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Staff reviews youth and mentored hunting programs across states and summarizes Pennsylvania policy and sales
Summary
Information and education staff summarized Pennsylvania’s junior and mentored hunting rules, reported 34,158 mentored permits sold in 2023 (most to young youth), and mapped how other states vary in age limits, hunter education deferrals and whether mentees hold their own big‑game tags.
The Game Commission’s information and education division presented a review of youth and mentored hunting opportunities across U.S. states and summarized Pennsylvania’s current rules and recent mentored‑permit sales.
Courtney LaVita, hunter education and outreach division chief, summarized Pennsylvania policy: the junior license is available to residents and nonresidents ages 12–16 who have completed hunter education (youth 15 and younger must be accompanied by an adult; 16‑year‑olds may hunt unsupervised). The state also offers a mentored hunting permit that allows individuals of any age to try hunting before completing hunter education; mentees 12 and older may use the permit for up to three years before being required to take hunter education.
LaVita said mentees aged 16 and younger must be stationary and within arm’s reach of their mentor while possessing any lawful hunting device; mentors and mentees together may possess no more than one lawful hunting device when the mentee is under 16. For mentees under 7, big game tags must be transferred from mentor to mentee; mentees 7 and older may be eligible to purchase their own junior big‑game tags depending on circumstances. LaVita noted the program’s complexity and that some provisions differ among DMAP, ag‑tag and other special permits.
In 2023 the Commission sold 34,158 mentored permits, she said, and over 29,000 of those were to youth age 11 or under; agency records showed 406 harvest tags were transferred from mentors to mentees during that license year, though LaVita cautioned that transfer counts depend on harvest reporting and may be undercounted.
LaVita reviewed national variation: some states impose minimum ages for hunter education courses, others have no minimum; roughly 36 states have some version of a mentored or apprentice license; most states require youth to hold their own big‑game tags or provide separate bag limits, but a minority allow mentors to transfer or share tags. She provided commissioners with an Excel summary of state rules and urged boards and staff to consider the variety of approaches when weighing policy changes.
Ending: Commissioners asked detailed questions about age thresholds, tag transfers and DMAP/ag‑tag interactions; staff said some differences are regulation‑driven and can be discussed at the board level if policy change is desired.
