Youth served early in season

Michael Ray II is just 6. Chandler Cooper is 8 and Jonathan Saul will turn 10 very soon.

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One thing they all have in common: They all killed a buck this year.

Although the average age of America's hunters is gradually rising, youngsters today often learn to hunt at a much earlier age.

"My son has hunted with me since he was 4," said Jason Cooper, Chandler's dad. "This year he was ready to actually shoot."

Their opening weekend proved to be a memorable one.

"Saturday morning, he killed his first doe," Cooper said.

The following day, Chandler scored twice more with 11- and seven-point bucks.

The larger buck appeared just after daybreak, but when Chandler shot, the deer vanished, leaving no trace of blood.

The Coopers returned to the stand, and the hunt continued. Two long hours later, Chandler killed the seven-pointer.

When they returned to search again for the first deer, it was a few yards into the woods.

The whole episode was as memorable as it was remarkable.

There is no set rule as to when children should begin to hunt, but experts generally agree that kindling a child's interest at an early age can foster lifelong respect for the outdoors and a better focus on gun safety.

"A lot of states believe parents have the responsibility of teaching their kids to hunt, and the state should be secondary," said Capt. James Bell, hunting safety coordinator for Georgia's Wildlife Resources Division. "We say it's a matter of personal choice."

Although a hunting license is not required until the age of 16, kids today frequently learn and participate many years before they are licensed.

Michael Ray believes in starting kids as early as possible.

His son, also named Michael, took killed his first deer this season at the age of 6.

"If you don't get them interested when they're young they may not have an interest when they're older," Ray said. "I started him out shooting clay targets in the yard with a .22 and a .410 shotgun, and he loved it."

This season, after some practice at the Yuchi Wildlife Management Area rifle range, the youngster accompanied his dad during an opening weekend hunt near Girard, Ga., where he took his buck.

"With someone this young, it can get a little boring during the downtime in the stand," Ray said. "I let him play video games on my cell phone with the sound off."

Georgia has about 850 hunter education volunteer instructors, most of whom believe 12 is an average preferred age for kids to start hunting, Capt. Bell said.

"It's also good for kids of any age to go along with their dad, if they enjoy it."

Hunter education, offered to all ages, has helped curb firearms related accidents in the state.

"When Georgia's hunter education program started, the age group that had the most problems was 10 to 19," he said. "Now it's between 45 and 55, and more than half of those were people falling out of treestands, so our accident figures are no longer a firearms related set of numbers."

In recent decades, hunting as a pastime has been stung by a gradual decline in participation, but Capt. Bell and many others believe starting kids at a younger age can help stabilize that trend.

"Most states have, in the last four or five years, placed a lot of emphasis on recruitment and retention," he said. "With children, sometimes they have to be hunters before they realize if they want to be hunters."

The number of hunting licenses sold in the U.S. actually increased slightly during 2004, due in part to programs catering to younger hunters, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Numbers for 2004 rose less than 1 percent from 14,740,188 to 14,779,071, compared to frequent declines in recent years.

"We've seen increases in two of the past six years," said Jodi Valenta, director of recruitment and retention programs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. "I believe that's a tribute to the many wonderful programs today that are designed to recruit and retain hunters."

Jonathan Saul, a Greenbrier Elementary School fourth-grader, has known for several years that he wants to be a hunter.

"We've always been outside people and we love to hunt," said his dad, Augusta State University wildlife biologist Bruce Saul.

This season, Jonathan took a large doe opening morning, followed by an eight-pointer the same afternoon.

"It doesn't get any better than that," his dad said.

Reach Rob Pavey at 868-1222, ext. 119, or rob.pavey@augustachronicle.com.