At age eight, children typically spend their weekends playing soccer, watching cartoons and conversing with their imaginary friends. But under new legislation, Wisconsin 8-year-olds could add hunting to their list of extracurricular activities.
If passed, Assembly Bill 586 would lower Wisconsin's minimum hunting age from 12 to eight, though it still requires children to have a mentor supervising them from an arm's length away or closer. The bill also requires 12-year-olds to take a hunter safety course to hunt legally, but would eliminate hunter safety courses for younger children.
State Rep. Scott Gunderson, R-Waterford, who introduced the bill, pointed to the decline in hunters in past years and the over-abundance of deer in the state as his reasons for creating AB 586.
'We're going to be in trouble, both from a herd-management standpoint as well as when it comes to federal funding and state funding of our national resources and sporting activities,' said Michael Bruhn, a spokesperson for Gunderson.
Gunderson is also the owner of Gundy's Sport, a store which sells hunting gear and rifles in Waterford and Wind Lake. Bruhn said Gunderson's private interests played no part in his authorization of the bill.
Another Gunderson spokesperson, Sarah Weitz, said children need to be introduced to hunting at an early age because hunting in Wisconsin is at an all-time low. She said the reason Gunderson supports this legislation is to expose children to the Wisconsin tradition of hunting.
However, some questioned the necessity of the bill.
'My biggest objection is that you're eliminating the hunter safety requirement,' said state Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison.
Green Bay resident Joe Slattery's 14-year-old son was accidentally shot and killed by a 12-year-old on a hunting trip during Thanksgiving 2005.
'This bill really shouldn't be about hunting. It should be about child safety,' Slattery said. 'No matter what your position is on hunting, kids and guns at that age is just not a good idea.'
Additionally, Slattery said the real reasons the popularity of hunting is declining are Wisconsin residents' shift from rural living to urban environments, the amount of public land available, chronic wasting disease and expenses.
UW-Madison professor of education psychology Brad Brown argued that an 8-year-old child does not have the mental sophistication of a 12-year-old.
Furthermore, Brown said children between ages 11 and 15 undergo mental growth and are better able to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
Dr. Timothy Corden, medical director of the Pediatrics Critical Care Unit at UW-Madison Children's Hospital, said fine motor skills such as grasping, manipulating and hand-eye coordination are not fully developed by age eight. He added 8-year-olds are generally clumsier than 12-year-olds.
Finally, Corden noted the American Association of Pediatrics recommends children should not ride bikes with hand brakes until age eight.
'If they're barely at the age where we think it's possible to start using a hand brake correctly on a bike,' Corden inquired, 'how does that compare to using a safety and carrying a gun that really is designed for an adult'?
