The minimum age for hunting and for possessing a firearm, restrictions on hunting and on possessing a firearm while hunting, establishing a hunting mentorship program, and granting rule-making authority

Mentorship program Current law requires, with certain exceptions, that every person who obtains a hunting approval must have a certificate of accomplishment issued by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) indicating that he or she has successfully completed the hunter education program or bow hunter education program established by DNR. Current law also generally prohibits hunting and firearm possession by any person under the age of 12. For persons who are at least 12 years old, but under the age of 16, current law allows hunting and firearm possession but imposes certain restrictions that vary depending on the person's age.

This bill creates a new exception to the general requirement that a person obtain a certificate of accomplishment in order to obtain a hunting approval. The bill also lowers the minimum hunting age from 12 years of age to ten years of age for persons who hunt under the hunting mentorship program established in this bill.

The bill authorizes a person who is at least ten years of age to hunt without obtaining a certificate of accomplishment and to possess or control a firearm while hunting if the person has a valid hunting approval and is hunting with a qualified mentor.

Under the hunting mentorship program, to qualify as a mentor, a person must be 18 years of age or older and be the parent or guardian of the person for whom he or she is serving as a mentor or be authorized by the parent or guardian to serve as the mentor. The bill provides that at all times when serving as a mentor, the mentor must be within arm's reach of the person for whom he or she is serving as a mentor, must have a current valid hunting approval, and must have obtained a certificate of accomplishment or be exempt from the requirement to obtain a certificate of accomplishment. The bill provides that a mentor may take only one person hunting at a time and specifies that a mentor and a person who is hunting with the mentor may jointly have only one firearm or crossbow while hunting.

Other provisions Under current law, a person who is 12 years of age or older may possess or control a firearm and may hunt with a firearm or bow and arrow on that person's land or on land owned by his or her family if no license is required and if the firing of firearms is permitted on that land. This bill allows such a person also to hunt with a crossbow on that land.

The bill also creates a new exception to the general restrictions that apply to firearm possession by persons who are under a specified age. The bill provides that those age restrictions do not apply to a person who uses a firearm in target practice if the person is accompanied by his or her parent or guardian or by a person who is at least 18 years of age who is designated by the parent or guardian.