This post made me think. Truth is we really don't have anyone coming up behind us. We're all 50+ (through 75). Two sons in their 20's of one guy but neither have hunters ed done yet. We really try and encourage them to get involved, but they're chasing skirts, going to grad school, etc. I was them once, too. (Wish I'd gone hunting instead.......)
You need to get working on that. I invited SuperCore to join us in 2009 after he retired from work. He's now pushing 80. My sons worked on several friends over the years. None of them up until this one made it all the way to an invite until now. The biggest sticking problem seemed to be the cost. We're free. We do not charge dues or fees or anything, but the KY non-resident license and tag fees are steep. There is also the Hunters Ed requirement. MInd you, these are all guys born after 1990. Many of them are or were just starting out. It comes down to lack of hunting experience. Nobody took them out when they were young, and so they can't see why they should pay hundreds to hunt a deer. We also don't have party tags in our state. We can't legally pool deer tags.
Honestly surprised you found someone that wants to join ya'll based on your description of the chaos as well as the apparent rigid rules of where/when/how one hunts etc. Doesnt seem at all like anything I would enjoy one bit. To each their own....your camp, your rules. Best of luck to all involved.
As I said previously, we don't really have all that many rules, beyond the ones imposed by the state. There's the mandatory orange thing, and a fairly broad list of chamberings-- anything centerfire 223 and over. If you didn't want to stay put in a stand or blind, I could show you routes where you could still hunt and not bother others, but the problem is that if you kept that up, the deer would clear out and go next door until you gave up. If you go somewhere and sit quietly, the deer often times show up on queue. We frequently have our buck tags filled by 1000 of The Opener. The biggest problem with still hunting in this environment is that 200 acres is relatively small. I walk the distance from the house to my stand at Campground in 18 minutes. Every other farm in the vicinity is that size or smaller. The average hunter density is one hunter per 20 acres or so. Were you to still hunt out to the edges, you'd be getting into the sights of others. This is not a hunting style for everyone, but we have a gas with it.
