# Age to take Hunters Safety



## MarkM

Now that Utah as eliminated the minimum age to hunt small game a few years ago, at what age are you guys with kids letting them take hunters safety? My daughter is turning 9 this summer and wants to take it so she can hunt turkeys next spring. I am debating on making her wait a year or so but i am not sure. She could pass the shooting test I think but I feel she might have a hard time with the written test.

Mark


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## Size Matters

I would say it depends on the kid but you say she can pass the shooting test so she should be fine the instructors will allow you to help them a little bit on the written test my brother took his son and he passed when he was 7. 8)


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## stick_man

A lot depends on the maturity of the kids. When I was still teaching regularly, I had some 8 yr olds that struggled a little with the reading part of it, but I offered to read the test to them afterward to not embarrass them in front of others. Passed without any problems. Sometimes, the terminology can be a bit confusing to them, but there are ways to pass the test and still be fair to all the others in the class.

If they are mature enough to behave during the entire class time, they usually won't have any problem with the test.


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## 400BULL

I have been teaching the Hunters safety class now for 5 years. Over the years I have had all ages come through the class. I have had kids as young as six in the class and did just fine "if" some one read them the test. Which I usual bring my wife into the class and have her read it to anyone that wants it read to them. 

Me personalty, I think that any parent that puts their child through the coarse before their 8 or 9 birthday is doing it more to boast their own ego then it is for the child to learn how to safely handle a rifle. If your daughter is mature enough and acts appropriately around rifles then I would say get her signed up for the class. 

My oldest by was nearly 10 when he went through the course and my youngest boy will probably go through the course this summer/fall. He turns 10 in July.

400bull


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## swbuckmaster

My daughter was 9 when I put her through. She took and passed the test just fine on her own. She passed the shooting part but she said she wished she could have shot her bow instead. Because she has shot her bow for three years 3 days a week since she was 6.

I thought because she was so good at archery it would translate to a gun. I was actually surprised it took her so long to get it down. Shooting a gun and handling it properly does take work with a young shooter and just because she is great with a bow didnt mean she would be good with a gun. So if you are going to have a young shooter try and pass the test it is a must they have a gun that actually fits them. Take them out multiple times and let them get familiar with it.

I did take my daughter out this year when she was 10 on her own turkey hunt. But I can tell you she was barely large enough to handle the recoil and weight of the 20 guage. I had to purchase a special pad for her shoulder and get a ported barrel. A 20 gauge packs a punch. I also had to start her out on lighter recoil guns like a 17hmr, .223 and then worked her up to light 20 guage trap loads.

It was a lot of work but it was worth it. She is fantastic with a .223 and did tag out on her turkey. None of this would have happened if I didn't put in the work with her! So if a younger kid has had the training I guess they can pass the shooting part with a properly fit light .22 but I dont know how a younger kid could pass the written part of the test on their own. I certainly don't know how they could handle a bigger gun like a 20 gauge if they are any smaller then my daughter. But If they can then more power to them. There is nothing funner then hunting with your kids!


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## KennyC

I took my daughter last year at age 10 and she did fine. The shooting test was a breeze for her but there was 1 small problem. When she had taken the written there were some questions concerning archery. Since we don't do archery and she never asked me about the questions in the book I had no idea that she didn't understand. She failed the test but because the only questions she missed pertained to the archery portion the instructor took her aside after the class left and talked to her about the questions. He passed her! Now I don't know if it had to do with the crocidile tears or the questions but he was very helpful and she has since been a great hunting partner.


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## hossblur

That is a AWESOME PIC!!! We see so many dudes who throw around 10's of thousands of dollars to kill some "trophy" animal. You watch the shows and see some FAKE excitement by "pros". I would a thousand times over see pics of these kids beaming from ear to ear with there trophys. This was a good post, I keep telling my 6 year old that the summer he is 9 we will do hunters safety(he turns 10 in Dec.) so you guys have reinforced my thought process. Thanks


PS. Can I get those hunting boots in a size 13?


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