For hunting-loving families in Wisconsin, the magic number..has always been 10.
"They use it as like a milestone," Appleton's The Reel Shot manager Matt Tratz said. "You're ten years old now you can come on in."
Come into The Reel Shot, get a license, and join the hunt. But here and across the state, license-selling stores saw a change this year. That magic number, ten, went away when Wisconsin dropped its minimum hunting age.
"What we'd really like to see if folks taking their kids out, taking new hunters, folks that haven't been out," DNR Wildlife Supervisor John Huff said. "Get them out there and take advantage of opportunities."
It appears many families took advantage this year. The DNR reports Wisconsin sold almost 15,000 mentored gun licenses in 2017. That's a number up about 1,500 licenses from a year ago. Officials hope to see the trend continue.
"I'm excited about more and more kids being out there," Trantz said. "It's just up to us, the adults, to make sure that the safety is happening properly as well."
Trantz said his overall license sales stayed consistent, but he did see quite a few younger kids getting licenses.
"Cool thing for me is seeing a lot of dad and daughter, mother daughter situations that are happening now," Trantz said.
Whole families joining the hunt - dad, mom, and kids of all ages.
