OT- Age to deer hunt in your area?

[Mike S.]

I was going through the new deer hunting regulations for Minnesota a couple weeks ago & noticed that they lowered the age for deer hunting from twelve to ten(with a parent within reach of the child or similar wording). Cool! My oldest boy will be hunting with me next fall!

Anyways, was talking to my friend/hunting buddy about the new rule change the other day & we were probably just short of getting into an arguement over it. He claims that's too young - I say with a responsible parent and kid, it is a pretty cool thing. I finally just changed the subject cuz I could see we weren't really getting anywhere.

Just curious what you folks on here thought about this. What's the minimum age where you are? How old were your kids when you let them hunt big game?

Mike

[TedH]

I went with Dad when I was very young, but I was 9 when I first carried a rifle into the deer woods, with my father of course. I was 10 when I got my first deer.

Here's a quote from the current Missouri laws concerning the youth.

Youth portion
To participate, the youth hunter must be at least 6 and no older than 15 on the season opening day; however, there is no minimum age for resident landowner youth hunting on their own property and for lessee youth hunting on leased land they live on.

[dr walker]

I honestly had no idea there was an age requirement to go deer hunting. I just figured it was up to the parent to decide when their child was able. My daughter is nine, while she enjoys the range she has no interest in shooting deer. I'll have to look into it.

[BenT]

Wisconsin is 12. They tried to lower it to 8. But now it sounds like they will try the same thing that MN is doing. My 8 year old is ready to hunt deer. But he is too small to shoulder any deer gun without cutting it down. But I don't see 10 being problem . I would share a stand or blind and only have one gun at the ready.

[MikeS.]

I think WV is 12.

[Don McDowell]

I believe your friend is absolutely correct. When they lowered the age here from 14 to twelve it sort of seemed like a good idea, but I see alot of 12 year olds out in the field that just aren't either mature enough to be carrying a loaded weapon, or aren't big enough to handle the one they got stuck with. Another thing that I'm concerned about, with the majority of kids growing up in the urban environs they do nowdays. death is only something that happens in the little black boxes everyone is glued to. I just don't think 10 year olds are quite equipped mentally to handle what they are about to do. I feel that most of the 12 year olds I've seen aren't there either.
Each child is a case unto itself, but as far as I'm concerned 10 is to young to be into the biggame world, small game and upland birds etc, is probably ok,and would be a bunch better place to start .

[meanc]

I'm unsure what the minimum age here in Florida is, but I took my daughter on her first hunting trip when she was 11.

She carried the 357mag Trapper, it was a tad too long for her to shoulder, but she used the ledge of the shooting blind as a rest.

[deerwhacker444]

I think it varies from kid to kid. When they're old enough to be trusted with a skinning knife and can at least attempt to gut their harvest, then I think they have the right to go hunting, NOT BEFORE. If they're not capable of cleaning it, they have no business killing it. On the other hand, taking them out hunting with dad and teaching them the ropes is okay with younger children IMO.

One thing that gets my goat on these hunting shows is when they wag a 6-8 year old kid out in the woods, prop their rifle up on a deer and let them pull the trigger to kill something just so they can say they've harvested animals. I think that's wrong wrong wrong...! There's so much more to hunting animals than just pulling the trigger.

[GANJIRO]

In this great land of Aloha the minimum age to take a hunter safety course is age ten, and I believe up to 16 to hunt with adult supervision. With proper adult supervision I see absolutely no problem taking a well educated in safety, and responsible young lad (or lass) out into the field, did this with my nephew Kaimana and Kylan countless times while living on Maui. Not all kids nor all adults should be out in the field, some just are not responsible enough.

[Hobie]

Dad was a forester and I was around it all my life. Killed groundhogs at a very young age but wasn't allowed to hunt on my own until I was 10 or so (IIRC). Couldn't go deer hunting until age 12 because of the law.

I think each child (boy or girl) is different. My kids went hunting with me but none expressed a desire to go out of THEIR way to do it.

[Paladin]

I think WV is 12.

WV is: "Residents who have not reached their 15th birthday may hunt without a license but they must be accompanied by a licensed adult at least 18 years of age (exceptions, see pages 26-27 and 29)” With a restriction that no one born after 1975 can hunt without Hunter Safety Card and that children between the ages of 8 -10 can get a temporary card issued after the course but must take it again when they turn 10 yoa to get a permanent card.
My daughter killed her 1st when she was 11 during the youth only hunt and a few from that year on.
It depends on how they act on the range (must pass an accuracy test) and small game season before, I take them after Deer. It seems to work for nephews and kids I take hunting and shooting.

[Old Ironsights]

Best I can figure for Indiana is 15. That is the only age I can find in the Guide, and that is the minimum age for the special "youth hunts".