I didnt get an opportunity to hunt this year for big game however did some bird hunting. But after the season all I heard was horror stories from a few of my close hunting partners. One in particular blew my mind! A peice of land we "HAD" permission on was totally lost now as they received a bullet through a house a hunter approached and got permission and

Sorry....
Anyway he received permission saying he was new to hunting and was looking for some good property to hunt whitetail.. A while later the bullet came through the house... The land owner blocked the access to the land with his vehicle and called the RCMP .. They found the guys casings 100 Yards from the house and he said he was sorry however the RCMP took his gun and continued the investigation. A few weeks later the RCMP contacted the land owner after a few visits to the land and told him no charges can be laid as the bullet wasn't found!
The land owner then asked the man to pay the insurance deductible as it seemed fair. The hunter refused!
Saying it wasn't his bullet... Even after he apologized which seems to me am admittance of guilt! We have a great hunting program in this province and its a super great province to hunt in however now a days you can get your license online watch a few online videos head to bass pro with a few hundred dollars get some camo and a gun and presto instant hunter... We really need to look in to different ways to teach these beginner hunters. This particular land owner now allows no hunters and posted the land... I've hunted there for years.. I can't afford to lose my hunting privileges on these lands however the land owners can't afford these mistakes

Even after he apologized which seems to me am admittance of guilt! We have a great hunting program in this province and its a super great province to hunt in however now a days you can get your license online watch a few online videos head to bass pro with a few hundred dollars get some camo and a gun and presto instant hunter... We really need to look in to different ways to teach these beginner hunters. This particular land owner now allows no hunters and posted the land... I've hunted there for years.. I can't afford to lose my hunting privileges on these lands however the land owners can't afford these mistakes

I think there is a little more to getting a gun than you indicate.  The PAL firearms course definitely covers gun safety, knowing your target and what is beyond etc; something that was clearly ignored by this hunter.  That sucks on the lost of good land though.  Every year I try to introduce someone to hunting, archery, gun safety etc, we all should and it will help avoid these type mistakes.

I'm sure it's not always the case of a beginner hunter and some experienced hunters are pulling this stuff off as well.. I've hunted for 10 years so by No means am I a veteran myself I have just seen an increase in these behaviours lately and I've seen some new and veteran hunters become desperate for that animal and take certain risks and it affects all the great people out there doing things right. as we all know we're lofted in to the same group! I believe it just starts at the bottom and maybe a pal graduated program should be looked at or something of this nature? Now I know I've lost that land to hunt but so has everyone else and if this continues you'll see more and more posting ruining it for generations to come !

Just ranting!

You're not alone in that dream of that I'm certain.

Not just all the newcomers though, hunting is becoming, "in vogue" again.  I'm not sure why the change;  I've read articles of the health benefits of game, of the new urban hipster/hunters, of the rising number of women in all the shooting sports to name a few randomly.

Unfortunately I've also heard/read of new urban hunters showing up at butcher shops with wt tags on mule, doe on buck, etc;  and while I'm sure it's an uncommon occurance, I suspect it's likely happening more than it should.

Yesterday we were in the city, I picked up a sausage kit from princess and the young lady at the till told me about her first elk hunt with her boyfriend this fall, I thought, "Cool".
Picked up the wife from her appointment and she'd struck up a conversation with a young lady in the staff;  wanted to know how to start hunting;  told her to get her pal course, then her hunter training course, call me when that's done.  That just simply didn't happen 10 yrs ago.

I've had lot's of people ask me about hunting the last couple years it seems.  I always tell them the same thing;  once they realize it actually takes a lot of effort to start and much more to actually be ready to start that's usually the end of it.  Not sure how that correlate's to the number of new hunters but I think it's an indication of interest anyway.