There always is a good news, bad news scenario on the outdoor scene.

The good news is that states are taking a more aggressive approach to recruit young people into the outdoor life. Hunting numbers have already proved that with the Families Afield program that has been popular in a plethora of states.

This program allows a person with an apprentice license to hunt before completing hunter education courses as long as they are accompanied by a fully licensed mentor, 21 years or older. According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, more than 8,000 young hunters have taken advantage of the program.

Because of this special program, numbers have also increased in other states. And more women are enjoying hunting and the shooting sports, thanks in part to the Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) programs.

It was a treat to see so many young deer hunters, especially those using a bow, in the past year. Being able to use a crossbow in Ohio makes it easier than using a compound bow for youths and females to bowhunt along with those who have some physical handicaps.

It was especially gratifying to talk to Julie Baden of rural Defiance recently. She had called me back in the winter about having her daughter Elizabeth's picture in the paper for shooting a deer with a crossbow. This time she had a picture of Elizabeth with the jake (young male turkey) she shot. While dad Cory has taught Elizabeth about hunting, mom also sat out in a deer blind in some cold weather with her daughter last winter.

We need to see more of that if our hunting and fishing traditions are to continue.

Special youth hunts have also helped. There are special seasons for waterfowl, deer and turkey where young hunters get a jump on their older counterparts before the season begins. Youth hunts have long been held for pheasant and rabbits.

Some inroads have been made in recruiting more young hunters. But more aggressive marketing is still needed. It is especially needed on the fishing scene where license numbers have dropped drastically in Ohio over the past 20 years.

About one million Ohio residents held a fishing license during the 1980s. That figure dropped to less than 663,000 two years ago.

This weekend is the annual free fishing weekend in Ohio where anglers may fish any of the state's public waters without a license. During the rest of the year, anglers age 16 and older are required to have a valid fishing license to take fish, frogs or turtles from Ohio waters. Fishing licenses are available at bait and tackle stores, outdoor outfitters, major department stores, and at wildohio.com. Ohio's "Free Fishing Days" were established in 1993 to promote fishing by allowing Ohioans to experience the sport before buying a license.

Fishing can be a family affair and a whole lot of fun.

Ohio has joined sister state Michigan in attempting to get youth outdoors via its "Explore the Outdoors" campaign. This is similar to Michigan's "GO-Get Outdoors" program which has been successful the past few years. These campaigns challenge children -- especially those in grades K-5 -- to get outside and reconnect with the natural world.

Both states have programs planned at state parks and other state properties throughout the year.

As outdoorsmen we have to get kids outside again. And I'm not impressed with some recent statistics by Leisure Trends Group which analyzed the health of America's children.

It claims that contrary to common belief, kids are getting exercise. It cites almost 60 percent of parents agreeing their children have unstructured time outdoors once a week or more, More than half (55 percent) say their children play outside on a daily basis. Adult sport participants (61 percent) are more likely than non-participants (49 percent) to say their children play outside daily.

Those stats may sound impressive to some, but in some respects they are sad. An overwhelming majority of kids should be outside doing something. I don't have figures, but I can remember that more than 55 percent of kids I knew played outside on a daily basis. That kind of number (55 percent) would have been considered poor participation.

The people who want your kids to sit in front of television or a computer playing video games or surfing who knows what on the web, are aggressively marketing to them.

According to the Kaiser Foundation, the average kid spends 44.5 hours a week engaged with media of some sort. It also says more than two-thirds of kids have a TV in their bedroom and most of those have a video game attached to them.

For those of us who love the outdoors, it's time for us to get aggressive and show people how enjoyable fishing, hunting, camping, hiking, paddling a canoe or kayak can be.

(Al Smith is outdoor editor of The Crescent-News. Contact him at outdoor@crescent-news.com)