17/05/2026
New York is banning kids from hunting with their parents. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz just vetoed a law that would have allowed 12- and 13-year-olds to hunt deer with a firearm or crossbow under adult supervision. That means a parent who believes their own child is mature enough to sit beside them in a deer blind, learn gun safety, and legally hunt a deer still gets overruled by one politician’s personal feelings. And that’s the part hunters should be furious about. New York’s own DEC data shows this youth hunting program has had five years with zero hunting-related shooting incidents, zero safety violations, and zero license revocations, but Poloncarz vetoed it anyway because he personally doesn’t feel 12- and 13-year-olds should be allowed to do it. That’s not safety. That’s anti-hunting fear dressed up like public policy. Parents should be raising their kids, not Mark Poloncarz. The idea that government can tell you what activities you are allowed to do with your kid is so anti American I don’t understand how it’s legal.
— Stephen Ziegler
Outdoor writer | Owner, DeLong Lures
