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After toddlers issued hunting licenses in Wisconsin area rules explained

In this Nov. 19, 2017 photo provided by Tyler Harris, Lexie Harris, 6, poses after bagging a buck in Taylor County, Wis. Lexie is among the first youngsters to bag a buck under the state’s new law that eliminates the state’s minimum hunting age. She is no stranger to the woods. Her dad, Tyler Harris, has taken her hunting since she was three. But, it wasn't until Gov. Scott Walker signed the law on Nov. 12 that Lexie could legally shoot a deer. (Tyler Harris / AP)
By Eli Francovich elif@spokesman.com(509) 459-5508

HUNTING – Wisconsin officials sold 10 hunting licenses to children under the age of 1, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported last week.

That came after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker eliminated the state’s minimum hunting age in November. Previously, the minimum age to participate in a mentored hunt was 10.

The Sentinel reported that 1,722 mentored hunt licenses were sold to children 9 or younger. Fifty-two licenses went to children under 5, and 10 went to children a year old.

The youngest child to register a kill was 4.

“We don’t really have a minimum age. You have to pass hunter education,” said Madonna Luers, the spokeswoman for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

But, the the hunter education course is too difficult for many young children, she said.

In Washington, children 10 or older may defer their hunter education once. But, they must be accompanied by a licensed hunter who is over the age of 18 and who agrees to supervise the younger hunter.

In Idaho, children as young as 8 may participate in a mentored hunt under the Passport Program. Mentored hunters must be 10 years old or older to hunt big game, turkey and sandhill crane.

Children must be 10 to hunt alone, said Mike Keckler, the spokesman for the Idaho Fish and Game Department. However, children 8 years and older may take a hunter education course.

Correction: A spokeswoman for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife mischaracterized the age at which most children can pass hunter education. The story has been corrected.