minimum hunting age

[moosemike]

How old does a kid need to be to hunt deer?  I'm from PA and I'm invited to hunt the Adirondacks this year but I'm wondering if I can take my 13 year old along? I seem to get conflicting answers on this depending who I ask so I figured I'll ask you guys who live in NY. Thanks.

[Fairgame]

big game with a junior license is 14 years old with a mentor that has 3 years hunting experience 21 or older.  Small game its 12 years old with a junior license.

[moosemike]

So he's out of luck huh. That's a shame.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Well, not totally, you can still take him along, he just cant do the shooting. I take my 6 year old daughter several times per season.

[Fairgame]

Nothing wrong with letting him experience it.  Even though he cant shoot

[jkzfixme]

I would just bring one gun in the woods and take him with you.

Did you shoot the deer ? Did he shoot the dear ?  I dunno  , all I can say is ...

Its your god given right to hunt, and your kids to, as long as he is responsible. 

[WNYBuckHunter]

I would just bring one gun in the woods and take him with you.

Did you shoot the deer ? Did he shoot the dear ?  I dunno  , all I can say is ...

Its your god given right to hunt, and your kids to, as long as he is responsible.

Advocating breaking the law is not the best advice to be handing out, dont you think?

[jkzfixme]

I wasn't advocating anything.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Sure sounded like you were. You even made the insinuation of an underage hunter being responsible by shooting a deer while not old enough to legally do so. That would be a completely irresponsible action on the part of any parties involved.

[moosemike]

Nothing wrong with letting him experience it.  Even though he cant shoot

Problem is he's been deer hunting in PA since he was 10 years old. I don't know how he'd take to being demoted to just a spectator.

[SteveB]

I would just bring one gun in the woods and take him with you.

Did you shoot the deer ? Did he shoot the dear ?  I dunno  , all I can say is ...

Its your god given right to hunt, and your kids to, as long as he is responsible.

I think it should be up to the parent as to when the child is ready.

I also think the 1st thing any child should be taught is to respect and obey the laws whether he or the parent agrees with them. You are saying it is ok to teach the child that laws are optional.

[fasteddie]

"I think it should be up to the parent as to when the child is ready"  ??????????????

I don't think so . There are a lot of stupid parents out there .

[WNYBuckHunter]

"I think it should be up to the parent as to when the child is ready"  ??? ??? ??? ??? ??

I don't think so . There are a lot of stupid parents out there .

It works out fine in other states.

I do not agree with NY's age limits, but its the law regardless of what I think.

[SteveB]

It works out fine in other states

Exactly. And even with the recent lowering, NY still has the highst age.

Yeah, there are a lot of stupid parents - but I think a lot of those tend to be overprotective so this may not be an issue. And a lot of the others feel like

Its your god given right to hunt, and your kids to

- the laws don't matter to them now.

I'm not advocating turning them loose - definately legally defined supervision is required.

Get them hooked early while they still like us old farts .

[WNYBuckHunter]

I hear ya Steve, Im just hoping I can keep my daughter interested in it for another 8 years. Im probably going to have to take her for a couple of trips to other states so she can get a taste before her attention turns elsewhere for good. Im really hoping to at least get a deer this year while shes with me.

[moosemike]

Here in PA we dropped our hunter age from twelve to whenever the parent feels the child is ready. It's hard getting the younger generation into the woods and your best chance of course is if you get them started young.

[Doc]

Is that right? There's no legal minimum hunting age for hunting in PA????? So do they have any supervisory requirements, or do they just shove a gun in their hands and tell them to go outside and play?

That seems a bit weird to me.

Doc

[jkzfixme]

You guys are probably right about respecting the law, regardless of whether I agree with it or not. I digress.

[Doewhacker]

I hear ya Steve, Im just hoping I can keep my daughter interested in it for another 8 years. Im probably going to have to take her for a couple of trips to other states so she can get a taste before her attention turns elsewhere for good. Im really hoping to at least get a deer this year while shes with me.

Me too, I can't wait to take my boy again this year..I just hope I don't miss cause I will never hear the end of it from him, damn critic making fun of me if I miss. Once I was out in the back yard and he tells me to hit a letter on my block target. Sure no porb buddy, here we go.... I came with in 1/4 inch from 40 yards and he says, thats no good you didn't hit it!

Any way I agree the sooner kids are exsposed to hunting the better, they may loose intrest for a while but alot of times they come back to it later in life. My brother and I were ready at a younger age than the state says and were killing deer as soon as we were legal. It deff depends on the kid and the parent.

[moosemike]

Is that right? There's no legal minimum hunting age for hunting in PA? ??? ? So do they have any supervisory requirements, or do they just shove a gun in their hands and tell them to go outside and play?

That seems a bit weird to me.

Doc

Anyone under 12 years old is allowed to hunt as a mentored youth. The mentor must be by their side at all times. Anyone from age 12 to 16 is a junior hunter and must have a parent or guardian within shouting distance of them at all times. My son shot a 6 point buck when he was 10 years old. That was a great experience for him and hooked him on hunting.

[Karpteach]

"I think it should be up to the parent as to when the child is ready"  ??? ??? ??? ??? ??

 

I don't think so . There are a lot of stupid parents out there .

+1. just look at you tube. The Law is the Law (even if you do not agree with it. It's up to us to make the DEC change the law. I have a 4 year old daughter that watches hunting shows with me. I can not wait to take her in the field.

[UpStateRedNeck]

I call BS that I had to wait until I was 16 to hunt deer.  I've been outhunting adults since I was 14 years old.  Is there really a huge difference between having a shotgun w/ birdshot vs. a slug?  Bah.  14 seems like a good age.  I remember being 12 and in the woods with my 12 ga. running around after turkey, and probably good to have a year or 2 without the warzone that is gun season for deer.

[steve863]

14 years old might be a bit too old, but having no minimum age doesn't exactly sound like a great idea either.  Should we all trust parents in deciding that their 10 year old is a good enough driver to drive on the road?? I don't think so.  Yeah, some kids are smarter than others at earlier ages but in general it isn't a bad idea to have a minimum age set.  Plus, I honestly think that most kids under the age of 10 are really not capable of handling a big-game weapon, be it a bow or gun, to make clean kills.  I surely think they should be accompanied by adults at all times, but it still wouldn't help their weapon handling capabilities and accuracy much with or without the adults by their side in the heat of the moment.  Heck many adults get flustered and unraveled at the sight of game.  How much can we really expect from a young child?  The totally botched shot could cause more harm to the child than waiting a couple of extra years until we are more sure that they have what it takes to hunt.  I think the best thing to do with a child is to take him hunting well before he is allowed to actually carry a weapon.  This will keep his interest alive better than having him butcher a shot before he really should have been shooting at game. 

[moosemike]

10 years old is probably pushing it. The only reason I started my boy out at 10 is because from the time he was three he would tag along with me on deer, bear, moose,pronghorn, and turkey hunts so I knew he was ready at ten. And he proved me right.

[bubba]

Even though NY has the highest age, and the young hunters statistically are the safest, NY also has one of the best safety records for hunting incidents.  I think they go together.  That beibg said, I think the age should be lowered with the correct supervision. And when I was 13 or 14, if my dad had a chance to go to a new place to hunt and I could go along, I would be there regardless if I could hunt or not. I love the line by moosemike. They are mentored, you just hve to be within shooting distance. I woud prefer to be next to them, now within the distance they can shoot me.