Discussions Regarding Minimum Age For Using Hunting Gun In Michigan

According to Rep. Pettalia, the future hunters in Michigan that want to get hooked on this sport must start at an early age. As a consequence, he introduced House Bill 4371 that if passed, it will allow young hunters, 10 years and under to be mentored by someone that has the desire to introduce them to this type of sport. He said that in order to be eligible for the mentor hunter status, you have to be a legal license holder that is above 21 years old and you cannot have an apprentice license.

The current situation is: if you are 9 years old or younger, you do not have the possibility to hunt in this state. If this bill will become a law, the situation is going to change. You would be able to hunt at any age, just as long as you have an approved mentor nearby in the woods.

Just like any other bill or law regarding hunting, this too has raised a few questions. Under this bill, the hunter does not have to be sitting with, or right next to the aforementioned older mentor in the hunting field. Pettalia said that this was intentional as he considers that it is not practical to have hunters shoulder to shoulder all the time.

Another benefit of this bill, according to Representative Pettalia, is in the economics. In other words, if the minimum age limit is no longer required, the sales of hunting clothing, guns and the rest of the equipment will rise.