Erie County could soon opt-in to a state Department of Environmental Conservation pilot program allowing 12- and 13-year-old children to hunt deer with a gun.
Erie County Legislator Frank Todaro said more legislators are supporting the initiative after a February DEC report showed no hunting-related shooting incidents, violations or license revocations occurred during the first five years of the pilot. Erie and Rockland remain the last two counties to not participate.
Todaro, a Republican, said when the legislation was first introduced a few years ago, some legislators had concerns over safety.
“The first time around, the legislators, I noticed more in the urban setting where there is no hunting allowed, it seems that their concern was, 'oh, geez, this, this is a child. They should not be handling a weapon.' That was their main thing," Todaro said. "They did not want to be responsible, to have a death during this pilot program and something they voted for. It's understandable.”
Todaro believes they now have enough votes to both pass the law and bypass any veto from County Executive Mark Poloncarz.
"It's the parents that want to make the decision for their child to go into the woods and hunt. We have a lot of government, the overreach is not something that many are happy about," Todaro said.
Poloncarz's position since that 2021 veto has remained the same.
"The County Executive has not changed his opinion on this topic since the last time he was asked about it," a spokesperson told BTPM NPR.
Enrolled youth have to take a safety course with homework, pass a test and must be supervised while hunting. The person supervising them has to be a parent, guardian or adult mentor 21 years old or older, with more than three years of experience hunting. The child can only hunt deer, not black bear, must wear high-visibility clothing, must remain on the ground and can not use tree stands.
In 2024-25, over 12,000 youth hunters were licensed and estimated to have brought in over $200,000 in license fees through the program.
The DEC is asking the state to make the program permanent and no longer require counties to opt-in through local laws.
