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f6twister · 12-17-2005, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Younger hunters measure advances
Assembly OKs bill that lowers age limit from 12 to 8
By DARRYL ENRIQUEZ

Posted: Dec. 16, 2005

For Christian Larson, new legislation that reduces Wisconsin's hunting age from 12 to 8 is sure to disappoint.

It's a year too late for the Cedarburg youngster, who is eager to join the hunt when he turns 12 next year.

"I'm sure he would have loved to have hunted deer this fall, but he had to sit in the stand with me instead," Christian's father, Mark Larson, said Friday, a day after the state Assembly passed the Youth Sporting Opportunities Act.

The measure allows gun and bow users as young as 8 to bag everything from bucks to bunnies under the watchful eye of a mentor who must always be within arm's reach of the child. Only one weapon would be allowed between the two hunters.

Under current law, children can begin to hunt with adults at the age of 12, provided they have completed safety courses.

"It would have been nice to have gotten my daughter out earlier," Larson said.

Emma Larson, 13, is an avid pheasant hunter who joins her father on an annual South Dakota bird hunt.

Hunting and wildlife organizations strongly support the measure that will go to the Senate next month and could go into effect for the 2006 hunting season.

On Friday, the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation - which includes 114 hunting, fishing and trapping organizations - praised Assembly passage of the bill.

"Under this bill, Wisconsin joins 38 other states throughout the country in providing a safe hunting experience for young men and women under the age of 12," said George Meyer, the federation's executive director.

Critics cite safety concerns

The bill also has detractors who question the wisdom of letting children armed with bows and guns stalk the woods, even with a mentor and only one weapon between the two of them.

Opponents say a child should have to pass a hunter safety course before entering a mentorship program, as should the designated mentor.

Mark Judd, a hunting safety instructor in Jefferson County, said the course can "weed out" children who are not intellectually or physically developed enough to hunt safely.

Judd said he has seen a lot of 12-year-olds who are not capable of walking through heavy woods and brush while carrying a gun, and he doubts many 8-year-olds will be able to cope with the demands of hunting.

The legislation would allow parents to determine whether their children are ready to learn about hunting and who will be their mentor.

Judd argues some parents pressure their children into sports at too early of an age. Judd also is a member of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress.

"I've seen it in 4-H and in Scouts," Judd said of parental pressure. "We've got a system in place. Let's see if these kids can pass the test."

Rep. Gary Alan Hebl (D-Sun Prairie) unsuccessfully argued in committee this week that all mentors should be required to pass hunter safety courses.

"I don't want to do something here that will threaten the integrity of hunting safety," he said.

Randy Stark, the state's chief conservation warden, said the Department of Natural Resources is neutral about the bill, but he stressed other states have not seen a rise in safety problems among young hunters.

The purpose of a reduced hunting age is to get children interested in the sport by allowing them to hunt at an earlier age, bill sponsor Rep Scott Gunderson (R-Waterford) said. Making children and their mentors go through hunter safety courses would hinder that goal, he said.

"Let's get them out there and see if they're interested," he said. "If they are, they can go through hunter's safety when they turn 12."

Maintaining hunting heritage

Getting new generations committed to hunting is important to maintaining its heritage in the state and continuing the $1.7 billion and 19,000 jobs it contributes to state's annual economy, Stark said.

"Hunting is a lifetime sports if kids learn it early," Larson said. "Kids who try to pick it up in their late teens are almost embarrassed to take hunter safety courses with a bunch of young kids."

States with no minimum age requirements are more successful in recruiting new hunters, says a study commissioned in 2004 by the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, the National Wild Turkey Federation, National Shooting Sports Foundation and the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance.

The study found that in Wisconsin, 53 new hunters replaced every 100 who retired from the sport. Continuing that rate would reduce by half the number of hunters in just one generation.

Three neighboring states with no age requirement had a higher replacement rate: Illinois, 89 new hunters for every 100 retired; Iowa, 87 hunters for every 100 retired; and Minnesota, 59 hunters for every 100 retired.

Wisconsin licensed 722,893 hunters in 2004, compared with 769,430 in 1999, the year automation allowed for an accurate count of licensed hunters, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

Gunderson, a sports shop owner in Wind Lake, said he began working on the bill about 18 months ago. An earlier version had reduced the age to 10. The age went down to 8 as a concession to legislators who wanted no minimum age restrictions in Wisconsin.

Safety concerns about young hunters are unfounded, Gunderson said. By having only one weapon, a mentor's focus will be completely on the youth, who always will be at arm's length, he said.

When the youngster registers for a hunting license, an accompanying adult will receive a DNR pamphlet on gun safety.

Mentors must be at least 18 and a licensed hunter. They can be a parent or a designated guardian, such as a grandparent. Regardless of the argument about mentors going through hunter safety, state law remains intact that requires any hunter born after 1973 to complete a safety program.

"Hunters who get involved as being a mentor are not out there for themselves, they're out there for the kids," Stark said.

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I find this scary. I used to be an instructor for the hunters safety course and saw first hand why kids should not have guns. Not only do they not understand the ramifications of their actions, they are too easily distracted and pose a safety risk. II think safety and responsibility was a big reason that the purchase age for rifles/shotguns is 18 and handguns 21.

I also could be wrong, but what could an 8 y/o shoot other than possibly a .22 that they could control? I also can't see a 8 y/o being strong enough to use a bow.