State wide hunt

[muttbuster]

Hi guys. I'm new to this site but I'm not new to the great sport of predator hunting. Foxpro51 is my hunting partner and he has been keeping me up to date about this years state wide predator hunt. I'm not trying to offend anyone but I would like to toss in my two cents. First of all, the balance of hunters is very lop-sided across the state. It is kind of like the Custer fighting the Indians contest. A hand full of hunters will never be able to compete with an army of hunters. I propose we eliminate the district hunting program and level the playing field by either hunting solo or a two man team. This way everyone has an equal chance. Second, why include Coons. Coons are not in any way as difficult to hunt as a Fox or Coyote. I think hunting predators that think you're dinner is much more of a challenge. Coons resemble my first wife, to dumb to know when the shi* is about to hit the fan. Lets go for the killers and lets do it fair.

Thank you and I'm looking forward to assisting the club in the future. 

Muttbuster

[Lackawannafox]

Alot of areas in Pa have alot more fox then others.I hunt in wayne and lackawanna counties and the fox population here cant even compare to that of the southeastern portion of Pa.Theres 10 to 12 greys for every 1 red fox in my area but those 10 to 12 greys are very hard to find.Theres only a handful of decent predator hunters in my area.

[foxpro51]

Lackawannafox,( Good point. ) Someone made a statement here that is the way this contest has allways been. (That doesn't make it right.) Look at General Motors. They also said that's the way its allways been done. (They are allmost banckrupt.) Look at our membership. How much has it dropped in the last 5 years? Ever wonder why? You can blame the economy but that is not the only reason.

[dreamcatcher]

Every section of this state has its plusses and minuses. One plus we all have are the raccoons.
Mutt and LF , I'll be looking for your applications at the post office and looking forward to meeting up.
                      DC

[BP]

This statewide hunt has always been billed as a "FUN" hunt and memers are allowed to hunt anywhere in the state. If you're looking for rewards beyond comraderie and internet "fun-poking", may I suggest the "Skeeter Creek" money hunt.

[220_Woody]

Muttbuster~

having racoons in the mix allows every participant a chance to gain points. raccoons are found all throughout the state...therefore as Dreamcatcher stated all participants have an opportunity to score no matter where they live/hunt. some have no reds...some have no grays...and coyotes are quite hard to kill. so i vote to keeping the raccoons in the scoring bracket. plus, this allows youth hunters an opportunity to earn points as well....because they are easy. you don't get a youth into fishing by handing them a flyrod on a stream...you give them a snoopy pole at a farm pond and let them hook bluegills all day long. thus allowing them to participate and bring fur to the check in, thus keeps their interest in hunting and calling up...thus having a participant year after year. having raccoons in the bracket is not the cause of membership loss.

there is no rules excluding 2 man teams....3 man teams or whatever floats your boat. just no dogs...calling only. thus, there are no rules mandating two man teams....some prefer to go solo and do quite well at it. making them team up will only discourage them from participating. we need and want as many participants during these events as possible. its not like there will be 6 guys hunting together all wekend long against a solo guy in the next district. we encourage members living close together to team-up and have fun...its the whole point....hunting with others in your area and having a b.s. session when its all over at the check-in.

some members are competitive...some could care less about the trophy or braggin rights. we gotta keep things in the middle to allow all interests a chance to have fun.

glad to have another member in Dist. 6....hope to meet you at some point down the road!

~Woody

[Lackawannafox]

Keep the raccoons.There a ton of fun to call.When the fox arent responding I'm sure anyone that knows about furbearers can find some coon to call.I call for my love of this sport.Every fox/coon we harvest we give them to my uncle to skin/sell.Its a win/win for us

[foxpro51]

BP, I am allready in the Hall of Fame Muesum and comfortably retired so winning a small trophy and money means nothing to me..

[muttbuster]

Woody, youth hunting is a wonderful thing. I take young hunter any time I can. How many youths will participate in this hunt? I still feel that a predator hunt should be for the more difficult animals. My point about two man teams refers to the districts. If a district has twenty hunters and another district has four hunters how can the district with four hunters even compete with twenty hunters in the scoring department? If each hunter kills a fox thats one hundred points. If four hunters kill a fox thats twenty points. Thats my point. Either solo hunt or two man teams will make it fair. Just not district.

Bp. All hunting is fun. Just needs to be equal so everyone has a chance to win. No "internet-poking" intended. I would like to try the "Skeetercreek" hunt. Sounds fun. Problem is, not everyone has the time or resources to travel state wide for these fun hunts. Only the guys that want more than comraderie.

[tom p]

this hunt is a fun hunt.   in a perfect world this hunt would be lopsided.  but this isnt a perfect world.  hunter participion is the key thing in this hunt.  we have a group of diehard hunters that hunt all of these hunts.  most member dont even bother to participate.  last years hunt we had 20-25 hunters state wide in this hunt. so saying its like custard & the indians is far from how it is.
the reason we have these hunts is to begins members together & have some fun & fellowship.

[220_Woody]

i understand about the #'s issue Muttbuster. it all really comes down to participation. so far it seems like District 2 and District 6 are the only two area's rallying their troops. 4 guys in one district can win it over 10 guys in another. its happened before and can always happen int he future. how hard they hunt and how well the weather cooperates determines the outcome at the check in. one two man team who bust their keisters can win over 10 guys in another area....seen it with my one two eyes.
i know that not a whole lot of youth will make it out that weekend...but in the same regard we cannot make this a vetran hunt either. the reason there are not alot of 'rules' is to keep it as light and loose as possible to get the most participation. too many rules and the fun goes away.

 

[Lackawannafox]

Guys I dont know anything about this hunt how and where does it take place.Where and how do I sign up.Is this hunt only once a year.Whats the point system.At the end of this hunt does everyone meet at one location.Thanks sorry for all the questions

[muttbuster]

Hi Tom P. Nice to see someone else feels it is lopsided. My question is why don't more members participate? The reason they joined is because they love the sport.

Woody. What are the reasons why only two districts are rallying the troops? It just seems to me that something needs to change for more members to want to join the hunt. I understand membeship is on the decline. The first step should be to try to find the reasons.

[predator77]

 I hate to even throw this out there for fear of offending anyone but my thought is this. If the district is lopsided it's up to the members and head of the disctrict to recruit members (I'm no different). Memberships are affordable and everyone has a nephew or a cousin that would like the chance to hunt something new. I am a first generation hunter and I would have jumped at the chance and still would. Like I told longhair the other day, The only time I ever heard of this organization was from a magazine that I only seen once in the stores and never seen again. I think it was called predator hunter? maybe? I mean for the price of a box of bullets someone can be a member of PPHA. Uniotown has a woodland world, maybe one of our great callers can put on a seminar and recruit members that way. Same as the gander mountains. Again I might be speaking out of turn, pushing alot of this on you guys (because I'm still in the low kill status) but I've been a member for almost a year and only heard of one meeting in that time and the forum has become the only sign of life for this district for me. I'm still hoping to hunt with one of my district 6 pros in the near future.
 As far as contest for money, That has already hurt me. I lost so much propery that I hunted because the land owner don't want the fox hunters to scare his coyotes away cause he's trying to win a contest. I don't know what contest but I know it's not ours.

[muttbuster]

Predator 77. That may be one of the reasons membership is on the decline. Very little membership activities and the guys go away.