'Gear for Deer' seeks to boost the number of 1st-time hunters

Pennsylvania hunting license sales peaked in the early 1980s.

Since then, there have been ebbs and flows, but overall the state has seen a slow, fairly steady decline in the number of licenses issued, according to data from the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Two members of the Youngwood Sportsmen’s Association are hoping to change that by starting a nonprofit to help first-time hunters with some of the expenses necessary to get started.

“We were talking about how to really congratulate younger hunters who pass the safety course on taking the next step to get outdoors,” said Ken Williams, 56, of Greensburg. “We thought about the ‘Shop with a Cop’ program, which is very valuable and provides a great service. But by the time Christmas rolls around, we’ve already lost four months of quality hunting. We thought, why not outfit kids with gear prior to the hunting season starting?”

With the association’s blessing, Williams and Alex Purdy, 28, of Greensburg set out to raise money and supply graduates of their hunter-trapper education course with boots, pants, shirts, outerwear, gloves, blaze orange hats and vests.

“Not everyone can afford $300 in hunting equipment,” Purdy said. “This first year we did a ‘cash bash’ type of fundraiser, and on the association’s Second Amendment Day on Aug. 2 we raffled off some donated items like a brand-new ladder stand, trail cams, an ammo basket and range time.”

So far, what they’ve coined “Gear for Deer” has raised more than $5,000 to get the program off the ground and found sponsorships from local sporting goods shops, shooting ranges, butchers who process deer meat and related businesses.

Applications to the program are open to first-time hunters who are 16 or younger, have passed their hunter-trapper education course in the current year and have purchased a hunting license.

This year, out of 20 course graduates, a dozen will be outfitted by Gear for Deer. As Williams and Purdy pursue nonprofit status for the program, it is being run through the sportsmen’s association.

“ ‘Shop with a Cop’ is huge, but I don’t think anyone has done this type of program before for hunting,” Purdy said. “When we tell people about it, they all want to get on board.”

Purdy and Williams hope that includes the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the Conservation Officers of Pennsylvania. Both men are wardens for game commission districts in Westmoreland County. While Gear for Deer is being organized through the Youngwood Sportsmen’s Association, they have pitched it to both groups in hopes of receiving their endorsements.

“We’ve run it through the leadership at the Southwest Regional Office, and they’re very supportive of it, but the commission folks in Harrisburg are the ones who have to give it their blessing,” Williams said.

“The programs we operate like the Junior Game Warden Camp have typically been commission-driven,” said Southwest Regional Office Lt. Andy Harvey. “There are some private programs we assist with, but this is a private entity right now.”

Williams said after the year is complete, he and Purdy will prepare a report to submit to Harvey to demonstrate its effectiveness and potential for expansion for game commission officials.

“We really believe a program like this can help inspire younger generations to get out in the woods to hunt,” Purdy said.

For more, see GearForDeer.org.