges and shotgun to it. Couple years ago I started taking my daughter hunting where she was the shooter. I started her off with squirrels because I have always thought it was better to start a kid off with small game. Last year we did spring turkey and deer. My seasons didn’t start until she was done which deer season never really started for me last year because she kept at it even after she got her buck which I thought was great. I would like the youth season to be longer just because it would be on her fall break from school and I would take some days off work to take her during the week then.
I agree 100%. Sadly that’s the way of the world now. Compound bows with 90% let off. Crossbows in archery season. Cellular trail cameras. Compound bow sights that are a rangefinder and illuminate the “pin” you need for that exact yardage. Muzzleloaders that can shoot 300 yards like a rifle. People want the easiest, simplest way to get their picture behind a critter to show the world of social media what a great white hunter they are. And to top it off, not only are the weapons and equipment 10x easier for the average person to be successful with, that’s not good enough, they want increased bag limits or longer seasons. I just don’t understanding the mindset of these “hunters” and I sure won’t ever understand what goes through the head of that commission.
Isn’t the commission now governed by the agriculture Dept. I believe there will be more and more opening of seasons . Crop damage and complaints of farmers looking out for their interests will play a bigger part in the Commission’s decisions now! Just my thoughts.
I think you have touched on something that I noticed a long time ago, and that’s hunting for yourself, instead of someone else. It seems like it happens after a guy reaches a certain age. When we are young, much of what we do is a sort of competition, even if we don’t think about it. Buying the latest hunting weapon, tree stand, scent, camo patterns, etc. is really a kind of keeping up with the Jones’s I think. When we are younger, we think we have to keep up with latest innovations, or we will be at a disadvantage. And then, the money invested means that in our minds, we can often feel like we have to take game to justify the money that was spent; until it no longer becomes about the hunt, … the solitude, … or the fellowship among friends ! It’s along about the time that a person hits their late 40’s-50’s that you can start to notice a change in them . Going hunting when the weather is better, instead of toughing it out in a rain or snow storm. Passing on shots that are iffy, only taking what they know they need, instead of whatever the bag limit says they can take, etc. And then, often times, you see hunters going to weapons that are more of a challenge sometimes, or just going with the notion of I’m just here to observe, and suck up and enjoy what the day brings, with no real thought of the taking of game on that particular day. They still take game from time to time; but it’s on their terms, for their needs or wants, and on days of their choosing. They are essentially, Hunting for themselves, instead of someone else. In more ways than one!
Last I heard, they nixed that, and F&W is still part of Tourism Dept. If I’m wrong, someone call me out on it.
I listened to the Commission meeting the other day, and the first district Commissioner was plugging for straight wall cartridges/shotgun slugs to be included in the proposed muzzleloader season in HIS DISTRICT at this time .(The far western Counties of the State.) Due to high deer densities, crop damage tags being issued in the past that basically allowed shooting, and leaving deer to rot, and the new threat of CWD , His reasoning for setting the season in October, was to #1, try and get more youth involved due to it being warmer then, than say, up in Dec/Jan. #2, take more deer from those 1st district Counties, and #3, by allowing slugs/ straight wall cartridge weapons, his thinking was that virtually anyone would at least have a shotgun they could use, instead of having to buy a muzzleloader to hunt with, thereby opening up more of an opportunity for the masses. At least that was what he said were his goals . Time will tell how this is received by the general public I guess.
The problem with that whole idea is access to property to hunt not the opportunity to hunt. The vast majority of ground in western KY is now leased and it doesn’t matter what the season lengths are that is not going to change, and many/most of those who have the land leased are either looking for a really good buck or are a commercial outfitter guiding clients who are paying them to hunt. Either way unless Mr Smith or Mr Smith’s family own the land it is still going to difficult for Mr. Smith to find a place to take little Johnny hunting no matter what the season, method of take, or bag limits are. If Mr. Smith can’t afford to spend 200 dollars for a muzzleloader he sure can’t afford to spend 2000 or more on a deer lease. They just don’t seem to get it, for the most part the problem is not the season, method of take, or bag limit but rather access to property to hunt.
Yes there are vast tracts of public land in the eastern part of the state that are open but there are relatively few deer on those areas and often access is difficult. As you move west in the state the amount of public land decreases and the number of restrictions on hunting that land increases (quotas, or methods restrictions). So, it is a never-ending issue. A person can’t blame the farmer because of the sheer amount of money they are making from those leases but at the same time they really can’t complain about crop damage when they are reducing the opportunity of harvest for the deer on their property by leasing to trophy hunters or commercial outfitters.
I know I have put some effort in trying to locate property to hunt on in portions of the state with higher population densities but have had no success in securing permission or locating a property for lease at a price I can afford to pay or am willing to pay. This is a problem that does not have an easy solution.
Bingo they’ve created a culture of trophy hunter and allot of these people don’t or won’t kill does and you take a farm nowadays that use to have possibly 8 or 10 meat hunters will know have 1 or 2 trophy hunter instead.
Not a seasons problem it’s an access problem. No matter how long the youth season is I do t have an easy place for my daughter to get a shot we still got little access and few deer.
And it won’t change no time soon.
Colt
Good discussion guys. Some of you could be a commissioner. Leasing, money, Facebook/social media driven hunting has ruined the true experience of what outdoor activities should be. It is challenging for KDFWR to balance this new mentality with sensible wildlife management.
Admittedly commissioners should be listening to the people of their district and be their voice of representation but such as the case for summer trapping sometimes they act on what they themselves want to change and when in their presentations to the commission you start hearing personal stories my radar goes up. I’ve heard some misguided ideas before when they were lied to by others that opposed your ideas of change. That is very frustrating because they have months to work them of no truths. It seems sometimes one half of the commission that are of one political party vote or stick together or at least two or three do. I’d ask and expect much broader thinking on decisions down the road such as if we impose this will it eventually lead to that. Also think more broadly on everything as in state wide. I hate seeing states with so many micro divisions on regulations. I heard ten or fifteen years ago they’d like to only have two deer zones. A case in point to directly affects us are the bobcat and otter zones. I’d much rather see those done away with for we have plenty of both and fewer pursuing them. If they were truly concerned with bobcat over harvest they do away with the November pot shooting and now the “coyote” night season. I know for a fact cats and fox are being shot with the night vision stuff but the hunting guide wording is not bold enough to me to dissuade this. Like I said, it’s a tough balancing act to make everyone, or the majority, happy and if you’re doing anything at all you’ll have pouters and complainers.