{"id":281368,"date":"2026-09-08T10:46:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T10:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/281368\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T10:46:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T10:46:32","slug":"12-and-13-year-olds-can-hunt-deer-in-erie-county-in-a-few-weeks-heres-how-to-prepare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/281368\/","title":{"rendered":"12- and 13-year-olds can hunt deer in Erie County in a few weeks. Here’s how to prepare"},"content":{"rendered":"

In just a few weeks, 12- and 13-year-olds will be able to hunt deer using firearms and crossbows in Erie County for the first time<\/a>. The county was the last to opt in upstate to the Department of Environmental Conservation\u2019s pilot program earlier this summer.<\/p>\n

However, DEC Regional Wildlife Biologist Ryan Rockefeller says families who are interested should start preparing for the season now and understand the rules they must follow \u2014 including child supervision.<\/p>\n

\u201cA youth that’s 12 or 13 can go out, with a firearm [or bow] accompanied by a parent or legal guardian or mentor who’s 21-years-old or older and has at least three years’ experience,\u201d Rockefeller told BTPM.<\/p>\n

In addition to the experience and age requirements, the mentor must have a signed permission form for the child. Both the child and adult must have valid hunting licenses.<\/p>\n

However, the child isn\u2019t eligible for a license until they complete a hunter education course, which is required of every first-time hunter in New York state. Rockefeller says this is why it\u2019s essential to start planning now, as these classes are popular and fill up fast in the fall.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s online courses, there’s in-person courses that folks can sign up for,\u201d Rockefeller said. \u201cThis is the busy time, especially in the fall, for those courses. So, it can be difficult. So, I encourage folks to get on it early to find a course that’s available.\u201d<\/p>\n

While hunting, both the child and mentor must wear fluorescent clothing, can only hunt deer, and must remain on the ground.<\/p>\n

In Western New York,<\/a> the regular bowhunting season begins Oct. 1 and the regular firearms season begins Nov. 21. There is also a special big game youth hunt weekend Oct. 10 through 12.<\/p>\n

For more about youth big game hunting in New York, including eligibility, licenses and seasons, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In just a few weeks, 12- and 13-year-olds will be able to hunt deer using firearms and crossbows…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":["post-281368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}