Youth quota, too young

[howl]

tl;dr where's the line between getting kids into the woods, and scamming the system?


Here in GA the rule is the kid has to carry the gun. The idea is to limit people from using their three year old to get a permit for an adult to use. This past week my 14yo son and I went to S FL for a quota turkey hunt. It took a few years to draw.

(Long story short, he missed because he took an extremely close range shot instead of letting it walk off. I guess having an Osceola spit and drum in your face affects judgement. :thumbs up: )

I think about half of the permits were drawn by preschoolers. Seeing a kid seat on the back of an e-bike tripped me out. I started taking my kids to the woods very young, but we weren't seriously hunting and no permits were necessary. We went turkey hunting with homemade calls and toy guns.

Nobody believes your toddler is going to blast a gobbler with a shotgun. One tried to complain to me his 3yo wouldn't hunt much.

My complaints:
1. This creates the incredible pressure that makes FL turkey hunting more a challenge than it would be.
2. These dads are stealing their kids' points. Imagine being a kid and realizing you can't draw the tag you want because dad burned your points while you were still wearing pull-ups.
3. I can't think of a good solution.

I think, probably, the minimum age should be when old enough to actually remember the hunt when older. 7yo is about right?

 

[jpc01101]

seems Western states have dealt with this with most 10+ to apply. NM is 9 (I just applied my son this year for the first time). That being said, everyone kid is different. My nephew absolutely killed a turkey at age 4 and a pronghorn at 5. He is the exception, not the rule, my son wouldn't have had any interest at 4-5-6-7 Years old in hunting anything really.

 

[Nick87]

My nephew absolutely killed a turkey at age 4 and a pronghorn at 5.

Do you think he'll remember it? I dont remember a whole lot of anything in detail at that age...

 

[SAJ-99]

Do you think he'll remember it? I dont remember a whole lot of anything in detail at that age...

Which begs the next question...are we doing it for the kid or the parent? and its not just hunting. The amount of fun my kid has had and forgotten before she hit a teenager far exceeded anything I did before turning 30. Spoiled, for sure, but I loved doing it.

 

[Nick87]

Which begs the next question...are we doing it for the kid or the parent? and its not just hunting. The amount of fun my kid has had and forgotten before she hit a teenager far exceeded anything I did before turning 30. Spoiled, for sure, but I loved doing it.

100%.

 

[JV842]

Do you think he'll remember it? I dont remember a whole lot of anything in detail at that age...

I vividly remember shooting my first deer at 5
A memory of a great time with my mom n grandmother that I will always have and love

 

[jpc01101]

Do you think he'll remember it? I dont remember a whole lot of anything in detail at that age...

Fair question, how much does he remember vs. thinks he remembers from us replaying it in conversation over and over for the past 5 years? I don't know honestly, but I can tell you that it was a joyous moment for him and my Dad (his Grandpa) and really for all of us. I am not advocating this for every kid, like I said my son wouldn't have been into it at all. I think having a minimum age for limited draw apps makes a ton of sense to avoid situations like you said where a Dad is doing the shooting.

 

[Nick87]

but I can tell you that it was a joyous moment for him and my Dad (his Grandpa) and really for all of us.

Thats great and I'm not casting shade but my kids (5 and 7) see kids their age all the time filling tags. While the 7 year old could pull the trigger himself now. I'm not going to let him. I would be on cloud 9 watching him make it happen. Its a moment I've been waiting for all my life even before I had kids. However I'm not gonna let him because I feel like I'd be robbing him of actually waiting and building up to that when he's old enough to do a lot more of the actual hunting and all the moving parts of it himself. Not just pulling the trigger. He probably wont be as old as I was but its not gonna be right now. To each his own.

 

[Mallardsx2]

Here in GA the rule is the kid has to carry the gun. The idea is to limit people from using their three year old to get a permit for an adult to use. This past week my 14yo son and I went to S FL for a quota turkey hunt. It took a few years to draw.

Can you please show me this law.

Thanks.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I vividly remember shooting my first deer at 5
A memory of a great time with my mom n grandmother that I will always have and love

Huh. I dont vividly remember a single thing from when I was 5 (35 years ago). I'm jealous of that at least.

 

[Nick87]

Huh. I dont vividly remember a single thing from when I was 5 (35 years ago). I'm jealous of that at least.

I shit my pants in pre-school. Probably around 5. It was traumatic I do remember that.

 

[Laszlo Cravensworth]

I shit my pants in pre-school. Probably around 5. It was traumatic I do remember that.

I got ejected from the merry go round on my first day of kindergarten. Vividly remember that. Had to sit on the time out tractor tire until the end of recess afterward.

I've thought about this off and on. In California the age was 12 to kill big game. I don't have any issue with that. Hunters safety instructors frequently wont take kids in their class younger than 8. I think there are probably a lot of parents out there starting them too young.

10. 10 years old is the answer.

 

[Nick87]

I got ejected from the merry go round on my first day of kindergarten. Vividly remember that. Had to sit on the time out tractor tire until the end of recess afterward.

I've thought about this off and on. In California the age was 12 to kill big game. I don't have any issue with that. Hunters safety instructors frequently wont take kids in their class younger than 8. I think there are probably a lot of parents out there starting them too young.

10. 10 years old is the answer.

It depends on the kid. For me it was 10.

 

[noharleyyet]

I remember my first crush's full name..we were both 6.

It depends on the kid. For me it was 10.

Our son killed his first deer, a nice 5x at 10...he'd been a fishing junkie since he was 4.