# Turkey hunting's new face



## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

*Turkey hunting's new face*

Doug Smith, Star Tribune

When Minnesota's spring wild turkey season opens today, there will be some young guns afield.
Really young.

For the first time, kids under age 12 were allowed to apply for turkey licenses. Some 826 applied and 485 received licenses under the turkey license lottery system.

Most are 10- and 11-year-olds, but 166 kids 9 and younger also received licenses, including some 5- and 6-year-olds.

The Legislature changed the law last year at the urging of the National Wild Turkey Federation and the Department of Natural Resources. The idea was to remove barriers that discourage youths from taking up hunting.

"We're very concerned about the recruitment of hunters," said the DNR's Bill Penning. "Studies have shown that if you don't get kids involved by the time they are 14, you lose them to other activities."

Said Ryan Bronson, the DNR's youth hunter education coordinator, "We know that the younger a person starts hunting, the more avid they are for the rest of their lives and the better likelihood they'll stay hunters."

Bronson noted that youths under 12 already can hunt small game -- such as squirrels, rabbits, grouse, pheasants and ducks -- if accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. But until now, turkeys had been considered "big game," meaning youths who wanted to hunt them had to be at least 12 and have passed a firearms safety course.

"All we're doing is treating turkeys as small game," Bronson said. "We thought turkey hunting lent itself well for youths," he said. "You're usually stationary, sitting against a tree. It's pretty easy to have a kid sitting right next to you so you can control them."

When is too young?

Some have expressed concern of having kids as young as 5, 6, 7 or 8 in the woods with a shotgun. Turkey hunting has had remarkably few shooting accidents since Minnesota's modern hunting seasons began in 1978. But there are some inherent dangers: Turkey hunters are camouflaged, move stealthily in the woods and often make turkey sounds.

The law says turkey hunters under 12 must be "accompanied" by a parent or legal guardian. The intent was to have those adults closely monitor and mentor the young hunters.

But DNR officials acknowledge the definition of "accompanied" is fuzzy. Originally, supporters wanted wording requiring adults to be "within arms reach" of their charges. But that wording was changed by legislators. Officials are back at the Legislature this year seeking to clarify the law and require mentors to be within voice and visual contact.

A 1-year-old hunter?

So will there actually be 5-, 6- and 7-year-olds toting shotguns in the woods this spring? Officials don't know. There are a limited number of spring turkey licenses, and they are distributed via a preference system, meaning hunters who fail to get selected for a license this year earn a preference point for next year's drawing.

Bronson said he suspects the parents of some very young applicants didn't intend for them to hunt this spring. They were just hoping their kids would gain preference points to boost their odds of getting licenses in future years.

And then there was the man who applied for his 1-year-old granddaughter to underscore that the law change made it legal for infants to hunt and that the system possibly could be abused by adults seeking hunting permits. The girl was drawn for a license.

The grandfather has said she obviously won't hunt. And DNR officials noted that adults accompanying youths can't hunt unless they, too, have a license.

Also, party hunting for turkeys is illegal, meaning an adult can't fill a child's tag.

"What we're trying to do is allow the parents the opportunity to make the decision of when the child is ready to hunt, rather than us dictate," Penning said.


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

> "What we're trying to do is allow the parents the opportunity to make the decision of when the child is ready to hunt, rather than us dictate," Penning said.


All you have to do is look at some of the kids these days and you will realize not all parents know what is best for their own kids. Somebody will see a little 3 foot tall dark thing move and blast it only to find out it was a child.


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## pennsyltucky (Oct 30, 2005)

in PA im pretty sure u are supposed to wear an orange hat while moving. i know u have to in the fall season.

they are working on this same thing, younger hunting, here. and i think its an excellent idea.

that last quote is a great one. if only gov't would take that stance on everything, we would be so much better off. u cant legislate common sense.


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## Puddinhead (Jun 21, 2006)

Ridiculous. Any age kid in NC can hunt with a parent or guardian for anything. I called up and shot my first turkey when I was 8 years old sitting between my father's legs. By the time a kid is 12 they might be so wrapped up in nintendo and soccer and zitty faced girls that they might miss the hunting fever altogether. That's a shame.


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