Governor signs bill that eliminates Wisconsin’s minimum hunting age

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Children of any age can hunt in Wisconsin starting Monday, after Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill that eliminates the state’s minimum age.

Walker quietly signed the Republican bill Saturday, exactly a week before the state’s nine-day gun deer hunting season opens. The law went into effect Monday. Kids will have to wait five days before they can start shooting deer, but they can participate in several seasons already underway, including bow deer, pheasant, ruffed grouse, rabbit and squirrel.

A Wisconsin resident must be at least 12 years old to purchase a hunting license or hunt with a gun. However, until now children as young as 10 could participate in a mentored hunt. That program allows the child to hunt with a mentor who is at least 18 and has gone through a hunter safety course or had military training if they’re younger than 44. The mentor and student could only have one gun between them, and they had to stay within arm’s reach of one another.

The new law allows children of any age to participate in a mentored hunt and allows mentor and student to carry their own weapon.

Thirty-four other states have no minimum hunting age. Several groups, including Whitetails Unlimited and the National Rifle Association, registered in favor of the Wisconsin bill. The proposal still generated fierce opposition from minority Democrats and child safety advocates. Republicans pushed ahead anyway, saying parents should be allowed to decide whether their children are ready to kill an animal and that the measure will attract more children to hunting.