TPWD~9, 10 & 11 year olds Will Be Able to Hunt Alone

[Hot4huntin]

As many of you know, TPWD has proposed lowering the minimum age for Hunter's Ed certification to 9 years of age. Earlier it was reported that this change would not allow 9, 10 or 11 year olds to hunt unsupervised by an adult. However, that is NOT the case. At this time, by lowering the age for certification, the new regulation would allow 9, 10 and 11 year old children that have successfully passed the Hunter's Ed program to hunt by themselves without an adult, pursuant to the current statutory language that addresses this regulation. This information has been verified by David Sinclair, TPWD Law Enforcement, Austin HQ, and Steve Hall of TPWD. I have visted with Steve Hall, head of the Hunters Ed Department at TPWD, and he has indicated that there would currently be a Loophole in the system should this regulation pass, but that it would be addressed in the next Legislative Session. Are we willing to take that chance? My children have been involved in the hunting environment, gun safety, etc., since they were born. However, I do not think that I am willing to leave my child in a hunting blind with a gun at the age of 9, 10 or 11. I know that there are children out there that many parents would say are ready and maybe they are. I am not worried about my child shooting the wrong animal or another person, but what about their own safety in the blind. Personally, my children at this age have sat by themselves in a blind with a video camera, but a firearm or archery equipment is another matter. I am not willing to take that chance. Please let your voice be heard whether it is in favor of or opposed to this proposed regulation. Please contact Steve Hall at (512) 389-4568 for more information.

[BUFF]

If I told the truth, both of my sons hunted alone by the time they were 9 or 10. We lived 9 miles from a paved road and they hunted almost everyday after school around the house.

[Sean]

Same here Buff, My son has been hunting alone since he was 9 or 10.

[LostHawg]

I think a lot of folks only see high powered rifles and deer when they talk hunting.

But, even so, if I think my child is responsible enough to hunt alone, then he/she should be able to hunt alone. 5, 9, or 15... Period, end of discussion.

[txhunter]

I totally agree with ya Tracy. I did it at 9, my dad did it, and so on......

I would be all for lowering the age. If the parent feels that they can drop their kid off in a blind and return to pick them up, then let them do it. I know of some 18+ year olds that are less mature than some 10 year olds.. ;)

[txhunter]

And also tell them to hurry up and get that dang draw weight lowered so my son can hunt this upcoming season.. ;) :)

[Bullrdr82]

I have been thinkning about this alot here lately.

I guess I am against most of the people who have already posted. I can not get "a warm fuzzy" feeling with giving a hunter that young free reign to go out into the woods and carry a firearm around. Now before everyone jumps on me, let me explain....

While I know that most of the people around here have engrained the safety of hunting to their children. If you take the numbers from TPWD, bowhunters are a very small percentage of total hunters. I have met a bunch of people ( and these were grown men) who I did not trust to walk around with a loaded firearm. I think the majority of hunters that young will not understand all the repercusions of not handling a firearm correctly.

I hope this makes sense. I am in no way against getting younger people involved in this great sport, but there should be some boundries. I would not be against lowering the age to take hunters ed, but I do not agree with letting them hunt alone.

This is just my opinion.....

Brandon

[Hot4huntin]

I think many of us that frequent the websights are in the minority. We are the parents that will see to it that our children follow the law, wait until they are ready to hunt, etc. But there is a whole other world out there.

I guess I see or hear too much of the other side of the story, kids hunting WITH their parents with illegal or unsafe equipment, poaching, no hunting license, out of season, etc. Some of it is unbelievable! We have the youth season that was implemented because many parents refused to give up their time to hunt in order to take their children hunting. I see people cutting costs and buying inferior or improper equipment and not familiarizing themselves with the laws or equipment selection. These are the people that concern me. I too hunted by myself when I was younger, but it was done with a BB or Pellet gun. I'm all for getting more kids out in the field, but I would like to see it done in a safe manner for the general population.

Many of today's children have such a hard time focusing on the task at hand. It has to be explained, reexplained, etc. Will one hunters ed class be enough for a child that has a hard time concentrating and comes from a split household where one parent is not interested in hunting?

I think there are children out there that are ready to hunt at 9, 10 or 11 years old, but I think the majority are not. More often than not, the 9, 10 and 11 year olds that are mature enough to hunt alone are the ones that their parents take the time to instruct them properly, follow the law and will continue to hunt with them until they are able to hunt alone.

[Eric4x4]

I agree with Dena about my kids own safety. Where i hunt the scorpions, spiders, snakes ect. is what i would worry about. They could get injured and scared and not know what to do. We are from the city to. LOL If my kids were raised in the country i would probably have a different prospective. Plus I would not want to miss their harvest, i would much rather give up mine.

[txhunter]

I just have a problem with someone telling me at what age my kid can hunt. That should be up to me, no questions asked. The fact of the matter is, that no matter the law, 9,10, and 11 year old kids are gonna be hunting by themselves all over the state anyways. So if you make it to where they have to have hunter's ed, at least they will be hunting safer and more educated. Just don't tell me when my son is ready to hunt alone. I will make my own decision on that one..

[Videographer]

I think the state is doing the right thing by putting the "power" back in the parents in this case by letting them make a responsible decision here.

If something does go wrong, the parents are going to be responsible obviously.

I like the idea, that they have decided to let the decision rest on the parents as we already have so much "power" taken away from us already.

I do think that public hunting areas will be impacted most with this, however I see little to no impact on private leases/land etc....Already we got "No Hablo's" running around Sam Houston National Forest hunting with Automatic rifles. I can just imagine a 9yr old with an irresponsible (drunk at camp & asleep) parent walking around "The Sam".

I do see problems in those counties that have the "basket rack" rule. Is your average 9yr old going to be able to judge the correct distance of the interior area of the rack? I think not, hell we got adults that still can't do that!!!!!