Young Hunter Responsible for Death.

[spook12]

All kids that hunt in Montana already are somewhat mentored since you must be accompanied into the field by an adult till the age of 18 I believe. And I waited till 12 im still hunting and the extra wait sure didn't kill me! But at the same time I really do feel like anything to get kids outdoors is beneficial.

Trues but just being a human whose made 18 trips around the Sun doesn't qualify someone to be a Mentor to a young hunter.
Any system put in place that would allow a 75 year old Lady whose never hunted to be a Hunting Mentor is CRAZY. How about someone over 18 whose had a wildlife related conviction? Or allowing multiple Kids with a single Adult? Or someone whos never even passed a Hunters Ed. course? From what I've read all these can be with the system that's in place now

 

[twodot]

Mtpubliclander, you are mistaken. Youth in MT can go afield armed and alone at 14.
Once they are 14 they can open carry longarms or handguns in public.

 

[rhomas]

Gerald, congratulations to you and your son. I know the feelings that you certainly went through with his success, since I experienced the same feelings when my boy killed his first deer at the age of 10. He had been hunting with his own gun and on his own stand within sight of me since he was 8, but didn't get a good opportunity and the perfect shot situation for two years. He will be 17 tomorrow, and has killed a dozen or so deer since that first one, and I still get that feeling of pride and accomplishment with every one he kills.

Here in SC, kids don't have to get their hunting license until they reach 16, and they must complete a hunter safety course and pass the state exam prior to receiving their license; but they can begin hunting at whatever age their parent or guardian feels is proper. Most kids start going with their parents at around the age of 5, just as Travis did with me; and he began shooting at the same age. Since I don't have a dog in the fight with Montana's laws, I really don't care about the outcome of the debate; however, I will say that here in the South most kids start shooting and learning responsible firearm safety by the age of 5, and if their family is involved in hunting, most of them are in the woods with a gun around age 8 at the latest. Ironically, it's the folks in their 50's and 60's who usually are involved in shooting other hunters down here(also they are usually non residents as well), so obviously the younger ages are more safety conscious.........or either their eyesight is much better and they identify their target before pulling the trigger better than the old geezers!!!!!!!!!! Another thing is that the kids when told to stay on their stands and not wander through the woods, will follow the instructions unlike the older individuals who think they are more "woods wise" so they get off of their stands and go traipsing through the woods and end up getting shot by their buddies (hunter orange is only required on state and federal WMA lands in SC). The older individual shooting and getting shot happened twice in SC this past season and one of the incidents was on a Federal Forest and the man who died wasn't wearing any orange, and the man who shot him "thought" he was a deer. No incidents occurred involving a single juvenile hunter in the state.