Stronger hunting laws for young hunters proposed

Published 10:47 pm Friday, December 5, 2008

OLYMPIA — When a 14-year-old hunter accidentally shot and killed Pamela Almli of Oso as she hiked along a trail in August, legislators began thinking about how they could make Washington woods safer.

Now, lawmakers, hunting groups and the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife want to change state law to require hunters younger than 14 to hunt with an adult.

“I’ve heard examples (of) 6-year-olds and 8-year-olds and 10-year-olds getting hunting licenses,” said Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle. “Those children are developing. They’re not mature necessarily. Some may be, but to have them with (a) lethal weapon where they could harm themselves and others … it defies common sense.”

She plans to propose a bill that would make it illegal for hunters under the age of either 16 or 14 to hunt without an adult. She’s leaning toward 16.

Until 1994, hunters younger than 14 couldn’t hunt without an adult. Legislators unintentionally abolished that law while passing another, unrelated gun law in the mid-90s, Kohl-Welles said.

The teen hunter who killed Almli was hunting with his 16-year-old brother. According to court documents, he mistook the hiker for a bear.

A 12-year-old Eastern Washington boy died on Thanksgiving after his friend accidently shot him with a hunting arrow.

Currently, anyone can receive a hunting license as long as they pass a hunters’ education course that lasts up to 16 hours. Most people who take the course are between 10 and 14 years old, but kids as young as 8 have passed the class and earned a hunting license, said Bruce Bjork, the law enforcement chief for state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

On Thursday, he urged the Senate Natural Resources, Ocean, and Recreation Committee to consider changing the law.

“Even though there’s certainly responsible youth out there that could probably hunt alone just fine at age 15, 16 or 14, it’s a public safety issue,” he said. “And we’d like to have individuals out there who have parental guardian supervision.”

Arlington hunter Joe Lamie has mixed feelings about requiring adults to accompany young hunters. He grew up hunting in the country and is teaching his 8-year-old grandson to hunt.

His grandson hasn’t yet fired a gun, and Lamie plans to watch over and mentor him as he learns. He worries that changing the law would discourage young hunters.

“It just depends,” he said. “I don’t know at this point when he’s 14, how responsible he’ll be. I know 14-year-olds I’d trust my life with and 25-year-olds I wouldn’t.”

The Hunters Heritage Council, a coalition of 70,000 Washington hunters, would support a law requiring kids younger than 14 to hunt with an adult, said Ed Owens, the council’s legislative director. Accidents such as the one in Skagit County that killed Almli give all hunters a bad reputation, he said.

He’s not sure if the council would embrace requiring 14- and 15-year-olds to hunt with an adult.

“The statewide hunting community has been looking at this ever since the accident occurred because they’re pretty concerned about that sort of thing,” he said. “The hunter obviously wasn’t doing what he was supposed to be doing and probably should have been in a mentor situation with someone with more experience. That’s what the hunting community is supporting.”

Reporter Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292 or kmanry@heraldnet.com.