The Families Afield Program is seeking to eliminate minimum hunting age requirements and a relaxation of Hunter Education requirements in exchange for a one-time apprentice hunting license to encourage more new hunters to be introduced to the sport.

Are we passing through the twilight years of hunting in America? As we celebrate this year, the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown Colony, the number of hunters in the U.S. is almost 25 percent less than it was a quarter-century ago.

The high water mark for hunting in America was reached in 1985, when almost 17 million men, women and young people bought hunting licenses. If current downward trends continue, by 2025 we may have fewer than 10 million hunters in the country. To make matters worse, current hunters are not passing along their interest in the sport to their offspring. Only 25 percent of young people from hunting households are hunters themselves.

“By the time kids are in middle school,” said U.S. Sportsmen’s Association (USSA) President, Bud Pidgeon, “they’re already being pulled away by the allure of video games, organized sports and other activities.”

The decline of hunting in America is statistically chronicled by the Hunter Replacement Ratio (HRR). Ideally, for every 100 hunters leaving the sport, an equal number of new hunters would take to the fields and forests. That would represent an HRR of 1.00. Unfortunately, only seven states--Arizona, Delaware, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Rhode Island--meet or exceed the ideal HRR. Nationally, the average HRR is a dismal 0.69. Unless the national HRR increases, the ranks of America’s hunters will continue to dwindle.

In 21st century America, there are many impediments for current hunters, let alone for those contemplating the sport. Family life has become impossibly hectic. Suburban sprawl and antihunting squeamishness severely impinges upon accessible, productive hunting land. To complicate matters further, many states enforce arbitrary minimum hunting ages and daunting hunter education requirements.

In an effort to overcome the minimum hunting age and hunter education obstacles, the Families Afield Program (FAP) was established in 2004. A cooperative venture by the National Wild Turkey Federation, the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the U.S. Sportsmen’s Association, FAP seeks to convince state legislatures and game management agencies to lower or eliminate minimum hunting ages and defer hunter education requirements. The ideal arrangement is for a parent to determine the age at which his or her child is sufficiently mature to start hunting. If a parent decides to take his son or daughter hunting, the FAP advocates the issuance of a one-time apprentice hunting license, which allows hunting for one year without completion of a hunter education course.

While hunter education programs vary from state to state, many adult hunters know the course work can be quite challenging. There are no “youth versions” of the courses, and many younger prospective hunters may be turned off by what seems like just more boring schoolwork. However, hunting with a parent or other adult mentor prior to taking a hunter education course can whet a young person’s appetite for the sport.

“Allowing young people to safely experience hunting with a mentor is the best way to make them appreciative of the hunting tradition,” observed Rob Keck, NWTF CEO. “Getting [young people] interested in hunting... not only prepares them for hunter education courses, but lays the foundation for being good conservationists.”

The FAP apprentice hunting license initiative is not intended solely to benefit young hunters. In states that offer the apprentice licenses, individuals of any age may hunt for a year in the company of a licensed adult hunter without having to pass a hunter education course. The Families Afield program is already drawing significant numbers of new hunters into the field. Statistics from Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi and Ohio demonstrate that relaxed minimum hunting age requirements and apprentice licenses have attracted nearly 34,000 new hunters without a single hunting-related incident.