This past deer season a seven-year-old deer hunter made the front page of the Bangor Daily News – above the fold! She had a reason to smile. With the help of her grandfather, the young girl had bagged a trophy buck that will earn her the right to wear a “Biggest Bucks in Maine” patch.

It got me to thinking, and I have searched my soul to make sure that my undoubtedly unpopular view is not a case of envy.

When I was an aspiring youth hunter, too many years ago, there was an apprenticeship process that led to the deer woods. At about 10-years-old I traipsed behind my Dad in the deer cover. He carried a 30-30; I toted an air rifle. He taught me how to carry it safely, how to climb over a fence with a firearm. Using a compass, he mentored me in woods navigation, how to start a fire in the rain, how to track a buck. I learned how to read weather. As I grew and proved myself, more responsibility was entrusted to me, including the opportunity to carry a small caliber deer rifle. My dad insisted that I take two sanctioned hunter safety courses; not one, two!

In a nutshell, I earned my stripes, and in turn found the confidence and self satisfaction that comes with a knowledge of woodsmanship and whitetail habits.

Although I brought up my boys the same way, I sense that something special is being lost along the way when youngsters simply dispatch a deer from a ground blind or a treestand perch.

It’s the times, I guess. The outdoor TV shows almost always misrepresent, or at least don’t tell the whole story, about hunting or the hunting heritage. Too many deer are shot or arrowed and too many camo-clad clods gush over the antlers and high-five each other until it becomes a cliche.

The Maine law used to be that a youngster had to be 10 years or older to hunt deer. The law was changed in 2016. The argument was an easy sell: let parents decide if a kid is ready, not the government. Today in Maine, there is no minimum age for deer hunters, as long as they are under adult supervision. Next year, probably a five year-old will bag a buck.

The whole idea, or course, is to protect the heritage: get kids into hunting. Isn’t it also a fair question to ask: Is a child of six or seven emotionally developed enough to understand the life cycle and the act of harvesting wild meat?

When the law was changed for youth hunters in 2016, most of us supported the change. After all 39 others states have no minimum age, and what is not to like about the concept of letting parents, not government, make the call.

I am beginning to have second thoughts.

V. Paul Reynolds is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine guide and host of a weekly radio program, “Maine Outdoors,” heard at 7 p.m. Sundays on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network. He has authored three books; online purchase information is available at www.maineoutdoorpublications.net.

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