Eight year old Wisconsinites need to hunt

[The Tower]

http://=http://www.postcrescent.com/...512290504/1036

"Posted December 29, 2005

Editorial: Hunting age lowered too far with state bill

Can an 8-year-old handle a gun? That's the question central to a bill in the Legislature that would allow kids as young as 8 to hunt in Wisconsin, under some restrictions.

The answer here is no.

The bill, which has passed the state Assembly and is likely to be taken up by the state Senate next month, would lower the hunting age from 12 to 8. But the 8- through 11-year-olds would have to share a gun or bow with an adult "mentor," who would have to be within arm's length of the child.

Proponents of the bill, who include state hunting and conservation organizations, say the lower age limits will help draw more hunters to the outdoors and help sustain a sport that's vital to the state's environment and its economy.

They have a point about the need to sustain hunting in Wisconsin, but this bill has problems.

While any hunters age 12 and older who were born in 1974 or later are required by state law to pass a hunter safety course, there's no requirement in the bill for these 8- through 11-year-olds to do the same. There's also no safety course planned specifically for hunter mentors.

Then there are the physical requirements involved in shooting a gun or bow. The average 8-year-old is about 4 feet, 3 inches tall and weighs about 60 pounds. Whether the mentor is an arm's length away or 10 yards away, it's still the child who's shooting a gun — and who must control it.

In that respect, there's a big difference between an 8-year-old and a 12-year-old, not only physically but emotionally.

Opponents of the bill also correctly counter that bigger challenges to maintaining the numbers of hunters are access to land and, as with many other pastimes, time to go hunting."

Even with a safety course required, the idea of an 8-year-old firing a shotgun makes us nervous — for the child and for those around him.

Without even that requirement, the idea sounds needlessly foolish."


Good work, Scott Gunderson! Here's a quote: "It's important to get kids involved in hunting at a younger age. If they are not engaged in hunting by 12 or 13, they probably won't be."

So, it's perfectly acceptable for eight year olds to blow away Bambi, but gawd forbid they be educated about STD's and how to avoid getting pregnant.

This country is ****ed up.

[markolas]

Originally Posted by The Tower

This country is ****ed up.

That's for sure. I wonder how hard a language Dutch is to learn.

[The Tower]

Originally Posted by markolas

That's for sure. I wonder how hard a language Dutch is to learn.

I certainly wouldn't be able to tackle it. When I was in Holland a few years back, the tee-vee was on in my hotel room and I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Big long ass words with tons of oddly juxtaposed consonants all over the place. It seemed that the people in the program had to take big breaths to get those words out.

I absolutely love The Netherlands and I would move there in a heartbeat (or Belgium) if I had the willpower to learn new languages. Alas, I'm too lazy.

[SuzeQuze]

What is WRONG with people??? If you must take your 8 year old hunting, take him, but lord don't let him handle the gun!

[SuzeQuze]

Originally Posted by The Tower

I certainly wouldn't be able to tackle it. When I was in Holland a few years back, the tee-vee was on in my hotel room and I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Big long ass words with tons of oddly juxtaposed consonants all over the place. It seemed that the people in the program had to take big breaths to get those words out.

I absolutely love The Netherlands and I would move there in a heartbeat (or Belgium) if I had the willpower to learn new languages. Alas, I'm too lazy.

Most people over there speak English and are very kind about it.

[The Tower]

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

Most people over there speak English and are very kind about it.

Yep. However, in order for me to make a living, I would most likely have to speak Dutch, French and probably German as well.

*** sigh ***

[DavidMn]

Yeah Wisconsin is right next to us. I try to avoid it, except for the occasional visit to Milwaukee or a Stevie/Fleetwood Mac concert.

[stargazer99]

Originally Posted by DavidMn

Yeah Wisconsin is right next to us. I try to avoid it, except for the occasional visit to Milwaukee or a Stevie/Fleetwood Mac concert.

The last place I lived in Illinois was about 45 minutes from the Wisconsin border. We used to get a lot of cheese heads coming across the border to shop at the big outlet mall in our area. The fact that this law passed there, unfortunately, doesn't surprise me at all.

[estranged4life]

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

What is WRONG with people??? If you must take your 8 year old hunting, take him, but lord don't let him handle the gun!

ya have to get 'em used to a weapon because the Lord knows we'll need more kids willing to die for our country in more future BS wars across the globe...8 years old I am guessing is a reasonable age to get 'em weapon ready.

[DavidMn]

Originally Posted by stargazer99

The last place I lived in Illinois was about 45 minutes from the Wisconsin border. We used to get a lot of cheese heads coming across the border to shop at the big outlet mall in our area. The fact that this law passed there, unfortunately, doesn't surprise me at all.

When I went to Green Bay for Fleetwood Mac in '04, my friend and I went to Brett Favre's steakhouse before the show. The food was GREAT. Actually the waitress had a sense of humor. We told her we were from Minnesota and she said she would make sure to tell the cook not to spit on our food. Some people might have taken offense to that, but I though it funny.