So I guess I'm answering my own question about the safety aspect but I still just wanted to hear from other dads about when and how they made their decision?
There's a maturity question .. you're far more able to judge than anyone else. In the '70s in Oregon, we could not hunt 'til we were 12 and we could not hunt alone 'til we were 14. That seemed to work out pretty well for me. My father dragged me through the woods when I was younger, then I did hunters ed, could hunt, and shot my first buck at 12 and another at 13. Once he was ok with what I was doing, he passed me off to mom while he began coaching my sisters who were 1.5 and 3 years younger. I think, though mom was supposedly the adult, I was more babysitting her than she was babysitting me.
You might consider getting a second opinion on your son's readiness to be out alone via one of your peers. Have the kid hunt with them, then get their feedback about how the kid behaves when not under YOUR supervision. .. just a thought. Parents, especially today, seem to have too much of their own ego wrapped up in their kids' activities and are not as objective as they should be.
Tom
