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Old October 9, 2000, 05:36 PM   #11
Field-dressed
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 21, 2000
Location: Alaska
Posts: 148
The nationally recognized hunter education course is geared toward 12 year olds. I believe this age was selected based on the average youngster's ability to safely handle a firearm, understand the difference between public and private land, and be able to read the rules and regs. It takes a lot of responsibility to hunt in most areas these days, much more than when many of us were growing up. We get younger kids who pass the test, but not that many. But that doesn't mean they can't go hunting. They can still hump along after dad toting a .22, and begin learning the skills before they take hunter ed. There is a trade-off here. Its been shown statistically that certified hunters have fewer accidents and get into less trouble afield, but on the other hand I hate to see another hurdle put in front of a kid who wants to go out hunting. Hunter ed. isn't going to go away, mainly because of its success in helping make the sport so safe. It's up to us adults to take any interested kid out to see what hunting is about.
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