The following press release is one of these events that somewhat restore my often faltering fait in a prosperous and bright future of our hunting heritage for generations to come.
Oregon Mentored Hunting Bill Becomes Law
Governor signs bill
June 22, 2007 (Oregon)
The recruitment of young sportsmen will be made easier now that Gov. Ted Kulongoski has signed legislation to allow mentored youth hunting.
On June 11, Gov. Kulongoski signed SB 892. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Roger Beyer, R-Molalla, establishes a mentored youth hunting program to allow children between nine and 14 years to hunt under supervision of a licensed adult. It stipulates that a single firearm may be carried during the hunt, and allows the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission to develop safety and ethical standards for participation.
The bill was approved unanimously in the Senate on April 14 and passed in the House of Representatives on May 21 by a vote of 48 to 4.
This bill reflects the goals of the Families Afield campaign, established by the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance, National Wild Turkey Federation, and National Shooting Sports Foundation. The campaign was developed to eliminate unnecessary hunting age restrictions and ease hunter education mandates for first-time hunters. The National Rifle Association assisted in the campaign for the measure.
Available data from states that have implemented mentored hunting programs show nearly 34,000 new hunters, both children and adults, were safely brought to the field in 2006. There has not been a single hunting-related shooting incident among the newcomers.
Tags: Youth Hunting Program, Oregon, Politics, Law, Legislation, Hunting, NRA, NWTF, NSSF, USSA
3 comments:
It's good they passed that bill, but I can't believe kids that age weren't allowed to hunt before.
Thanks for dropping by Matt. I was surprised too about the former age restrictions. My personal opinion is, that it should be entirely up to the parents to decide at what age they want to take their kids hunting.
-Othmar Vohringer-
-Othmar Vohringer-
I am a student filmmaker at N.W. Documentary.org, and I want to video interview some younger hunters, ages 12-16, male or female, for this project. It's a 10 week class and there are only 4 weeks left to video the interviews, so if you have a child or know of one who might be interested please respond to this email.
Here's the back story. A month ago I was stranded with a broken down van on the road out of Leslie Gulch in S.E. Oregon. Now that's one of the most if not the most services remote areas in the lower 48, and there wasn't cell phone service for 40 miles. So we happened on a ranch house and the owner allowed us access to the land line phone. During two to three trips back and forth to my van to try different starting tips, I had a very interesting conversation with a 12 year old boy hunter who lived there.
When I got there he was in the living room cleaning some rifles while sitting atop a fox fur skin and watching what looked like a Disney type movie with animated animals in eden like settings, like fox families, etc. Now, I am not a hunter but my son in law is, and we've enjoyed the bounty of his kills. So I'm not at all opposed to hunting. Still, I found those juxtapositions in that living room interesting. He and I talked about hunting around this very remote area, especially his feelings about animals, the hunt, nature and death. It was all quite new and fascinating to me. I'm sure it wouldn't have been so unique to a hunter and I'm sure the questions would have been quite different.
So, when I was asked about a project for a documentary film in this film class, I chose to do a film project about young hunters and explore the way they think. Nothing more, nothing less. I have no agenda to push. I'm not making a film for PETA or for the NRA. It's a student film and will be shown, when it's completed, to the class and invited guests. I understand that hunting can be a polarizing issue for many people (obviously not on this forum) and everything surrounding it can often be interpreted with strong points of view, but I have no intention of making a film that is geared toward making a political statement. I do intend to make a film that explores the way younger people approach hunting.
You can reach me at: buddy6713@yahoo.com
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