BuckAlley

I attempted to place my 11yr old son into a Hunters Safety course today. He'll turn age 12 in May, and would be able to Turkey hunt with me. Well this is what I was told. 11yr olds must be accompanied by a adult during the entire Safety Course. Preferrable his parent. Also becasue he's 11yrs old he wouldn't be able to fully participate in the course, as he cannot fire any firearms. NYS says noone under the age of 12 can fire a gun!! It was recommended that I wait until August when he's age 12, then he could fully participate, and not need the adult supervision.

Ok, NY let me get this straight now. My son can go to school on his own since age 6, participate in all school functions given by his teachers in class. But he can't attend a simple Hunters Safety Course w/o my adult supervision! On top of that he cannot legally fire a gun right now, but in 2mos when he's matured dramatically he can legally.
Why do I continue to live in this darn state, and the DEC wonders why the average age of hunters is 49. This Government needs to wake-up, and get their heads out of there butts, were so behind the times its pathetic. Its difficult for me to understand their thinkings on age limits. My boys& I often watch hunting shows together, and they see 8 yr olds shooting deer, and Elk in other states.Then ask me why dad? Why can they, but we can't?? NY, I'D LIKE A ANSWER FOR THEM!!!!!!!

Phade

That really stinks. I hope you can get it sorted out so you can get him in the woods for turkey.

johnl

that's news too me my son will turn 12 in Aug and he's already asking about the hunter safety course I'm gladsI read your post as far as I knew anyone could take the course as long as you were 11 or oldere

Sylvan

BuckAlley - The reason for this is that the bus driver and the teacher is legally responsible for the supervision and care of your child from the time he/she is picked up to the time he/she is dropped off. If your child doesn't ride the bus, you are responsible until you drop the child off at the school. An instructor at a hunter safety course is not. In NY hunter safety instructors are not employees of the state, they are simply volunteers who give their time to teach a course and can't be expected to be responsible for your child.

Airborneguy

Sylvan is correct about that, it has nothign to do with the course itself, it is because the instructors do not want to be babysitters, and rightfully so. BUT, I was going to inquire about the shooting requirement. My hunter saftey course years ago, and the ones now taught at my club, do not have a shooting requirement, which means NYS doesn't. Enroll him in place which follows only the state guidelines and does not add its own requirements, and then take him out shooting yourself.

BuckAlley

The supervision thing still doesn't make any sense to me. He needs to be supervised at age 11, but age 12 he doesn't need to be at the course. But in the woods at age 12 he needs to be supervised to hunt. In NYS your not a adult until age 19. I don't get the difference in supervision from age 11 to age 12 at the course.

Also he's done plenty of shootingwith me, but I can't say with what, becasue I could be breaking the law. CYA!!!

Sylvan

BuckAlley - I don't think it has anything to do with the sate of NY or any law at all. Like I said, the instructors are not employees of the state, they are volunteers teaching a course. It's up to them whether or not they will or won't let a child in their class without parental supervision. Maybe try another class, you might find one that will let an 11 year old in without supervision.

With regard to hunting there clearly are laws that set the minimum age. You can argue that it is too high but certainly the line has to be drawn somewhere. I think the problem is that you are trying to link hunting age requirementlaws with hunter safety course policies thinking they are both state law and they just aren't.

jcchartboy

Buckalley,

Do not let these other posts mislead you...they are not relevant to the facts.

Fact...By law you are NOT required to attend with your 11 year old son. (Of course a specific instructor might be unwilling to allow your son attend by himself, however that reflects extremely poorly on that particular group/instructor, as they are actually creating a more restrictive requirementabove and beyond what the state deems necesary.)

Fact...By law he can not use a firearm, however he can use an air rifle. Once again, any legitimate instructor should allow and have ready access to an air rifle if the deems it neccesary to test your childs gun handling/shooting skills in order to license them.

Fact...You do need to fill out the states "permission" form in order for your child to participate if they are under 16.
http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/sportsed/permparent.pdf


I agree...your particular Hunter safety instructor is simply not being child friendly. That is their right however.
My recommendation, find another course that abides by the states minimum outlined requirements..

Sylvan

jccartboy - I'm a little puzzled. Where do you feel BuckAlley was mislead. I don't see where anything was posted that is in conflict with what you just said. The only "legality" envolved here is with regard to the handling of firearms where age requirement is clearly law set by the state. Who simply attends the class is up to the instructor.

jcchartboy

This is the statementI foundmisleading...itstates that a hunter safety instructor "can't be expected to be responsible for your child", when in fact this is not true.

The state itself expects that it should be a commonly accepted practice otherwise they would not allow it...and they would not publish a form expressly for the purpose of confiming it's acceptance.

The state created these "permission" forms expresselywith the expectation that these volunteerswould beresponsible for the children's supervision.

"Can't" is an all inclusive term...either they "can" or they "can't" and in this case the answer is they is they "can", and they actually "do".

That is why I thought the statement was being misleading, it implied that Buckeye's expectations were not in line with commonly accepted practices within the state of New York. In fact his expectations were very much in line with those of not only the leaders of our state,but more importantly those of the leaders of our states fish and game departments.

I simply did not want him to get discouraged from seeking another instructor that would in fact supervise his son for the short period of time required to finish the hunter's safety class.

JEFF