HNI Jim

Heres the deal my son is going to hunt this year but he is only 14. In NY you have to be with an adult that had thier bowhunting lisence for 2 years. I just got my first one. My son does not need anyone with him to take a deer. Should I let him go out hunting by himslef after school sometimes with a cell phone or should I make him wait till hes older?

Rob/PA Bowyer

You would clearing be violating a law, so NO. What does that teach him, is okay to break the law? You both could learn together for the next year by practicing together, scouting etc...take the whole season to learn and next year you'll both be ready.

MOmightymite

More than likely he is mature enough to go by himself, but I dont think it is a great idea. If he had a friend to hunt with it would be a different story but that's just my opinion for safety reasons. It's always best to hunt with someone til you get a little more experience.

HNI Jim

Yeah it would send a wrong message but think of it like this he may not like hunting if he has to wait longer to hunt. I think that if it keeps him intersesting in hunting then what could happen?

GMMAT

He might like hunting at night, too. Think you ought to let him?

HNI Jim

I raised my kids with some ethics.

GMMAT

My question was meant to "sound" sensational.....but how sensational was it? Do you let him hunt on Sundays if it's illegal? Hunt a week before the season begins? Hunt with a particular weapon out of season?

What he does (and I have a 15 yr old son) is what you say he can do. You tell him it's "OK" to ignore a law.....and it's sending him the worng message. I can't be any clearer than that.

Good luck.

my7pointmonster

Well i have prolly one of the better prespectives on this issue cause im 17..... DONT LET HIM HUNT WITH ONE OF HIS FRIENDS atleast not by themselfs, that takes a bad situation and makes it worse, ive seen it, my neighbor josh was allowed to do basically whatever he wanted, to and his friend david lived right up the road from me, anyhow, they got arrested for shooting deer out of the window and bed of davids truck. yeah, not too swift, they were 16 &17 at the time. There still paying for it, if i was you id take him and sit him with you. What the heck dont give him a gun or anything, just get him out there for the experience... When your that age everything seems like it would be fun and have no conciquences.

Just my .02 take it for what its worth,
Ryan.

IADeerHunter16

To me thats kind of a dumb law, but you don't want his first experience to be him giving information to a game warden as he writes him a ticket. People are getting too protective of their kids and babying them too much. My dad would tell me something once and if I didn't listen and got hurt he wouldn't act like he felt sorry for me at all. I learned from my mistake and wouldn't do it again.
I enjoy going to a store and seeing a kid pick something up and seeing the mom/dad say no you can't have that. The kid throws a fit, which would have caused me to get my butt beat, and the parents give in a get them the toy. I'm not saying I'm perfect, but how are some of these kids going to turn out?

Rob/PA Bowyer

Same in PA, I believe it's 14 and under, might be 16...must be within ear shot of an adult!