Mentoring young hunters.

Byline: Mike Stahlberg The Register-Guard

Ten-year-old Bradlee Black of Eugene will be hunting mule deer bucks in the Summer Lake area this weekend - even though he has no tag, has never passed the state hunter education course, and the 2007 Oregon Big Game Regulations plainly state that "no one 11 years of age and younger may hunt for big game."

But Bradlee - who will be hunting under the watchful eye of his father, Larry Black - is no scofflaw.

The fifth-grader at Prairie Mountain school will simply be taking advantage of Oregon's Mentored Youth Hunter Program, which is so new it's not even mentioned in the hunting synopsis.

The program was approved by the state legislature last spring. The program took effect Aug. 3, when the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted detailed rules.

It allows youths between the ages of 9 and 13 to hunt without first passing the state Hunter Education course, provided they are supervised by and under the "direct control" of a licensed adult hunter.

Any animals harvested count against the supervising adult's bag limit and harvest tag or stamps.

"It's so easy for me to give my tag up for him," said Larry Black. "I'll have more fun taking my boy hunting than I would have hunting myself."

Many other adult hunters apparently feel the same way.

Bradlee Black is one of 650 Oregon youths who had registered to hunt under the Mentored Youth program as of Friday, according to the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife. Of those, 59 (46 boys and 13 girls) are from Lane County. Their average age is 11.

State lawmakers approved the new program at the urging of the Oregon Hunter's Association, the National Wild Turkey Federation and other hunting groups fretting over a steady decline in the number of hunters. Hunting participation has dropped more than 20 percent nationally since the early 1990s.

Ironically, Oregon's strict hunter education requirement is seen as a barrier to recruiting new hunters because many young people are reluctant to go through 20 hours of classroom instruction - plus outside shooting range practice - without knowing if they even like hunting.

"This program offers kids a chance to 'try before they buy,' says Fred Craig, president of the Oregon Hunter's Association (OHA).

States with the toughest hunter education requirements also have the lowest rates of hunter recruitment, according to the OHA. Proponents of the mentored hunting bill said similar programs adopted by 12 other states have led to increased youth participation in hunting without any increase in hunting accidents.

The program is a throwback to a long-ago era when it was up to family members to decide if a youngster was physically and mentally mature enough to handle hunting. For about 50 years, however, anyone under the age of 18 has been required to have a hunter safety certificate to hunt in Oregon, and only those 12 or older could hunt big game.

Larry Black - who took Bradlee out on his first duck hunt Sunday at Fern Ridge Lake - has no qualms about going deer hunting with his son carrying the rifle.

"He's been around guns his whole life," Black said. "And he's a hell of a shot."

Black said he thinks the mentoring program will be an effective tool in helping recruit more future hunters. Under the old rules, "the younger ones, by the time they get to be about 12 and can take the hunter safety and start hunting, they're already involved in video games and other stuff and they don't want to go."

Brian Wolfer, the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife's district biologist in Springfield, said: "There are a lot of kids out there that aren't sure they'd like hunting ... For them, it's a big time commitment to go through hunter education, and it requires a lot of prior planning. This adds leeway and gives them a chance to try it before they invest all that time."

John Nagy, past president of OHA's Emerald Valley Chapter, is looking forward to taking his granddaughter Jessica hunting.

"She's always been the little anti-hunter of the family. I just want to get her out there to see there's more to it than killing that animal ... It'll be great if I can teach her about tracks and all that and maybe see a coyote or a bambi bounding away ... if she likes it, then we'll take her through the hunter safety course."

Leroy Bates of Oakridge is another fan of the new program. He says he's looking forward to taking his 11-year-old grandson, Leroy Bates III, on a Metolius Unit buck hunt next week and, later this fall, elk hunting.

"It's really great," Bates said, "It's going to give him a first-hand experience in the field, let him get a feel for the excitement of it ... and I'll be right there, teaching him how to track and showing him other things to look for that have helped me in the past."

Not surprisingly for a new option that has received little publicity, the Mentored Youth Hunter Program has created "a little bit of confusion" among some hunters, Wolfer said.

The biggest source of confusion, he said, is over the fact that mentoring isn't available for designated youth hunts and youth-only seasons. The reason, of course, is that mentored youth are technically hunting on adult tags, which are not valid for youth seasons.

Mentoring has one big advantage over the youth hunts, Wolfer said.

"I think one of the big things that's going to make this program a success is that the kid is not forced to take an animal," he said. "It's really up to the adult to decide: 'Is this situation right for the kid? Is the kid ready?' If not, the adult can go ahead and fill their tag. It gives the adult a lot of leeway in judging the situation at hand.

"And the kid's not pressured to make the most of the opportunity because he has a (youth) tag to fill."

Also, Wolfer said, there isn't isn't the law-enforcement problem created by adults who illegally fill a youth's tag.

"Some of the problems Oregon State Police have with youth hunts are no issue here, because this is basically adults giving up their tags to a youngster," Wolfer said. "As a father, I don't consider that a big downside,"

However, "if as a parent I don't want my kid shooting my deer for me, then the kid's going to have to fulfill his Hunter Ed requirement and get a license and tag in his own name."

And, of course, wait until he turns 12 years of age.

- Details of the Mentored Youth Hunter Program are available online at www.dfw.state.or.us/resources/hunting/mentored_youth_hunting_program/ index.asp.

NEW RULES FOR

YOUNG GUNS

Here are the basic requirements of Oregon's new Mentored Youth Hunter Program, which allows participants to hunt without first passing a hunter education course:

Open to youths age 9 to 13 only. Ages 14 to 17 still must take the hunter safety course and obtain their own license and tag.

May hunt only while under the direct supervision and "immediate control" of an adult hunter with valid license and tag.

Youth must register with the state annually, and possess proof of registration in the field.

Youth must review and sign a safe-hunting information form.

Supervisor must review firearm and hunter safety issues with the youth before taking field.

Supervisor is accountable for all actions of the youth hunter.

Adults may supervise one youth hunter at a time.

Only one legal weapon may be possessed by the youth and adult collectively.

Any wildlife harvested by the mentored youth hunter counts toward the supervising adult hunter's bag limit and tag(s).

The Mentored Youth Hunter Program is not applicable in designated youth-only seasons and hunts.