The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is announcing that there still remains 23 available tags for a special youth and inexperienced hunter bear hunt. You can read more about it here.
I was reading through the article and I was struck with a question of which I struggled to find an answer for. Perhaps readers can enlighten me.
The plea has gone out looking for youth and inexperienced hunters. We all know that nearly every state in the Union is scrambling to find ways to recruit new hunters. This particular bear hunt, according to the article, is being sponsored by the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association and the Wisconsin DNR. The article explains what the necessary procedures are for a youth to apply for a tag.
A mandatory training day will be held on Aug. 24 starting at noon and ending at 4 p.m. A meal will follow. The event will be held at the Camp Phillips Boy Scout camp near Haugen.
Applicants are invited to the training day whether selected for the hunt or not. Lodging will be provided for participants, who can choose between use of bear-trailing dogs or traditional bait-and-sit.
Youth applicants must be at least 12 years of age and a graduate of Hunter Education. The application includes an essay of what the hunt would mean to the applicant.
So before a kid can get a tag to go bear hunting in this special hunt, they must first buy a hunting license. To do so they will have to have successfully completed a state approved hunter safety course.
Then they can apply, which requires an essay explaining what this hunt would mean to them. If selected for a tag, the hunter then must attend a mandatory training session. Anything else?
It has already been determined that in some cases, the required hunter safety course is turning new hunters away. I believe in the hunter safety course and think it should be a requirement but some kind of mentoring program could be useful. To continue to pile on requirement after requirement just to get a kid out in the woods hunting, makes it plain to see why they are looking for people to fill the tags.
Tom Remington
