The Utah Wildlife Board this week approved a proposal to eliminate age restrictions for hunting small game and reduce the minimum age for hunting big-game animals from 14 to 12.

Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) officials made the proposal after studying surrounding states with less-restrictive age requirements and finding that allowing youngsters to hunt had not increased accidents or fatalities among hunters.

The changes, which must be approved by the Legislature before becoming law, are designed to help train and recruit young hunters and in turn bolster the dwindling percentage of hunters in the overall population, a trend in Utah and nationwide.

"We found the rest of the world, at least the Western states, changed and we didn't," said Jim Karpowitz, director of the DWR. "We are more restrictive than other states and we wanted to take it to the public and see what they thought of it."

The proposals were presented to the public during Regional Advisory Council meetings hosted by the DWR in the state's five regions earlier this month. No one spoke out against the proposals during the hearings.

The DWR has already found a sponsor to introduce the small-game change in the 2006 Legislative session, but the big-game age reduction may have to wait until 2007.

Under current state law, youths must wait until they are 12 to hunt small game like cottontail rabbits, waterfowl and pheasants. If approved by the Legislature, there would be no age restriction, placing Utah in line with eight other Western states. Idaho restricts small-game hunting to those over 10; in Montana, it's over 12.

The change would not instantly allow any 6-year-old with a hankering for meat to pick up a gun or bow. All hunters in Utah are required to obtain a hunter education certificate before buying a license to kill wildlife in the state. License costs range from $11 for small-game hunters ages 12-14 to more than a $1,100 for bison on Antelope Island.

The hunter education class involves 12 hours of classroom activity followed by a day at the range, where students must show a proficiency in target shooting and demonstrate safe and responsible use of a .22-caliber rifle. Hunter education students must correctly answer 75 percent of a 50-question written or verbal test before receiving the certificate.

Lenny Rees, hunter education coordinator for the DWR, says the test is designed for an 11-year-old and would not be altered for younger applicants.

Also unchanged would be a state law that requires all hunters under age 14 to be accompanied by an adult or legal guardian, Rees said.

About 10,000 people took hunter education classes in Utah in 2004, and about half of them were younger than 14, he said.

Utah has had three hunting-related firearm fatalities reported since 1996, including one in 2000 involving a minor. In that case, a 14-year-old attempting to unload a rifle after returning home from the deer hunt accidentally shot and killed a 23-year-old victim.

Dave Pauli, a regional director of the Humane Society of the United States based in Billings, Mont., likes that all hunters in Utah are required to pass the safety course, but questioned whether hunting should be held accountable like other age-appropriate restrictions.

"There are certain levels of skill and maturity that we expect as a society for things like getting a driver's license, voting and drinking," Pauli said. "In that case, I'd suggest going toward an older age rather than younger one."

The Humane Society recently began promoting minimum hunting ages of 16 on the East Coast.

Those trying to slow down the ever-declining percentage of hunters nationwide say 16 is too late.

"I believe the earlier you can get youngsters involved in a sport, whether it be skiing, hunting, snowboarding or whatever, the better," said Dick Diamond, a member of the seven-person Utah Wildlife Board. "The younger they start the better the chances they will participate in it for a lifetime."

It is common to see youngsters dressed in hunter-orange clothing during the state's various hunts as they join family for the thrill of the chase, but some believe allowing people to hunt at a younger age is different than just being there.

"There is a big difference between just going with somebody and actually participating in it," Karpowitz said. "There is a greater connection when you have a rifle in your hands."