What age is "too old" to go deer hunting with a rifle?

Question

There's a story right now in Japan about an 82-year-old dude who accidentally shot his hunting friend to death while out bagging deer:

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/64-year-old-deer-hunter-shot-dead-by-fellow-hunter-in-miyagi

It's a sad story, but it looks like the 82-year-old hunter just got confused and popped off at the wrong target in his hunting party. This is sort of like when old people "hit the gas instead of the brake" while driving.

Should there be a maximum hunting age for people's safety? Or should there just be a brief cognition test to make sure an old dude (like 80+ years old) still has his mind together before you issue him a hunting license?

Answer 1

There should be a mental stability test and eye sight test once you are considered a senior I believe. As well as retaking your hunters safety course due to with old age comes less memory in most circumstances. Hope this helped!

Answer 2

That kind of depends on the support system and the person themself. My grandfather was still able to hit a running buck at over 100 yards with an open sighted model 94 Winchester that was almost 90 years old itself when he was 90. We (my father, brother, uncle) stayed with him just to be safe but he didn't really need it. There is no way to put an accurate age to it. My grandmother worked in an old folks home where 96% of the people in the place were younger than her. She's now 92 and still taking care of herself.



Gotta agree with Glacier Wolf

Answer 3

So there aren't enough problems in the world, and you're trying to create one based on what amounts to a single occurrence?



It could have been a twenty-year-old, or a forty-year-old, or a hundred-year-old man who shot his hunting partner. The man's age has little to do with it. My grandfather was well into his eighties when he passed, and had he been in good enough physical shape, he would have been able to hunt deer until the day he passed away.



No two people are alike. Therefore, making a blanket rule that prohibits certain actions based on advanced age is prejudicial and is unlawful under US laws.

Answer 4

I'm really curious as to what deer can be hunted in Japan. Second, no age restriction should ever be implemented, and quite frankly no cognition test either. If I'm not safe to hunt with in 50 more years, I hope my hunting partners are with it enough to not go with me. If they aren't there, I can't mistake them for a squirrel.

Answer 5

Show me any age - from 5 to 90 - I bet I can find a news story of a hunting accident involving a person of that age. If I use your logic - then none of us should be hunting.

Answer 6

I'd like to see them re-test drivers ever 5 years after the age of 65.



I'd feel much safer doing that than worrying about hunters

Answer 7

WHY!



I know more people in their late 50's and up I would trust with a gun than I do people under 30!

Answer 8

Hunting accidents happen at every age.