951hunter

IfI did than we wouldn't have as many inlisting. They would become wiser. 18 is a mile stone for a youth. Out of high school and undicided is what out goverment is looking for. I don't thinkour goverment would give that up. Now backto topic.

Don't get me wrong! I am all for youth hunters with adult supervision as early as 12 year old. It's probably wise to bring a child hunting with you (unarmed) as early as 10 years old. The experience of being in the woods will start to teach them. I'm sureif they like the outdoor experience they will return to the woods. If it takes the lure of arming them to make it more tempting than maybe they aren't cut out to beoutdoorsman after all.

quiksilver

djgj200 - In my home states, as well as many others, a learner's permit is issued from at age 16, at the earliest. That requires an adult to be present, and expires at midnight. A regular driver's license isn't generally issued until 18.

About the ATV's - several of the posters on here have heard my opinion of children and ATV use. I'll save that for another time. The fact is, children would already be barred from operating said vehicles but for the lobbying of companies like Honda, Yamaha and Polaris, that depend on child-riders to put food on their tables. All of this comes at the expense of the American youths who continue to be maimeddue to careless and improper usage fo the same.

I agree with your evaluation of the Hunter's Safety Exam - it is much too simple. That said, I respectfully disagree with your blanket assertion that safety is "common sense." What may seem "common sense" to an adult isn't "common sense" to a child.

Not only would I support increased testing standards for infants (minors), but testsadministered toadults as well.

There's no place for the "we need to get kids into hunting" argument when we're discussing safety. They either get it, or they don't. A 12 year old, "doesn't get it," if you ask me.

I don't care if we don't recruit a single new hunter in the next twenty years, as long as the ones that we do grant this privilege are capable, responsible and ethical. The object of the game here isn't to provide entertainment to kids, it's to keep hunters safe.

djgj200

About driving, the minimum age in MA for Learner's Permit is 16. The Learner's Permit will not let the Learner operate from 12am to 5am except being accompanied by a parent. Minimum about of time needed with a Learner's Permit before a Driver's License can be issued is 6 months. So if a kid gets his learner's permit on his 16th birthday, he can get his license at 16_1/2.

Getting back to the topic, we need young hunters to keep the tradition of hunting going. No matter how desperate the need is for young hunters, I would never say to bypass testing their safety.

I agree with quiksilver about stricter testing and also testing for adults. I have the same feeling with driving too. Being tested every five years sounds like a good plan. A lot of drivers forget what they learned in driver's ed after they get their permit. Being tested five years will keep that fresh, but it may be long enough to get some habits sunk into them that may cause them to lose their license. We don't need those kind of drivers on the road.

I disagree with minimum age being an unarmed hunter, sort to speak, being 8. I started tagging along with my dad when I was 5.

DannyD

There is another issue that comes up with the youth being supervised by the adult rule.

In WV, just because I am an old fart, i don't have to take a hunters safety course to get a license. I am allowed to take my 13 year old, who also does not need a license or a hunters safety course because she is with me, out into the woods and hunt. HUH??
Until last year I never held a gun in my hand. So now the law permits me to take a high powered rifle into the woods with a kid while there are others around me hoping thatI know what I'm doing?????

Fortunatey, for myself and everyone I am in the woods with, I was responsible enough to do the right thing and go through the safety course. The point is I didn't have to and that is perfectly alright with the state of WV. That's scary

MA Jay

I respectfully disagree completely with this statement. Many, if not all 12 year olds I have met in the field of this age have been responsible and safe hunters. All of them were accompanied by family as well.

Safety is such an over used reason to strip peoples rights. It has been mentioned that someone would risk not recruiting a single new hunter for the guarantee of safety, obviously not taking into account that safety is a completely arbitrary thing. Accidents happen and people get hurt all the time, and often to people who were doing everything right. If you you are looking for sterility, hunting is not an option. Hunting is a very safe thing to do. In comparison to other outdoor activities it is one of the safest things you could take up. Yes, every year of the millions of people who hunt a few will be hurt and maybe dieand we all should do our best to be and act safe. But if all of us were riding bikes instead of hunting even more would be killed, or if we hunters took up kayaking or canoeing even more would be killed. See my point? There is some measure of risk in driving to work, and you accept it. Who in their right mind would attempt to legislate away the hunting opportunities of young people to avoid just a tiny few bad people out there, who more than likely will be just as dangerous when they are older?

BTBowhunter

Not quite. First of all this discussion was about a minimum age. No one said that bypassing safety was an acceptable trade to get kids into hunting.As DannyD said Lots of adults aren't trained enough and lots that have been trained are still too irresponsible to be in the woods.

Safety training and testing...... YES

Arbtrary age restrictions.......NO [:'(]

Shouldn't that statement be more like: We need to find more creative ways to keep bringing in new hunters but we need to make sure we don't sacrifice safety for numbers?

ductman

[blockquote]quote:

Remember, hunting is privilege, not a right. [/blockquote]

That depends on what state you're in , some have right to hunt clauses in their state Constitution .

i for one dont agree hunting is a privelage. its my god given right to provide food for my family by harvesting game, i just have to pay the state for the right to do so.

on the matter of kids ages there should be no minimuim requirement. my son has been hunting in maryland with me since he was 10. he has harvested dove geese ducks deer and squirrel. lots of my hunting associates enjoy hunting with him and one reason is because he is a safe hunter. iv seen adults that i wouldnt dream of hunting with because they display careless attitudes in the field. yet iv hunted with kids who knew more about saftey and sportsmanship than adults ever will.



quicksilver says:
There's no place for the "we need to get kids into hunting" argument when we're discussing safety. They either get it, or they don't. A 12 year old, "doesn't get it," if you ask me.

obviously you havent a clue by making that biased statement

LITTLE MAGNUM

In Vermont no age limit. My sons passed hunter safety last year (2004) at the age of 7 and 9. They passed hunter safety on there own. My oldest had failed the written test at age 7 by 2 questions in 2002. Does this mean they can hunt on there OWN ? as far as VT law goes Yes. As far as My law goes ?...NO WAY !....What this means is they can go hunting with Dad/Mom & Uncles.
My 7 year old got two shots off during Youth day on a doe, I was right next to him, He did everything right, just missed. At what age will they hunt on there own........answer when they are ready. Every child or young adult is different. As Adults there is no room for error, when young hunter starts hunting. A good mentor beats age limit, any day. Kids aren't shooting people everyday in the woods, Stupid adults are pulling most of the boners.
The biggest problem with young hunters, is finding guns small enough( youth guns) that fit them. A short arm young hunter needs a very compact rifle......What upsets and scares me the most, is all the adults that send there young hunters in the woods with NO REAL BINOCULARS, cheap 10x20
tasco don't count. What do you think a large number of hunters do when they see something, don't know 100% what it is and they don't have Binoculars, but they have a scoped rifle ?
I think they should teach gun safety in school at age 8 and again at age
12. Does your 8 to 15 year old really know what to do, if he is around a gun without a Adult ? Mine do.......I get a kick out of parents that teach they're sons & daughters about Sex,Drugs & Alcohol, But nothing about guns. All four of those can kill, and three of them can kill you..

MARJAK

I have a nine year old daughter that we raised in TX before coming home to NY. She can use a 22 real well but I would not let her hunt unsupervised until she was at least 16. Supervised I would say 12. I take her with me now and she carries a video camera to keep her patient and quiet during the hunt. When we get home we play her movie and this adds an element of accomplishment for her.

ductman

these pics were taken during last years hunting seasons. at the time he just turned 11 yrs old. the smiles alone say a thousand words, this boy loves to hunt. who says he`s not ready ?

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/3738/IMG_1639.jpg

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/9477/IMG_2103.jpg
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/9720/IMG_2083.jpg
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/7997/img22570eg.jpg