MSNBC Hunting Story

[MikeBjerum]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31952727/ns/us_news-life/?GT1=43001

I have skimmed this and need to really read it.  However, I am getting ready to be gone for the rest of the day (if all goes well), and want to get it out there for discussion. 

Note the photo and caption: An article about minimum ages for hunting, a photo of an eight year old with a harvested elk (so far so good with story headline), and a caption that says she didn't take it ... but she could have.

I know I am going to get really pissed at this one by the time I get done 

[tombogan03884]

 He's right, It's going to piss him off.
But what would you expect from the socialist assholes at the "Ministry of Propaganda" that get a woody saying BO is "like God".

[ericire12]

So let me get this straight........ The Left and their water carries are outraged at the idea of a national standard for CCW, but they think that it is a travesty that there is no national standard for a minimum age to hunt?

MSNBC, here is your sign ---------------------------> (D)

[Kid Shelleen]

I am totally opposed to having the state or federal government set the age of 16 as the minimum age for a young person to hunt alone. This is another example of the nanny state becoming too involved in our personal lives. It should be up to the parent to determine when their child is old enough and responsible enough to hunt alone. I know several twelve year olds that are far more mature than many 18 year olds. The state cannot know the maturity level of an individual and assigning 16 as an arbitrary age when a young person is responsible enough to hunt alone is well........ arbitrary.

I began to hunt alone at the age of twelve. I had been taught about firearm safety, how to breakdown and clean my rifle and my shotgun and I had hunted enough with my Dad for him to believe in me. No one but my Dad could have known my level of maturity and responsibility.

Leave the responsibility of raising our kids up to us. The accidental shooting of Mrs. Almli was tragic and I feel terrible for her family and for their loss, however this could have happened to an adult just as easily as to a kid. We hear about tragic hunting accidents every year, but to the best of my recollection they have all involved adults. I would think that if kids hunting alone resulted in a lot of accidents, the antis would have been all over this subject long ago.

[shooter32]

It's horrible a life was lost in this and I feel for her family and the young man that did the shooting.

Young people do not have the judgment that adults have. For the most part, 14-year-olds do not have the judgment that a 16-year-old has.”

I know 14 yr olds with more judgment than some adults!! But there does need to be an adult present with youth hunters IMHO. To hunt alone at 16 is reasonable but at any age there will always be someone with poor judgment.

A few years back at a game check after a elk hunt we talked with a game warden, that said he had just heard "3 guys from St.Louis shoot a donkey thinking it was a doe mulie".

Stupid is as Stupid does!!

[Sponsor]

[Timothy]

A few years back at a game check after a elk hunt we talked with a game warden, that said he had just heard "3 guys from St.Louis shoot a donkey thinking it was a doe mulie".

Stupid is as Stupid does!!

Probably the same gang that tried to milk a bull!

[fightingquaker13]

You have always had to be 16 to hunt alone in Fl. But "alone" is, or used to be, when I was a kid, a pretty big word here in the Sunshine state. Having my Dad or granddad a few hundred yards away on another stand qualified as being accompanied on WMAs. Again, this was years ago and I have no clue how its being enforced now. Haz would be the guy to ask.
FQ13

[Timothy]

I don't know what the laws are in MI now but I was able to buy my own "Monkey Wards" 20 ga pump at 13 years old with my own money.  Threw it over my shoulder and walked the mile back to my house.  That would have been 1970 and I was able to hunt in the woods behind that same store without my Dad or older brothers present.

Today, at least in MA, a youth can hunt at any age as long as there is an adult (18) with a valid FID card and one gun between the two of them.

As others have stated, 18 years old does not make you more responsible, more safe or less likely to make a mistake.  Only the correct training and upbringing will make a difference.

[Ping]

I voted on this earlier today. I voted no age limit. I was out with a .22 rifle in the back yard at the age of 10. My father, a Viet Nam Vet,  instilled firearm safety rules to me at an early age. I also knew the consequences if I were to act in a unsafe manner. 

[WatchManUSA]

It's horrible a life was lost in this and I feel for her family and the young man that did the shooting.

Young people do not have the judgment that adults have. For the most part, 14-year-olds do not have the judgment that a 16-year-old has.”

I know 14 yr olds with more judgment than some adults!! But there does need to be an adult present with youth hunters IMHO. To hunt alone at 16 is reasonable but at any age there will always be someone with poor judgment.

A few years back at a game check after a elk hunt we talked with a game warden, that said he had just heard "3 guys from St.Louis shoot a donkey thinking it was a doe mulie".

Stupid is as Stupid does!!

Indeed, It is horrible a life was lost.  The issue as I see it is one of judgment and training.  If an adult was hunting with a teen or the teen is hunting alone - there still would have a gun.  The kid still could have pulled the trigger regardless if an adult is along on the hunt.  Tragically, almost every deer hunting season here in Minnesota a hunter fires on someone and they are seriously injured or killed.  This is not reserved to kids – most of the time these are adults who make the mistake.

In Minnesota kids as young as 11-years old must complete a DNR approved firearm safety class consisting of a minimum of 12 hours of classroom and field experience in the safe handling of firearms and hunter responsibility. The field experience allows students to learn and demonstrate commonly accepted principles of safety in hunting and the handling of firearms. It includes live fire on a rifle range. Upon successful completion of this course, students receive a temporary certificate. This certificate will allow the bearer to purchase a hunting license in Minnesota and other states where certification is required.