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Taking an 8 year old to hunter's ed?

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rideold

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My 8 year old had his first day at the range with a 22 rifle last weekend and really enjoyed himself. He's been shooting a recurve for about a year but this was his first introduction to live firing a firearm. His last two comments of the day were "When can we do this again" and "I wish I could have that rifle". He has been asking me about hunting for a year or so and I've been trying to figure out how to get him out with me. I figured I would take him out bird or bunny hunting since that would be doable for part of a day. He's not going to be content to just walk along with me so I'd appreciate any advice folks could give me on getting him through hunter's ed so he can get a small game license. We're in Colorado. I thought maybe going the internet based route might be better for him so we can do it in small easy to pay attention chunks. How have others approached it? I'm hoping he doesn't have to wait until he is 12 or 13 before he get's a chance.
 
Contact Colorado Parks and Wildlife and they'll tell you. I think CO has the apprentice allowance but the hunter must be 10. Many states require youngsters sit in the actual Hunter's Ed class and the online is for adults. There is a possibility that rabbits and such don't require Hunter's Ed...birds may be a different story (I don't know). All of those could be answered by an email to CO Parks and Wildlife.
 
I take my kids bird hunting at least once a year. For WY (and I'd guess CO is similar), there is no age minimum, as long as they can pass the test without being given the answers. I have a six year old I'll be signing up for hunter's safety before the 2018 fall. She's really itching to hunt rabbits herself.
 
Hunter's Ed this weekend for my 10yo and he's already shot 5 deer! :D IN has an apprentice license setup, which he's used the 3 each person (of any age) is allowed. So now he's taking the class to be able to get his own license/tags. Here the online course is only available to kids 12 and older.

PS- Mine HAD to be content to go along with me for both squirrel and deer hunting. It was about them having fun and wanting to go again, but they knew they were just along for the fun. I shot deer with the kids by my side prior to them getting to hunt. YMMV...
 
My 8 and 10 year olds both completed the internet based Colorado curriculum in the spring. I highly recommend it.
 
I am a hunter ed instructor. I do not agree with an age limit for taking hunter ed. I know a lot of kids well under the age of 12 that should be allowed to take the course and in the flip side I know of others well above the age of 12 that are just not ready. Maturity does not necessarily have anything to do with age. In my class if a child is able to comprehend and take the written exam and pass at the end of the 10 hr class then I do not restrict the age. I understand why they limit the age online because anyone can be taking the test for the person so they had to come up with some reasonable age.
 
I just moved to Colorado, so I'm not up to speed on all the specifics, but from what I can tell its similar to what I just went thru with my 9 yr old about 18 months ago. With the electronic you still have to go thru a some class and field work. After looking at the pacing, my need to check inon him and, most importantly, my desire to make sure he receives the small tid bits of woodsmanship that dont come from an online course I decided it would just be easier to enroll him in a local class. That way it was all done in a little over a week and we were ready to go.

As stated above, I think age is dependent on each individual child and their desire to learn and listen. My son was super interested and we wanted to get him ready for turkey season. Both Arizona and Idaho allow them to start hunting at 10, so there are some big game opportunities close by as well. BTW if you havent taken a kid turkey hunting its a riot. We have had so much fun. I never had a desire to turkey hunt before taking the little guy now I really look forward to it.
 
Wanted to follow up on my previous post. Kids that age are used to learning behind a PC. They do computer-based learning in school every day. Mine were able to navigate the course completely on their own. Additionally, they were able to take the course at a pace which was reasonable for them. I was really impressed by how much they learned, retained, and comprehended. The one-day completion course is a long day for them. It's a lot of time for an 8 year old to sit in a classroom and focus. But both of mine did it, with a 96 and 98% on the final tests. They were both smoked after the class though.

Good luck. He'll do great!
 
Thanks for all the advice. Thinking I'll introduce him to the internet based course and see how he does. I'm skeptical about him sitting through the completion course but I see a few in the area that split it up into two shorter days/evenings. His motivation seems pretty high right now so probably best to capitalize on that momentum! Sure would be nice to have him along this fall.
 
I took the non-resident supplemental hunter's ed course several years ago. Most of the students were adults but 3 were grade school to junior high age. The youngest struggled with the test. I think that young boy had grasped the concepts during the class enough he deserved to earn the certificate but the test is required. The test was apparently intimidating for him with several words we take for granted but are not commonly used by grade-schoolers and the test had a bit of time pressure. The instructor took the boy to the side after tests were graded and clarified some of the missed questions so the boy understood what was being asked and then asked the boy for his answer. He did well enough to pass.

I am never a fan of hard and fast rules based on age but that is the way with getting driver's licenses, voting, drinking, mature movies at theaters, etc.
 
Kansas hunter ed classes are open to any age, but to take the test, the minimum age is 12. For resident hunters, mentored hunting is allowed without a hunter safety class being completed until age 16, and there is a one year "apprentice" license good for one calendar year if a prospective hunter is older than 16.

Non-residents must show proof of hunter's safety completion before hunting in Kansas (any age, which trips up some of the older hunters that are grandfathered in their home state).
 
I've been teaching Hunter Education for 17 years now. I have seen a lot of kids do very well at a young age and others that have no business carrying a gun. You already talked about trying to get him in a course that breaks it up over several days instead of one day. I personally think that is a good idea. We keep our evening classes to a maximum of three hours per night just because the attention span for a small kid doesn't go much longer than that. For a younger child I really do prefer the in person class versus the online class. I get it that the way kids learn is completely different than how I grew up but I still think an instructor in front of the class can actually get the point across a lot better than reading something off the computer screen. It also gives an opportunity for the students to ask questions and discuss various scenarios.

One thing that I will do with friends who want to get their child in Hunter education, is to get them one of the class booklets. Have them start reading that to see if they truly have a desire to complete the class. In the booklets we use, there are sample questions in the back and if the kids do pretty well with the sample questions it seems they're interest is strong enough for them to take the class.
 
I did the Idaho online course with my 10 year old this summer and then to the field day and test. He and another kid got the 2nd and 3rd highest scores on the test that day and there were adults in there. It was funny because those 2 were the last to turn in their tests. They payed attention and did very well.
 
By the time my son could take the course in Mississippi, he could nearly teach the class. So awesome that he wants to hunt.
 
My son and several others went to a week like my camp at Tara wildlife and got their hunter safety card as part of the camp. It was awesome.
 
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