A bill passed this year will allow younger hunters to hunt with guns
GAYLORD, MI -- It is overwhelmingly the favorite day of the year for deer hunters.
Opening day for firearms is Tuesday.
This year, the Department of Natural Resources hopes new laws will have many more young hunters in the woods.
The bill is called the "Hunter Heritage Act" and was passed by State Legislators earlier this year.
The minimum age to hunt with firearms used to be 12, but now, 10 and 11 year olds can hunt deer and other game with firearms on private land and in 2012, those nine and under can hunt with supervision.
The DNR hopes starting children younger will make them want to stick with it.
"I’ve hunted since I was like 10," says Destany Schram, who is now 14.
Destany loves opening day. Last year, she shot a five-point, and this year, look close, she has her fingernails painted hunter's orange.
"The heartbeat of when that deer walks out in front of you," explains Schram.
Every year, her uncles take her out to their lucky spot in the Pigeon River Country Forest and she hunts right next to them. Destany began hunting under the “Apprentice Law” that went into place in 2006. It allows 10 and 11 year olds to hunt with an adult for two years without taking hunter's safety.
"I think it's a lot better to get them involved right away because it gives you the ability to spend time with them, because they just grow up so fast," said Destany’s uncle Cory Schram.
A new law, called the Hunter Heritage Act, hopes to reduce regulations even further to help increase hunting numbers that for the last 10 years have dwindled.
The act reduces the minimum age for firearm hunters from 12 to 10, as long as the child has the proper hunter’s safety courses and if they hunt on private land. In 2012, children nine and under can hunt with adult supervision.
"Michigan has such a great tradition of getting youth out, whether it's deer hunting, small game hunting, all of it, and we are really focusing on trying to engage kids and bring them out," said Ashley Hippler in the DNR Wildlife Management division.
"I think people should get into stuff just to get into it, to say they've actually like had a shot at a deer," said Destany.
And the DNR says they've looked at studies that show the younger someone participates, the more likely they are to continue with it, and as for safety concerns, Cory Schram thinks parents will take care of that.
“I believe parents do a really good job in making sure everything's safe, and that's why we want her to be around us," said Cory.
And no matter what the age, the DNR says safety is always its main concern.
Destany tells me her goal was this year is to shoot a trophy buck that is bigger than the ones her uncles shoot.
It's that type of excitement the DNR tells me they're looking for.
To learn more about deer hunting in Michigan, CLICK HERE.
