my oldest started hunting with me at five. he shot his first deer at 10. took hunter ed at 11 and killed one at 11. i let him hunt a little alone at 11 with a motorola radio.he's 12 and next year he is bound and determined he is on his own.
wants to build his stand! in arkansas thats legal. hunter ed card is req. to hunt without adult. hunter ed number serves as hunting lic.number until 16. at ten they just checked it as under sixteen. and wrote his birthday on the check sheet.
if he wasnt mature enough i would not have let him hunt alone. but he is safer than a lot of adults i know.and probably spent more time around guns and in the woods. now i am working on my 7 y/o and soon to come my 1 y/o daughter. (she already loves the turkey hunting videos)