Hunting age

[44magHunter]

I was just on the MSN website and they have a sad story about a 14 year-old kid who accidently killed a women while bear hunting in Washington state. The kid was hunting in the fog and didn't bother to look at what he was shooting. Oviously this could have been avoided, but noww the media is trying to get new hunting laws passed. (since they always work) They are trying to get a minimum age law passed so you have to be a certain age to hunt alone. I have hunted alone since I was 14 and my (AJMD429) will tell you that he trusts me in the woods alone with a gun. I do not think it is any of the governments's business how old someone has to be to hunt. I think this should just be based on how mature the parents think the child is. What do you think? Should their be a minimum solo-hunt age or not?

[Blaine]

As usual, The Gubment has taken the job of the Father away from him. After all, the Gubment knows SO much more than we do

[AJMD429]

I have hunted alone since I was 14 and my (AJMD429) will tell you that he trusts me in the woods alone with a gun.

GUNS! - When did THIS start...? I always thought you were just back there collecting bugs or something! Anyway, you should be doing chores or something now, not on the INTERNET; it's getting dark and I'm still at work you little twerp...

[Hobie]

There are many such laws across the country.

Personally, I think the youth should be able to both physically AND mentally handle the gun. I was groundhog hunting on my own at age 10 or so (dang hard to remember back that far!).

[Blaine]

There are many such laws across the country.

Personally, I think the youth should be able to both physically AND mentally handle the gun. I was groundhog hunting on my own at age 10 or so (dang hard to remember back that far!).

Correction: SaberToothed groundhogs.......

[Streetstar]

There are many such laws across the country.

Personally, I think the youth should be able to both physically AND mentally handle the gun. ).

x2 --- there are 10 year olds out there that can be trusted with a bolt action .22 or a small scattergun. On the flip side, there are a ton of 14 - 18 year olds out there i wouldnt trust with a sling shot

[rjohns94]

I started hunting with a bow in 5th grade.

[marlinman93]

If I take a new person hunting with me, I never leave them alone, regardless of age! Heck, my son in law was in his late 20's when he first started hunting with us, and he stayed right by me the first two years we hunted together.
We have a general rule within our group that anyone can bring someone new once they've met the rest the group's approval, but the person bringing them in is responsible for that new member until we all feel comfortable with them. If the new guy doesn't like it, or is not a safe hunter, we uninvite them for future hunts.
Safety is not an age thing, it's something you need to learn regardless of age, and it's obviously something that you don't get second chances with in a hunting situation. I've seen guys in their 50's that I wouldn't hunt with, as their gun handling and safety habits were horrible. I've also seen kids who at 10-12 years old had been taught excellent gun safety, and I'd hunt with them any day!

[Griff]

If I take a new person hunting with me, I never leave them alone, regardless of age! Heck, my son in law was in his late 20's when he first started hunting with us, and he stayed right by me the first two years we hunted together.
We have a general rule within our group that anyone can bring someone new once they've met the rest the group's approval, but the person bringing them in is responsible for that new member until we all feel comfortable with them. If the new guy doesn't like it, or is not a safe hunter, we uninvite them for future hunts.
Safety is not an age thing, it's something you need to learn regardless of age, and it's obviously something that you don't get second chances with in a hunting situation. I've seen guys in their 50's that I wouldn't hunt with, as their gun handling and safety habits were horrible. I've also seen kids who at 10-12 years old had been taught excellent gun safety, and I'd hunt with them any day!

+1,001

[AJMD429]

Correction: SaberToothed groundhogs.......

[morgan in nm]

Again, I will give my unasked opinion.

I passed hunters safety in NM at the age of 7 with a 92%. That is because my father hunted every time he wasn't at work. He never was a trophy hunter or anything like that as we all hunted to eat. When hunting with him, had I done something stupid to endanger myself, or anyone else, I would not be able to imagine what kind of pain I would be having. I was not allowed to play with ammo or guns unless I was with him untill I was around 15. I think his system worked.

This is the difference between parenting and letting the youth be controlled by a bunch of idiots who can't even solve simple problems as in our government.

This is one of the reasons why I have so much respect with the scouts and 4H for their shooting exercises with the youth. I think that every parent should at least try to get their children involved in such activities.

[Kansas Ed]

I don't think the majority of the population now a days recognizes that it only takes one mistake to follow you for the rest of your life. It takes that attitude to wield a firearm in the field. The attitude that if you screw up that it will ruin the rest of your life. So you can't take any chances...period.

But most folks nowadays rely on their lawyer to bail them out of life changing situations so they don't care. Risk is OK for them.

I hunted once with a guy who wanted to bring his kid brother along. The kid shot a buck antelope on a doe tag. Pizzed me off. Not that he'd broke the law so much as he'd endangered everyones hunting privileges who was with him. Next time I hunted with a stranger, he levered a round into his rifle, and promptly shot a hole in the dirt 6" in front of his feet. I don't hunt with any strangers anymore. Too much liability in it...like taking my life in a strangers hands.

Ed

[2571]

I want to elaborate on what Streetstar said about 14-18 year olds. I know guys in their 30' & 40's I wouldn't want to hunt with.

We lowered our law here in in MI, too. I'm a hunter safety instructor and didn't agree until I started looking at mishap/injury stats. None of them have involved a youngster for several years.

Depends on individual, I guess.

[pdawg.shooter]

I got my first 22 at 9 and my first shotgun at 12. I was EXPECTED to put meat on the table. My dad worked 2 jobs (farmer and blacksmith/welder) so most of my hunting was alone.

[El Chivo]

I disagree, I think there should be a minimum age, probably 18, maybe 16. It's well established that the government regulates hunting, and also the government can prevent young people from doing things that require maturity and judgement to bring off successfully (driving, drinking, etc.)

They can't allow for individuals who are competent at age 7, or even those who are still incompetent at age 37. But making a child wait until he's 18 can screen out a majority of immature people. Plus, making someone wait until they reach the "age of majority" might impress upon them the importance of the privilege a little more.

I can't help noticing, when out in the forest, whenever there's a sign or outhouse, it's full of bullet holes. There's a need to curb irresponsible behavior in general.

I don't think it's that big a deal for a kid to be accompanied by a parent if he wants to hunt.

[Hobie]

There are many such laws across the country.

Personally, I think the youth should be able to both physically AND mentally handle the gun. ).

x2 --- there are 10 year olds out there that can be trusted with a bolt action .22 or a small scattergun. On the flip side, there are a ton of 14 - 18 year olds out there i wouldnt trust with a sling shot

Sadly true. There are plenty of adults I wouldn't trust with a dinner knife.

[piller]

Hunting alone safely is a matter of being responsible. Responsibility can be taught, but some folks refuse to be taught. It is all individual, and that is what drives some people nuts. I hope that 14 year old can be able to live with what happened and learn from it.