hehe. Driving through an area of Pennsylvania’s state gamelands there is a sign that says, “Hunt Safely”. When we drive by the sign, I always reply, “and gather with care”. 
State eyes new limits on hunters after hiker’s fatal shooting.
I’ve been wanting to do some overnight hikes lately but think I’ll wait until rifle season is done. My burgundy & white packsack makes me look like a Cougar.
According to the OP’s link, the kid and his brother were “100 per cent sure” (that it was a bear).
Many trails, including the Bruce trail go through private property as well. And given the sheer volume of trails, it would be impossible to establish set-back limits for hunters because they’d always be close to some kind of trail.
That’s silly. Thousands of trailheads already have “permitted uses” posted along with all sort of information. Actually it’s very, very rare for me to get to a trailhead that does not have a signage for prohibited/permitted activities, and general warnings (such as poison ivy, bears, extreme elevation changes and terrain issues etc.). Trail closures due to dangerous conditions are also routinely posted, wouldn’t they face the same liability risks if those fell over?
All I’m suggesting, is that signs like this one add the “man with rifle” icon along with the others, where it’s applicable. Easy as pie.
It’s all the zippers and reflective tape. The reflective tape just screams “cougar”.
Yes, I suppose this is true. The tests have to be written for adults with minimal education too.
I wouldn’t object to that. I’m just saying that most of the trailheads in NH don’t have signs like that to begin with.
An eight-year-old can get a hunting license and hunt alone? There is absolutely no way that’s appropriate.
Granted, we all do stupid stuff (I safely caught a live rattlesnake and brought it home when I was nine), but any parent who would allow that is negligent.
I got rid of my guns when my kids were born and didn’t let them handle so much as a BB gun until they’d gone through the 4-H gun training program and passed the hunter’s safety exam. There are a lot of teenagers that hunt around here, but most of them go with an adult if they’re under about 15.
In this area (Montana), there are a few signs at trails warning of hunters, and there are a few areas where I’d never set foot during hunting season, but for the most part the default is that people will be hunting on BLM, Forest Service, and a lot of private land. If you want to hike where you can be absolutely sure there are no hunters, head for a National Park, State Park, or private land where you know the owner doesn’t allow hunting.
I was under the impression that it was the Gucci purse that screamed “cougar”. 
IANAHunter so I just do not understand this at all. I simply cannot conceive of mistaking a human in a blue jacket for a black or brown bear. I cannot understand mistaking a kid wearing blaze orange for a deer.
You say this is common and I’ll accept you at your word but it flies flatly in the face of what many here suggest is a cardinal rule of hunting…identify your target 100% (as well as what is behind it). If you are suggesting an adrenaline rush is the issue then that should be part of the classes. That should be the time when every hunter schools themselves to pause a moment and double-check. Sounds a common enough feeling for hunters that no hunter would be unaware of this and act accordingly when it occurs.
From where I stand it seems an over eagerness to just shoot something. I would think pausing 5 seconds to get a good look makes eminent sense. But again I am not a hunter and maybe the moment to take a shot rarely presents itself for more than a moment and the hunter just must squeeze one off ASAP (however if these kids were in an open area it is hard to conceive how the “bear” could have gotten away from them even if they paused a few moments).
And TBH I do not understand allowing 14 year-olds (9 apparently when he got his license) to ramble around toting guns. As noted above you need to be 21 to drink a beer. You need to be 16-18 to drive a car. But it is ok to hand a gun to a 9-year-old with a grand total of 10 hours of class? Boggles the mind. At the least kids below 16 (or 18 even) should be required to have adult supervision while hunting.
I’m going to agree with you there. Activities like fishing and hunting should be done because you enjoy being out there, not because you enjoy being successful all the time.
Bad hunters talk about the shot they took, good hunters talk about the best shots they’ve taken, but great hunters talk about the shot they could have taken and didn’t.
I’m not saying that it is acceptable, or something we should ignore, or something that shouldn’t be severely punished. Yes, without doubt, it’s the responsibility of the hunter to identify the target and the backdrop. Yes, without a doubt, this hunter (and many others) violated the most basic rule of hunting.
But when new and young hunters are in the woods for 4-6 hours and building up the tension and then something moves where you expect to see your target, they can react poorly. I wish I knew how to prevent it, but I don’t. Blaze Orange, signs, and more classes will all help diminish the danger but as long as there are hunters out there this remains a possibility. This can be a problem with police officers who are much better trained and presumably more mature then this 14 year old kid.
Thanks for the update, which includes:
Has any news source discussed what the kid was going to do with his kill (if it were a bear)?
Steal her wallet.
When you go to hell for that line, look me up. I’ll be the guy laughing.
I aim to please. I didn’t think anyone would get it, actually.
I’m guessing the usual: Take it to the taxidermist and have a rug made, clean the skull and eat the meat. (Although when I worked at a taxidermy studio, I got a LOT of free bear meat.)
Here’s another article: How old is “old enough” to hunt in Washington?
My husband grew up in northern Minnesota; his father was a professional hunter and trapper. He was out hunting and trapping by himself by the age of 12, and even today his brother teaches firearm safety classes to kids under age 12 that they have to pass in order to be allowed to hunt. But he also had the rules pounded into him far, far more intensively than these kids did, obviously. And the hunting they did in those days was for meat for the table, so it was serious business (he doesn’t recall eating store-bought meat more than once or twice a year growing up).
Safe hunting can be done by younger kids. But it requires a lot of careful adult supervision to make sure the kids are sufficiently aware of the rules to avoid this kind of terrible accident. Which obviously didn’t happen in this case.
You could say exactly the same thing about thinks like driving, and drinking alcohol.
But the fact is that, for better or worse, society has determined that there are some things that are best left until people reach a certain age and level of experience. While these rules no doubt end up penalizing a few younger people who could do these things responsibly, they are not terminally deprived by the delay, and society is generally better off for making them wait.
Hunting alone should also be one of those things.
mhendo, I agree.
AIUI up until a few years ago it was still possible for very young children to solo on air craft, and so you’d have some children and their parents competing for the record for such silliness as “Youngest Pilot to solo cross-country.” Then an under 10 yo pilot augered in, and the FAA stepped in to change the regulations.
I see no need in this day and age, where hunting is mostly recreation, for young teens to be exempt from the same sort of restrictions that they’d face handling any other kind of potentially deadly equipment. I don’t know whether it’s Federal Law, but it’s illegal in NYS for anyone under 18 to handle a deli slicer. I cannot see a need for young teens or pre-teens to be allowed to hunt on their own.