Mentored Adult Hunting Program

Interested hunters ages 17 and older who have not taken a Hunter-Trapper Education course or held a hunting license, are eligible to purchase a Mentored Adult Hunting Permit. With the permit, mentored adults can hunt squirrels, ruffed grouse, rabbits (cottontails), bobwhite quail, hares, porcupines, woodchucks, crows, coyotes, antlered deer, antlerless deer, and wild turkeys.

Mentored adults must be accompanied by an adult mentor who is a licensed hunter and must remain within eyesight of their adult mentor, and in proximity close enough for verbal instruction and guidance to be easily understood. Both mentor and mentee may carry firearms.

A Mentored Adult Hunting Permit may be purchased at any license issuing agent or online. An adult may purchase a permit for up to three non-consecutive years, after which they must take a Hunter-Trapper Education course to purchase an adult hunting license.

When an adult or youth customer purchases a mentored product, the system records the purchase on the customer's profile. Once a customer has purchased the limited number of mentored products, the system will not allow the customer to purchase another mentored product. At that time, the customer must purchase a regular license (or junior license if a minor). However, a youth may purchase an unlimited number of Mentored Youth permits until they reach age 12. Once that youth has reached 12 years of age, the permit purchase count becomes retroactive and is recorded for future Mentored Hunting permit purchases. For example, if the Mentored Hunting permit limit is three, the following scenario would apply: If a customer obtains a Mentored Youth permit each year between the ages of five and nine, they will have purchased five permits. They are allowed to do so because they have not yet reached age 12. However, when that customer becomes 12 years of age, the count history becomes active and that customer would no longer be allowed to purchase a Mentored Hunting permit because they have surpassed the three permit limit. From that point forward, they would not be eligible to purchase a mentored product. Instead, they would need to purchase a regular hunting license if over age 17, or a regular junior license until they reached adulthood. Likewise, if the customer had only purchased two Mentored Youth permits when they were under age 12, then did not purchase another permit until they were 20 years old, they would be allowed to purchase one Mentored Adult permit at age 20. After that purchase, they would no longer be eligible to purchase a Mentored Hunting permit.