Youth quota, too young

[KayakMacGyver]

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?

I'll bite, as an "offender" to your complaint, coincidentally sitting in South Florida with my 9 year on day 3 of his turkey hunt. It's a single bird hunt, so just call me his Sherpa.

To be clear, I don't hunt on my kid's youth tag. That's not legal or ethical. Based on the date, it seems like you were hunting one of the regular quota hunts.

1. Florida has a very generous guest system. It may be the most generous in the country. With two young kids, my wife and I have been able to hunt better places, more often, with our kids due to the liberal guest rules. I have no shame in taking advantage of it, nor should anyone. Biologists factor in the added pressure of guest hunters, and for the most part this actually works in a hunter's favor because many people dont bring a guest. So, for example sake instead of issuing 20 permits, they only issue 10 (assuming 10 guests). Sure, less permits are available, but Florida isn't Arizona when it comes to tag supply/demand.

My kids weren't shooters until they turned 7, and could aquire a target and hold the gun up on their own. Lot's of safety lessons too. This meant for several years they were towed around the woods with us for "on the job training". Our kids were by our sides for most hunts the last 7 years and you probably understand that kids can significantly handicap hunt success.

In addition to the fringe hunting benefit we've received from mooching off our kids (ironically), as a family it's meant that we've spent more time in the outdoors together. This, at the end of the day, is what it's all about. More tags = More time spent with my kids doing what we love.

2. "Stealing" my kids points is laughable. When they start developing application strategies, applying by deadlines and working out logistics planning for hunts, I will concede my control over their points. Until then, dad and mom will cartilage in hunts of our choosing.

I have two incredible hunting partners as the biggest benefit from the deal. At 7 and 9, they push me harder on every hunt and have been there for alot of really incredible moments that I would have otherwise experienced alone. Now, they're enjoying the fruits of their labor as Dad is just their guide for the foreseeable future. Thanks to the intel we've gained by hunting places more often, they're having success and beg to go every chance they get.

3. The solution is to just stay in Georgia.

 

[cgasner1]

I was thinking about this subject this morning and my boy is no where near ready to take a big game animal in his skill level. He has been with me on multiple occasions when I have taken game and it has gone from he won’t touch it to playing/helping me break the animal down. It kinda makes me wonder if I’m failing him to some degree because he has 3 years till he can pack his own rifle and in the back of my mind I know he needs to be ready by then and we have plenty of time. If he was able to hunt this fall I’d be putting in a lot more effort to get him ready.

 

[R.K.]

I’ve seen a lot of people take their kids out hunting at 5-6 to shoot deer. Heated blinds, food plots/feeders, tripods for crossbow or rifles. I wholeheartedly disagree with it- their minds are typically not developed enough to understand the gravity of taking a life for food. It usually is a result of the parent wanting bragging rights, and I feel it robs the kid of the full experience, as they are too young to understand everything that has occurred. It cheapens it from an accomplishment to just another box to check.

In my mind, a good litmus test is this: if you still believe in Santa Claus, you’re too young. I like minimum age requirements, because I don’t trust most adults out there to make the right decision. For example- guy took his 7 year old out hunting, but he fell in a bit of a hole and needed help out. Told the kid hand him the gun, barrel first, to help him out. Gun went off, he died on the spot. I don’t trust people to make smart decisions, because I’ve met too many people.

 

[D4570]

It's not turkey hunting, but in MT, at age 10, kids can hunt deer with a mentor. I was afraid that when it first started, it would be abused, and the Dad would shoot the deer for them. But now what I have seen is just the opposite. The kids are indeed doing the hunting/shooting. My granddaughter and I started when she was 10. She is a very small girl, and we started her with a Howa Mini in 6.5 grendle. I fit her at the time, and she used it for several deer. As she got bigger, I made her a 7x57 AI on a Ruger American Gen 1. We still don't ramp it up hot. A 140 sst at if I remember right, around 2600 fps. She has shot MANY deer with this gun. She is an outstanding shot; we shoot all year at targets, coyotes, and prairie dogs,3 to 500 yards. Before 10, she used a Ruger 10/22 for gophers; she started shooting at 6 years old. She LOVES to go out with Papa, and we try to get out as often as her high school schedule will permit. I am now an advocate for the 10-year-old with a mentor season.

 

[JV842]

I’ve seen a lot of people take their kids out hunting at 5-6 to shoot deer. Heated blinds, food plots/feeders, tripods for crossbow or rifles. I wholeheartedly disagree with it- their minds are typically not developed enough to understand the gravity of taking a life for food. It usually is a result of the parent wanting bragging rights, and I feel it robs the kid of the full experience, as they are too young to understand everything that has occurred. It cheapens it from an accomplishment to just another box to check.

In my mind, a good litmus test is this: if you still believe in Santa Claus, you’re too young. I like minimum age requirements, because I don’t trust most adults out there to make the right decision. For example- guy took his 7 year old out hunting, but he fell in a bit of a hole and needed help out. Told the kid hand him the gun, barrel first, to help him out. Gun went off, he died on the spot. I don’t trust people to make smart decisions, because I’ve met too many people.

To each his own but I feel you are completely wrong. In my family we were in deer stands while we were w diapers n we grew up knowing if nothing hit the ground there wasn’t going to be much on the table other than beans and noodles. Not saying times were as desperate for my kids or grandkids but they knew what it was for and were proud to say they provided meals for the family.
We/they helped in every aspect of it; feeding, cleaning and maintenance on the blinds, practice shooting, processing, you name it.
Don’t throw a stone unless u know what ur throwing at

 

[Gellar]

I’ve seen a lot of people take their kids out hunting at 5-6 to shoot deer. Heated blinds, food plots/feeders, tripods for crossbow or rifles. I wholeheartedly disagree with it- their minds are typically not developed enough to understand the gravity of taking a life for food. It usually is a result of the parent wanting bragging rights, and I feel it robs the kid of the full experience, as they are too young to understand everything that has occurred. It cheapens it from an accomplishment to just another box to check.

In my mind, a good litmus test is this: if you still believe in Santa Claus, you’re too young. I like minimum age requirements, because I don’t trust most adults out there to make the right decision. For example- guy took his 7 year old out hunting, but he fell in a bit of a hole and needed help out. Told the kid hand him the gun, barrel first, to help him out. Gun went off, he died on the spot. I don’t trust people to make smart decisions, because I’ve met too many people.

While the loss of life is always tragic and the young hunter will forever be scarred because of their experience it is unfair to say the outcome would have been any different if the young hunter was 7 or 27. Instead of a minimum age requirement for a young hunter to hunt I think your argument would hold more water to advocate for changing youth hunting regulations where the mentor has to have more than a hunting license and be 18. As a hunters education instructor certifying well over 1000 students in my time I have never had a class where I did not have to remind students to watch their muzzle, take their finger off the trigger, or check their safety on their firearm. I have also never not had a class where a student responded "Well, thats how my dad does it" when correcting a student's poor firearm handling.

My kids believe in Santa.
We didn't use a heated blind.
We don't have feeders or food plots.
We use a tripod, but wouldn't it be unethical if you did not have a steady rest?

 

[huntin24/7]

I try to get my kids as many opportunities as possible hunting and fishing. They’ve killed some good and average bucks starting from age 10, and we had a blast together doing it. I did a lot of getting them set up for the shot(tri pod resting aim) to where some might say I made it too easy for them. I feel no guilt. They had a blast doing doing it, and at the rate things are going, I have no faith big game hunting will ever get better, so at least we have these memories.

 

[R.K.]

To each his own but I feel you are completely wrong. In my family we were in deer stands while we were w diapers n we grew up knowing if nothing hit the ground there wasn’t going to be much on the table other than beans and noodles. Not saying times were as desperate for my kids or grandkids but they knew what it was for and were proud to say they provided meals for the family.
We/they helped in every aspect of it; feeding, cleaning and maintenance on the blinds, practice shooting, processing, you name it.
Don’t throw a stone unless u know what ur throwing at

But you weren’t hunting while in diapers. You didn’t have your own tag. You weren’t pulling the trigger. THAT is the difference. I’m not saying “don’t take kids along on a hunt”. But having them be the hunter is a much different experience then taking them along.

 

[JV842]

But you weren’t hunting while in diapers. You didn’t have your own tag. You weren’t pulling the trigger. THAT is the difference. I’m not saying “don’t take kids along on a hunt”. But having them be the hunter is a much different experience then taking them along.

But I learned n then, had my own tag n shot my own deer at 5…my son and daughter at 7 n 8, both my grandsons at 6