Families Afield:
Breaking the Barriers for Kids and Mentors
How does Families Afield differ from youth recruitment attempts of the past? It’s surely not the first kid-oriented outreach hunting program to be tried nor is it a once-and-done effort on the part of hunters in extending their hands and hearts to kids. Over the decades, many youngsters have been exposed to hunting via sporting club or state agency-sponsored youth hunts. Though well-meaning, there’s often little helpful follow-up and the spark of interest that may have been ignited soon dims. On a positive note, however, it must be said that some specially-structured “youth-day” hunts for deer, turkey, pheasant, squirrel, waterfowl or other game have become successful annual events in many states. The problem was that many youngsters under age 12 and not holding hunter education certificates remained ineligible to hunt.
Families Afield’s challenge is to tackle the inequity by taking the positions that: (1) Most hunters were or are introduced to hunting by a parent; (2) parents, not lawmakers, should determine whether and when to take their children afield to hunt; (3) the window of opportunity for recruiting new hunters falls within the 6-15 age group, and (4) in many states, traditional laws and regulations serve as overly restrictive barriers to youth participation and are in need of immediate change.
Parent Power
Families Afield is a national effort driven by local and regional volunteers who bring new ideas to the table. The initial plan is to reduce or alter certain barriers that hinder the recruitment of youth. As indicated, it seeks to ensure that parents, not state-affiliated agencies, must be the decision-makers in determining when their sons or daughters are old enough and sufficiently responsible to participate in mentored hunts. In 33 states it is illegal for youngsters under 12 to carry a firearm and go deer or turkey hunting with a parent or other adult mentor. In most of those states, youth 12 and older must have completed a hunter-training course before a license can be purchased. No provisions are made for potential hunters 6-11 years old.
Where applicable, the Families Afield agenda will promote lowering the age at which mentored youth may go afield. A prime example is Pennsylvania where, in January, kids under 12 were given a green light to accompany an approved mentor beginning with the 2006-2007 seasons. The mentor must carry the firearm while hunting or moving from one site to another but he/she will not hunt while with a student. The regulation will limit mentor responsibility for one child at a time who must stay “within arm’s reach at all times.” In Ohio, a measure was approved in mid-February creating an apprentice hunting license for mentors and a similar measure was approved in Wisconsin (where the child must be at least eight years old). In Utah, age requirements have been lowered for hunting upland game and wild turkeys.
Look for similar action in other states as concerned hunters and game agencies seek to remove long-standing legal – yet largely unrecognized – barriers to youth hunting participation. Understand that mandatory hunter training courses will continue for students ages 12 or older. No “one size fits all” program can be instituted as individual states differ dramatically in their laws, rules and regulations.
“The progress of Families Afield in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin is confirmation that these are bills the people want,” said Rob Sexton, vice president of government affairs for the USSA. “The bipartisan support that Families Afield has received indicates legislators are listening to sportsmen and understand the positive impact these bills can have for all citizens of these states.”
A Time for Change
One key to the growing success of Families Afield is timing—targeting impressionable kids before computer and video games, roller boarding, soccer, Little League and other interests fully dominate their lives. This doesn’t mean eliminating those popular pursuits. Rather, it calls for meaningful adult mentoring before, during and after the hunts that will hopefully kick off a lifetime of adventures afield. Targeting youngsters at an early age and keeping them in touch with hunting is crucial to the success of the program.
“Youths who start hunting early in life are more likely to hunt as adults,” said Rob Keck, CEO of the South Carolina-based NWTF. “They’re tomorrow’s conservationists, and if we don’t instill in them the love of the outdoors at an early age, the hunting and conservation tradition could be lost.”
More on Age Barriers
The three national organizations listed previously have supported research showing that some state laws and regulations have become barriers to parents who wish to introduce their kids to hunting under their own supervision and before a hunter education course has been completed. One such barrier may at first seem a contradiction to safe hunting. It’s the requirement in many states for completing a hunter education course before a first license can be purchased, usually at age 12. That measure could be altered to permit youth under 12 accompanied by a mentor to hunt prior to completing a state’s hunter education course.
While this may shatter our traditional thought on mandatory hunter education, research indicates that this “out of the box” thinking has merit. Consider also that statistics show that supervised youth have an excellent hunting safety record.
“The reason behind setting a minimum age to hunt in the past was safety,” said Eric Nuse, executive director of the International Hunter Education Association. “The data are clear – accompanied young hunters are safe and the facts do not support having laws restricting the initiation age of hunters for safety reasons.”
That opens the door for parents and other youth mentors to judge when a kid is ready to hunt. It also suggests postponing the hunter education requirement and licensing until the youth have tried hunting under very controlled conditions, according to Nuse.
Twenty states have been classified as “very restrictive” when it comes to hunting for deer or other game at a younger age and prior to completing a hunter education course. The states exhibiting the greatest restrictions include, in order of rank: Rhode Island, California, South Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Utah, Maine, Montana, New York, New Jersey, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada and Michigan.
The 17 “least restrictive” states are Missouri, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, Florida, Iowa, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Vermont, Texas, Alaska, Arkansas, Washington and Louisiana. The remaining 13 states are considered “somewhat restrictive.”
Hunting’s Recruitment Dilemma
In a study performed and compiled by Silvertip Productions and the USSA, the need for an aggressive recruitment campaign was deemed “urgent.” That is, hunters in the 35 to 54 age group represent a disproportionate share of the U.S. hunting population – nearly 46 percent. This is the largest segment of the hunting population and the group most likely to have children of their own old enough to introduce to mentored hunting.
Hunter recruitment is a nationwide dilemma affecting all age groups, not just youth. A recent study commissioned by the NSSF showed that only 69 new hunters are being recruited nationwide for every 100 hunters who drop out. Obviously, if the loss of hunters continues at that rate the sport will surely suffer. Drawing first-time hunters via mentoring and opening the gates to kids under age 12 is needed to reverse the trend.