How old to start hunting?

[RavioliKid]

I am a third grade teacher, and one of my students has been talking about going hunting with his grandfather. I've been trying to imagine these noisy, unfocused, impatient kids hunting. When kids go hunting at this age, are they really "hunting" or are they just spending some quality time with a caring adult? (Nothing wrong with that, either.)

Any of you hunters out there have any about hunting and kids?

[Jeff]

Hi Kim!

Hunting age starts at 12. At 12 you can hunt deer with a bow, or small game hunt.That child must be in the presence of an adult. At 14 a child may begin hunting with a firearm for big game.

They must have successfully completed a hunters safety course to hunt.

I began taking my kids with me to the woods when they were toddlers. Hunting does not always involve the harvest of an animal...

[marty]

My kids love the outdoors. They started hunting with me at 12 for bow and at 14 for deer. When you first start out with kids you have to make it fun and for sure don't stay a long time. Kids get bored real quick.......Marty
BTW Two of my boys harvested their first deer at the age of 12.

[Ron Scott]

Encourage the kids to learn about hunting early and its need as a wildlife management activity as well as enjoyable recreation. Teachers can do a good job of teaching them wildlife management and species habitat. Get the kids to the woods early under knowledgeable adult supervision and with the appropriate safety training. When they are of age they can become licensed hunters to carry on this heritage. Michigan had its first special deer hunt for youth this past year with a separate week-end set aside for the young hunters only.

[Bill Johnson]

I started taking my daughter with me as soon as she was interested enough to ask, at first it was just a chance for the both of us to get out together to look at wildlife and trees.
After she took the hunter safety training at 16 and got her license we would go out throughout the fall for birds.
She started off on spruce hens (since they tend to stick around in case you miss the first shot)with a single shot 410.
Now that she's on her own its still a ritual for her and I go bird hunting every year, we may not get many, but its a great father-daughter thing to do.

[Forester Frank]

Kim:

You asked a very good question, as can be shown by the amount of responses.

I remember going hunting with my father as early as 1st grade. I would follow him out, help him camoflage his blind, and begin waiting for the deer to come. I think I asked to shoot his bow about five minutes into the hunt.

Hunting did it turn me into a bloodthristy killer of animals, but it did teach me a lot about the outdoors. It is probably why I enjoy working in the outdoors today.

When I was a child I always hunted and fished with my father and uncles. They taught me a lot about different animals and the environment they lived in. We learned about many different trees and plants. It was my education away from school.

That is what hunting at a young age can provide. An education about the environment. And as with all instruction, the lesson learned depends greatly on the ability of the instructor.

I think that many (not all) environmentalists come from urban areas and have never really learned about the environment by spending time in it. They may have been taught about ecosystem management, global warming, and saving the planet while they were attending college, but failed to get enough field time in while they were kids.

Others have hit on others benefits of hunting, and one of them is spending time with your child. That is one thing that seems to be becoming less important in our society.

Boy did you pick a good subject or what?

[ken]

For those from a typical urban setting or any other setting where survival is not the issue, I'm thinking 40 to 50 might be good.

For those from a poor rural setting, where subsistance may require hunting, probably 12 or 13, which is close to "normal" for "rite of passage" traditions in many cultures.  

[Tom]

Welcome to the Forest forum Ken,

I was pretty lucky.

I was raised in a pretty well-to-do family in a Urban setting in a small town with access to many miles of open terrain and a farm and a ranch that was family owned.  I started hunting at 8 with a 410 and 1 shot at a time.  I was given the gun at twelve and also given the chore of buying my own shells even though my limit was 4 at a time.  I think I must have been 14 before I could hunt with as many shells as I could cram in my pocket.  

Got my butt tore up for shooting at a woodpecker when I was about 9.  Have eaten many pounds of Meadow Larks.

Once taught gun safety, I believe I was monitored from a near distance without knowing it for years.  I just thought I was alone.

[CHARLIE]

As Jeff alluded to, hunting (and fishing) is much more than getting game. It's the whole experience. I always enjoyed taking my son with me and teaching him patience and hunting skills. Not that I'm a great shot though. Sometimes I think ducks are safer coming to my pond than someone elses. I began by taking my son fishing and then camping into the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness. After gun safety class at 12, I took him hunting with me. He learned to be careful with firearms, he has learned to respect the environment, he has learned patience and the enjoyment of tranquillity. Also, we have seen so many things that people that stay on asphalt and concrete don't see.
. we remember the time over 100 bluebills came in real high, set their wings and came almost straight down to the pond. It sounded like a 747 jet coming in. What a memory.
. we remember coming out of the backwater bogs of the Mississippi River from a day of duck hunting and seeing no less than 40 male cardinels sitting in a bush. Looked like it was decorated for Christmas!
. we remember the beavers, muskrats, the deer coming down to the pond for water, the woodpeckers, the eagles.....all that stuff.

Above all though, I know, because I taught him, that he won't hunt with someone that is not safe with a gun or someone that drinks alcohol when hunting. I also know that he respects the environment and the laws of hunting. I know that he will leave the forest as clean as it was when he entered it so others can enjoy the same experience.

People that never leave the asphalt and concrete are missing seeing so much of God's beautiful world. Things that you won't see even on a well hiked trail.

No, that boy in your class is very fortunate to have a Grandfather that is taking the time to take him hunting.