I am curious as to how hunting regs are different in each state. I am talking hunting on your own. How old is it in your state.

In Pennsylvania the age is 16. You can hunt at a much younger age if accompanied by an Adult.

Think I was 14 (big game)hunting with my dad. Maybe 13?

By myself maybe 16?

Speaking for MT.

Learners permit for driving about the same time.

Sam, Is that the legal age to be able to hunt on your own in Montana?

Ten

Here in IN, I don't think there's a minimum age. If you can pass the hunters education class, you can hunt on your own.

12 in ohio

Grand Pa sent me to the woods with his single shot .22 and a hand full of cartridges when I was 6, didn't know there was a law about it, it was our woods and he liked squirrel.

Probably 13 or 14 before I was handed a firearm and set off by myself.
At my age now, people are telling me I'm too OLD to hunt alone! 😖

I was hunting rabbits on me own at 10 years old, <not sure if legal age or not, but no one said anything> or along with a nother fourth grade friend. No adult supervision. Lived in a small country town, would ride threw town on our bikes, with our 22’s strung across our backs. Adults in town would wave a greet us, but no one bothered us any. Life was so much simpler back then.

I deer hunted with a S&W 38 when I was eight. Get some Ballz

Diesel, I think it is 16 years old to hunt alone in MT.

Could be wrong, probably.

I stayed with The Old Man the first 2 years. When I was 14, my younger brother was starting, so I was on my own. I killed a spike that year. Had no idea how to gut it! Luckily, my uncle was on the hill above me and come down to give me some instruction.
I turned Ben loose on squirrels at 13, and deer a year later. He killed one and waited for me to gut it.
Those kids can whack them with no trouble, but it seems that field dressing is a slight hang up!
7mm

I was a Cotton Tail killer at 8 yrs old, killed my first Mule Deer a small 4 point at 8 yrs old, shot a Cow Elk, with my Granddad's 30-30, she was eating at our hay stack, Granddad said shoot her in the head, and i did. we drug her back to the barn and dressed her out, my Grandmother was the best and fastest deer and Elk skinner i have ever seen. was i legal ? hell i don't know, that was over 75 years ago. Rio7

Drivers license at 16

Hunting license at 16

yea yea yea

just givin' ya schidtt..........

Not sure what the law may have been in Flordia in the 60s.
Hunted most days after school.

Single digits I was restricted to a 410 and a 22, lots of small game met its match with those two guns. Doves, Quail, Rabbits, Squirrels.

11 years of age it was a 30-30 (Ted Willams) and a single shot 20ga. (Ithaca). Deer and Wild Pigs died.

In Virginia the age is 12 years old to hunt by yourself, if you have had an approved hunter safety course.

Without a hunter safety course hunters age 12 to 15 must be accompanied by a licensed adult hunter. Anyone, regardless of age, must have a hunter safety course to hunt by themselves if they have never held a hunting license before. An option for a first time hunter is to purchase an apprentice license which allows a first time hunter, regardless of age, to hunt while being directly supervised by a properly licensed experienced hunter. The apprentice license is good for one year, I think, which gives the hunter time to find a safety course to attend.

No age law against hunting alone... if big game hunting as in requiring a tag, minimum age is 10 with license and hunters safety course or 14 without hunter safety. Under 10 you must have a license or accompanied by a licensed adult, small game, birds and varmints.

Youth combo hunt/fish licenses are 5 bucks until they are 18.

No safety course required to hunt small game ect at birth, or big game after 13 years old.

I was about 8 when dad bought my older brother and I a 410 for doves and a couple 22s for rabbits, we could get off the school bus and bike or walk to the maze fields or citrus groves to hunt. I was probably 10 when I hunted by myself first, but usually with my brother or friend, who I still hunt and fish with.

Kent

Diesel: I killed my first Mule Deer at age 12 out in taxington state - that was legal back in 1959.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Nope. There is no minimum age to hunt in TN. The 10 yr old thing only applies to the specific juvenile only hunts. Both of my sons killed deer well before they turned 10.

If a kid isn’t big enough to field dress it on their own and contribute mightily to getting it out of the woods they have no business dropping the hammer. Regardless legal age.

Most all us old guys were hunting really young. Most were not even aware of the law, or even if there was a law at all. Nobody cared because hunting was common and nobody shot anybody on purpose.

I love all of the hunting stories and experiences of you guys. Keep them coming.

In regards to the question, hunting without an adult along we have Montana at 16, Tennessee at 10 and Ohio at 12. Pennsylvania at 16.

Virginia at 12, Arizona at any age.

No minimum in VT. If you can pass the course there are no restricions.

I turned 14 in 1971, you couldn't hunt big game before age 14, sometime in the 80s I think, they offered safety courses for kids 10 and older, if you passed it you could hunt big game at 10. Dad wouldn't take me deer hunting till I was 15, with my granddad's old saddle ring 30 30, it was tough in the long range areas we hunted, he never took me practicing with that gun, loaded it and said... here... Had a couple bucks at 200 yards and knowing what I know now, was hitting 5 feet low probably. My brother was given a 788 in 308 and killed his first deer at 16, I was jealous. At 17 I bought my own rifle, a 99 in 308 with a redfield scope... killed deer easy after that.

Kent

Started hunting doves alone at age 8 with a single shot 20. Left alone in an East Texas brush blind at 9 with the old man’s double 12 and my 20. I would shoot the first squirrel I saw with the 20 hoping to scare any deer away. I was scared of the 12, was a scrawny little fart. Hunting alone with my 30-30 at ten and killed my first deer with it the next year in 1971. Texas hunting exempt licenses were 25 cents for youth and senior’s, you needed one to get your deer tags. Dad would make me cough up my own quarter to pay for it.

1978 I was 12 years old in Pa, I remember the first hunt I was on with my brother (four years older) and my dad. First day of squirrel my dad, brother and I walked into the woods in the dark and split up. I'm sure it wasn't legal then but I'm also sure my dad didn't know that.

Started hunting at age 10. Dad and I would go to the woods and split up, so I guess I was by myself. Back then, I don't know if La. had a minimum age for hunting or not. Had to start buying a hunting license at age 16.

A few years back, Idaho dropped the age to 10 if accompanied by a licensed hunter and 12 for hunting alone.

When I came of hunting age in '60, Idaho's age was 12 whether hunting with or alone. Hunters' Ed didn't come along for another 15 years or so.
I got my 1st deer at 13, sort of alone. Dad was along but he was 100 yds downhill from where I plugged me my #1, a doe. 2 years later, I was also alone when I got my 1st elk. Again, Dad wasn't too far away but he wasn't right there.

My idiot sister and BIL bragging about how “the baby” 4 years old, “killed” his first deer. BIL holds the rifle and sights it (from the heated box blind) while the kid puts his finger on the trigger and pull. Deer probably 20 yds away eating off a corn pile. “The baby” won a youth fishing competition a month ago. I’m guessing he had one finger up his nose picking boogers and the other touching the rod while BIL fished against a bunch of 10 year olds. Stupid fugks.

What does "hunt on your own" mean exactly?

I don’t remember the game laws playing much of a part in how we hunted when I was a kid. Granny wanted some does as soon as there were cool nights and while they were eating corn before they started eating acorns in the fall. Revelation brand .410 with “pumpkin balls” (slugs). Shot more than a few with a .22lr behind the ear. It was groceries, not trophy’s.

Yeah. Not a fan of that crap myself. Little 7yo Johnny shooting a deer from a box blind over bait. Fugk’s sake

Wisconsin, 14 with a Hunter Safety certificate.

Tennessee youth hunt for rifle is always a *joke*

Little pinger ADHD kid 5 years old, 300 WSM 10 pound rifle, kills a 10 point whitetail at 302 yards.

Running around the store parking lot at the check in station climbing the gutter downspout, making spiderman noises.whining about wanting Twizzlers and some Kool Aid jammers.

wearing pajamas and a .99cent orange vest, zero enthusiasm in the pics, more interested in the kerosene pumps

Certainly didnt hunt by himself, daddy’s extra buck tag. Shhhhhh!!!

My boy was around 14 before I let him, had radios to keep in touch

Sam, unless things have changed in MT. You can buy your first big game license when you are 12 yrs. old and have passed hunters safety. Hunting with an adult of course. Also, you had to be 14 yrs old to carry a gun without an adult.
It may have changed since I started hunting in 1957 I think!

Kansas is 12 with hunters certificate. My dad and I hunted a lot of squirrels and I was very young. He made me get quite a ways away from him. You had to sit still and not move. I got good at that game and made a lot of memories. Once I got older and put a scope on my bolt action, it was a new ballgame. Dad used to comment on head shots while checking them out. Made him proud several times with others around. Good memories.

I’m inclined to agree with that.
I see quite a few kids who kill deer without ever having hunted.
Killing is easy, but after that is where the work starts.
We do all our own game meat, from start to finish.
Field dressing, dragging, skinning, and butchering. No ATVs either. It’s all boot leather.
In my family it has always been “if you’re gonna hunt, you’re gonna do the work”, and that’s how it should be.
Pulling a trigger ain’t hunting.
7mm

Kenny, I bet you are correct.

14 in Oregon


🦫

I was 8-9 when I was killing stuff with my Sheridan, got a 243 when I was 10

I was allowed to hunt small game alone at age 10. The rule was that I could hunt alone or with dad or uncles, but no one my age without an adult present.

Same here, except cell phones.

I think I was hunting rabbits somewhere around 14.

The same for me . Dad taught how to shoot with his Stevens favorite and 22 shorts , laid down the law about gun safety showed me once how to clean squirrels and rabbits and I was free to go alone , but no other kids . I don’t remember a license and that was before hunters safety classes

I take it to me you go out and hunt without anyone else. If you are under driving age that means where you can get on your legs or bike.

Hunting and killing aren't necessarily the same, dad had me killing chickens by age 5 or 6. We raised rabbits for the meat buyer Lady, I clubbed hundreds a year, when older I killed the yearly calves, killed pigs, even a goat once... no hunting involved.

We lived on a dirt road surrounded by cotton, alfalfa, maze fields and mostly citrus groves, had canals and ditches, tailing ponds.

Hunting was just an extension of putting meat on the table, doves, quail, rabbits and the occasional feral pheasant, frog gig at night, we would catch shiners with a small hook and hamburger for fun in the canals with the occasional carp. Hell daily I'd hunt sparrows with my BB gun and the barn cat would tag along if I had it, climb in a tree, whistle bird song and call them in, cat under me, when a bird hit the dirt she was on it crunching it's head.

We didn't need supervision.

I enjoyed going off into the vast groves and fields by myself and hunting, getting away. Always liked hunting by myself, still do.

Kent

I spent a helluva lotta time stalking groundhogs, crows, and starlings with a .22 long before I had hunting license. I knew all the hills and fields within walking distance of home from age 10. Ben did as well.
If a kid can be trusted to carry a rifle, I believe in letting them hunt critters, as did Dad. I believe that that sort of freedom saves a good bit of rebellion once they reach their teens.
Just the same though, when I was 10 or 11, I couldn’t wait to get a hunting license and go on the mountain with The Old Man! I know I anticipated that as much as getting a drivers license!
7mm

When I got my 1st deer at 13, Dad was a ways down the hill. I yelled that I got one. He yelled back for me to dress it out and drag it down to where he was. Well, um, ok. I started whacking at it without a clue how to do it. I'd watched Dad do it but he could magically wave a knife over a deer and in 30 seconds it would be done. I hadn't learned much. Somehow I didn't cut the gut open but I had it all hanging out before I knew I needed help and yelled for Dad to come help me.

I shot my first squirrel with a 22 hunting with dad at 6 years old. Dad put me out in the woods with a 410 w slugs at 8 for deer. Killed my first deer at 9 years old. He started me too early though. He let me get too cold a few times and I quit wanting to go till I was grown. I know Hunters safety is required now and there are some age restrictions as well on some hunting and boating activities for youth alone.

Hunting without supervision. No adult needed to hunt legally according to regs in your state.

I gotta agree. Been doing it that way for near sixty years. Taking a bit longer to do the dragging now. Last year was the toughest yet.

In W VA, you have to be old enough to have sex with your cousins.

Siblings don't count.

I shot my first squirrel with a 22 hunting with dad at 6 years old. Dad put me out in the woods with a 410 w slugs at 8 for deer. Killed my first deer at 9 years old. He started me too early though. He let me get too cold a few times and I quit wanting to go till I was grown. I know Hunters safety is required now and there are some age restrictions as well on some hunting and boating activities for youth alone.

Back in the day I grew up in, late 60s early 70s, there was no license needed for fishing and hunting until age 14, you could only catch 1/2 the fish limit though, no adult supervision required. You could not get a big game tag till age 14, same age as needed for a license.

Now it's age 10 required for a hunting fishing license, for youth under 18 it's 5 bucks for the combo, resident or nonresident, they can hunt big game with a hunters safety course. I found this out because my granddaughter turned 10 and I applied her for elk so needed the license. Glad I did or I would have thought she could fish or small game hunt without one till she was 14, recent change.

This thread made me look for an age restriction on hunting as my grandson is 7. Regs state hunters under 10 must possess a license or hunt with a licensed adult. A lot of kids start dove hunting under 10 so I see where this comes into play.

Kent

Thinking back to times as a kid with a single shot .22. Was around 9 or 10 years old. Grandpa bought that single shot bolt action as my Christmas gift. I still have it and cherish that rifle. In my view a single shot is the best possible starter rifle. It teaches you to make the first shot count.

At twelve, Dad took me on my first deer hunt and I remember it as bitter cold. .32 Special Winchester lever action. I missed several bucks that morning even though I was a good shot. Classic buck fever. at 16 I bought my first rifle. A Ruger 30.06 with a 4 power Redfield scope and started killing deer regularly and eventually bear.

Finally killed my first deer at 16, but not with a gun. Recurve bow back then. Dad hunted with a .357 S&W revolver and was a great shot. He also hunted with a longbow.

The "Big Woods" of Forest, McKean, Potter ,Cameron and Elk counties is where we went for deer. Camp was between Ridgway and Portland Mills, Pa. The 60's were the "hey days" of the big woods deer herds.

I sure miss those days. If I could turn back time that is when it would be.

Its 16 in this state. I myself think someone could hunt younger if that's all he or she was doing. Add in driving or duck boats and/or bad weather and now you have the fixings of a pickle that a kid doesn't always have the experience to get his ass out of. Its a learning curve for all of it, and we all did it. Have to recognize how much is too much.

Being in the last quarter of my life the memories are more important now.

All your stories of back when are so familiar to me. It was how it was for most of us. We didn't have much by today's standards, but it was more than enough. A .22, a deer rifle and a shot gun and you were decked out.


I lived in the best times ever and am thankful for it.

Thanks for the stories and taking my mind off current events.

Great post...

MaMas’ little ‘wussies’ generally don’t care for hunting; not when they can sleep late and then play with there phone all day!

If people would read, Im pretty sure I already corrected this. THERE IS NO MINIMUM AGE IN TN.

Regulations?????

I got a JC Higgins ss .22, and a box of shorts ammo for Christmas in my 13th year and was hunting with it alone that afternoon. Got a cottontail too. I don't recall if I even sighted it in. Probably not.

I've been conservative of ammo ever since.

I'd helped clean birds and rabbits before, so no OTJ training necessary at that stage. I hunted and cleaned my first deer, without any previous training, at 16. It's just a big rabbit.....

But that was North Dakota, 60 years ago. The thought never crossed my mind - or, likely, anyone else's in our little town of 400 people. City cop stopped me several times as I was walking through town to head out unto the prairie to check that I was carrying the firearm unloaded, until out of town. A 13 year old there (now Pop 300) could probably still get away with it.

I still don't carry a hot chamber until necessary.

I'd been tagging along, gunless, with an older brother and occasionally bird hunting with my Dad since I was 7 or 8, tho, if that counts for "supervision".

When I grew up in Virginia there was no minimum age to hunt and if I remember correctly my father gave my brother and myself each a .410 single shot shotgun when we were 9 and 10 respectfully, this would have been in the early 1960's. He took us on squirrel hunts then but I was 12 or 13 before he would allow me to hunt by myself, and then only if I was truly by myself (no kids from the neighborhood allowed together). His thinking was I was smart enough and had been trained enough to not shoot myself but but a group of young kids together with guns might get someone injured or killed.

Last hunting season my 19 year old granddaughters new boyfriend, also 19, wanted to hunt with us on the farm but he did not grow up in a hunting family. He did not have his hunter safety course yet so the only way he could hunt was to purchase an apprentice license (good for two years) and hunt under the direct supervision of a licensed hunter 18 or over. Since my granddaughter had hunted for years and had her safety courses and prior licenses she was able to be his mentor which allow him to hunt and kill his first deer. This reversal of what what we consider normal masculine and feminine roles in teaching outdoor skills was an enjoyable experience for our family hunting outing that year.

Michigan is 17 years of age.

No minimum age for licenses (youngest was 18 months in the database)

Mentored license < age 10 needs a parent or guardian with them at arm's reach.

Apprentice license > than age 10 needs a parent or guardian or an adult designated by them to be with them (within eyesight or verbal communication distance without shouting or radios).

Hunters 10-16 years of age with a Hunter Safety certificate still need the supervision of apprentice above.

According to the MIDNR, youth hunters are safest hunters in the woods when hunting directly with supervision as reported by hunting accident stats in MI.

This really isn’t accurate. I work at a packing plant during game season. We cut hundreds of deer and elk every season.

The absolute worse are the old 60+ transplant hunters. Most of these guys don’t know how to field dress. Some of their game look like lightning hit them, others not gutted at all and expect us to do it. Generally doe deer and cow elk is all these guys can find. Pilgrims are the worst.

Kids and especially native Montana kids do a fine job.

My post wasn't in reference to how well their dad or uncle dressed the deer for the butcher.

I'm sure there are plenty of blue hair transplants that moved to "live" here as a snowbird and claim MT residency that shouldn't be int he gamefields, probably almost as many as shouldn't be driving.

Most of the kids we see that bring in game field dress their own and we see a lot. Hundreds every season.
It’s not that hard.

What proof do you offer to the contrary?

I’m not talking blue hair pilgrims, I’m talking most immigrants in general suck at breaking down animals.

Why do you feel this way about kids Gruff?

My son loves to fish but I don’t think he should be let loose with the electric filet knife just yet, should he just watch while I fish until he can clean them himself?

I don’t hunt on a corn pile but if Chester is going to blast some does over his and eat them why shouldn’t Chester Jr be able to do the shooting?

I see it as a good thing either way and yes I expect the kid to help and learn but I don’t like the idea of him having to sit on the sidelines until he can do it all himself. My son and I have had the talk several times about where food comes from and why we hunt and fish, I think all kids need this kind of a talk at a young age and I’m sure you would agree. I’m for getting them involved and the younger the better.

No being argumentative just honestly curious.

Proof? Proof of what?

You haven’t defined “kid” or how you know they cleaned the animal and whether they helped or were able to get it out of the field.

12 and up legal to hunt in MT, 10 and up with a mentor.

Most 12 and up can deal. Seen it many times. Dads in MT teach their kids. It’s not hard.

You have kids gruff?

I’m not against kids in the game fields at all man. I don’t remember how old my son was when he got his first .22 but it was young. And he shot gophers with it soon thereafter. He also accompanied me for several years (at his own insistence) before he could legally shoot a deer. There was a LOT gained by him doing that. And it was fun. Yeah, I pushed it too hard a couple times and walked his legs off, but it ingrained in him an appreciation for it. I get that it’s a fine line as far as how hard you make it for em.

One of my fondest memories is of him sitting with me opening morning watching coulee the opened up to the river. I made a good shot on a buck, but it was still on the run so I shot again and hit an antler right at the base of the beam and sent it cartwheeling down the hill. He jumped up and cheered//laughed then later was making fun of me for taking a break hauling it up and out of the coulees on a game cart. He was probably 8 or 9 at the time.

For me hunting big game doesn’t have to be busting your hump climbing 3k vertically and fending off wolves with a pointy stick and harsh verbiage. But is sure as fûck isn’t sitting a 7 yo behind a rifle on sandbags in a box blind waiting for a deer to come into the corn.

We are not disagreeing. My son put miles on with me for several seasons before he could punch a tag. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

On the other end of this is the question of when you need to give up going it alone in the field. That’s more subjective, for obvious reasons. Last season I invested in a satellite “leash” as my wife refers to it so at least the paramedics know where to find the body. I bought a Zoleo, which not only sends out periodic location info, but has an SOS button, assuming you’re able to activate it after you have a whoopsie in the woods. Very light and so not a burden at all, and I can bluetooth it to my phone and send texts even where there’s no cell coverage.

I’m still dragging them out whole, but might try the gutless method next season. I keep a cart and/or roll-up sled cached in the area I usually hunt to make it easier. My drags are typically about a mile, give or take a bit.

It's been about 18 years now since I taught Hunter Ed. I'd have to make a phone call to be sure and it's a bit late to do that right now.
However, IIRC, a child could take Hunter Ed a 9 years of age but would not be allowed to hunt until 10 years old. I think they had to be accompanied by an adult until 12 or maybe 14.
When I was doing it, most of the instructors were volunteer and for all practical purposes we did it all. About the only time Game and Fish got involved was when the warden came to class and lectured on the laws. Toward the end they made changed in the curriculum that I and several other didn't agree with plus Game and Fish took over big time leaving us old time volunteers to be nothing but gofers. Told them piss on that and I'm outta here. I liked what I was doing and just didn't like the changes.
I think I may still have copies of the old and new manuals with the changes.
Paul B.