6 year old Wisconsin girl bags buck

[grangger]

Cool story. I bet her dad is proud of her.

[Dewey]

I think it's pretty cool.

Honestly I know some 50 year old guys that should never be allowed to carry a loaded weapon but a 6 year old with a good mentor doesn't worry me at all.

[Bedbug]

I wonder is the 6 yr old minimum age only for Wisconsin resident hunters? I'm looking at 6 more years for my oldest in MN

[Killtree]

I grew up in a hunting family. My dad trained me from the time I was old enough to talk not to point guns at people.
I was not allowed to point a stick at a person and say bang.
When dad first started taking me squirrel hunting I was allowed to take an unloaded BB gun.
Once he was satisfied with my gun safety I actually got to put BBs in it.
I was probably 5 or 6 years old when I killed my first squirrel with a 410.
I can promise you by the time I was 6 years old I checked the safety on my gun often and I always knew which way my barrel was pointed.
My kids had to take hunters education.
The hunters ed instructor was not nearly as thorough as my dad was.
And don't think for a second that I didn't raise my kids the same way my dad raised me.

[hunter_mike]

Nice

So many people focus on the deer hunting with a rifle part of it but it also allows hunting of small game by kids which I am pretty sure was illegal before all this. (I don't know all the details so correct me if I am wrong but...) Now we don't have laws incriminating kids and parents who are trying to introduce kids to hunting by starting with small game. Geeze the squirrel and rabbit hunting I did before the age of 12 was illegal when I was that age (turn me in to the warden I guess), now its not.

This is yet another one of those things that some people are going to freak out about for a bit and then forget about, just like CCW.

[Boogieman1]

Here in Tx they have a special youth rifle season, which takes place in October b4 all the other guns get a chance. You literally see dads taking a 2 year old out there and say there child shot the monster. Cheaters gonna cheat reguardless, just don't see the need for a "special season" they already have over 2 months of gun hunting. But for the ones who play by the rules, getting kids in the woods, and teaching them right from wrong is a good thing.

[HoosierG5]

At 6 its a point and shoot deal after your dad/mentor gets you set up. I did this with my boys at 6/7, and that was completely safe. In IN they have 3 years of apprentice licenses to use before they have to pass hunters ed. The burden is on the mentor if this is done correctly...not the 6 year old.

[Rich M]

I grew up in a hunting family. My dad trained me from the time I was old enough to talk not to point guns at people.

I can promise you by the time I was 6 years old I checked the safety on my gun often and I always knew which way my barrel was pointed.
My kids had to take hunters education.

The hunters ed instructor was not nearly as thorough as my dad was.
And don't think for a second that I didn't raise my kids the same way my dad raised me.

Exactly. I was hunting by myself with bow and 30-06 rifle at the age of 8.

When I started hunting there was no age restriction. Then like 2 years later they put in a 12 yr old restriction - I hunted w my mom's tag for 2 years until i could get another one w my name on it. There were no youth days and there were very few deer. I hunted for 7 years before I pulled the trigger on that rifle.

The folks who can't figure out how some kids can be ready and some not need to spend more time with their kids. You can't raise a child if all you are doing is being off chasing giant whitetails & doing your own thing - you are supposed to be raising your child, not just waiting for them to hit a certain age and then hand 'em a gun and let 'em loose. It doesn't work that way.

Guy I hunt w in GA has a 5 or 6 yr old that was allowed to shoot his first buck this year, he has several does and hogs under his belt.

[Uncle Lou]

I think the parents should determine when a youngster is ready not the government.

[Jackson Marsh]

I think the parents should determine when a youngster is ready not the government.

Yep.

[gravebeforeshave80]

my son is 8.....hes been going with me to the deer woods since he was 3....we would sit in a blind all our gear on and his toy bow....I would let him use the calls until he was bored and ready to leave.....he now hunts with a crossbow out of a ladder stand with an adult and is learning a lot about how deer react to things and interact between each other...in addition to learning wind directions and ready sign off the ground.....he hasn't gotten a deer yet this being his 2nd year with a real weapon but he is learning and to me that's more important

[Primetime41]

Before I post, let me just say, I don't really care about this law one way or another. And I think there are valid arguments being made on both sides. That being said, I guess I don't understand why parents are in such a hurry to get their kids hunting/killing. There are plenty of ways to introduce kids to the outdoors and hunting without them pulling the trigger. And when a 6 year old goes hunting, let's be honest, all they're really doing is pulling the trigger anyways. Also, I don't think there is any 6 year old on the planet that has the capability/maturity to fully understand what it means to take life.

[Trailcamaddict]

I have been a hunter safety instructor for 10 years in WI. We used to only allow 12+ kids to hunt, then we went to 10+. At 10 years old we had many kids that were simply too small (weak) to adequately control a weapon. Additionally, some lacked the maturity level I feel is needed for safety. Hunter safety should be required at any age to buy a license - period!

I understand as a parent of young kids the desire to hunt as early as possible. I also have seen first hand parents that are completely incapable of safely mentoring a child at a very young age.

I don't believe the sky will fall and there will be injuries or deaths all over because I believe most parents are smart enough to determine for themselves.

I have only one scenario that really makes me cringe. Say dad/mom/mentor is severely injured/dies in the field whether from gun shot or natural causes. Now the child is alone in a remote area and needs to summon or wait for help. I'm not sure a 6-10 year old would have the maturity level needed to stay alive in that situation if in a remote area. I feel a 10-12 year old stands a much better chance of knowing how to get help, stay put and generally are more intelligent.

[mheichelbech]

Never good to make assumptions about anyone else or their family situation/kids without knowing them. Some may have kids who are perfectly ready at a young age and choose to wait for whatever reason. I do think it takes a fair amount of conditioning before a kid should be able to shoot a deer, meaning, the kid sees mom or dad shoot a deer, track it, gut it, etc.

Personally, I think the movie Powder should be required viewing by anybody under 18 to go hunting. Nothing impacted me more on taking ethical shots for a quick kill and made me respect the animal more than the deer scene in that movie. I️t made me realize that killing an animal is more than just shooting I️t.

[Rich M]

Trying to be conversational and not argumentative here:

I had always seen death as a part of life as opposed to death being a dramatic thing. To "take a life", kind of makes it seem like it is a big deal to kill a deer - or other game animal - it is about the same as killing a fish.

My 25 yr old stepson had his first real death encounter on the side of a road where a deer had just gotten run over - I slit the jugular as opposed to shooting it due to a nearby house. He was impacted watching the crimson spread in the dirt road as it struggled to breath and bled to death. 25 is too old for the first encounter with stuff like that.

People slaughter animals for food all the time - some kids are exposed and some not. Hatchet to a chicken's head, knife to a goat, hog, etc. First time I slaughtered a farm animal for meat it changed me - shooting something is diff than holding it while you cut its veins/arteries and watch it die in your hands as you hold it still. Shooting a deer isn't personal, slicing your 2 yr old goat's neck is...