Attempts to recruit kids into hunting have been a priority for the Department of Natural Resources and private conservation groups for more than a decade. Time is not an ally in the effort: The average age of Minnesota hunters and those nationwide is creeping ever upward, and before long the whole bunch will be drawing Social Security checks.

Worthwhile as bureaucratic and corporate efforts can be to bring youngsters into the hunting fold, they're no substitute for parents or other relatives (or trusted friends) taking a kid into the field.

Yet even in those cases no guarantee exists that a young boy or girl will want to pursue the field sports for a lifetime. Some will; some won't. As with other activities, interest in hunting, fishing and similar participatory activities will vary from individual to individual.

Kyle Larson of Maple Grove knew as much the first time he took his daughter, Lydia, 11, into the field.

"I think she was 3 years old,'' Larson said. "I was goose hunting, and she had her [protective] head phones on. We really had fun.''

Larson himself never had an opportunity to hunt with his dad.

Brian Stensaas, Star Tribune
Lydia Larson, 11, hunted with her dad, Kyle, over MEA weekend, felling this doe - her second in as many seasons. Two other girls and their dads also hunted with the Larsons in northern Minnesota near Baudette.

"I always wanted to try it when I was a kid,'' he said. "But my dad had quit hunting by the time I got old enough. So some buddies and I took firearms safety together. My brother hunted, and I went with him and an uncle. I loved it.''

As part of its effort to lower or remove barriers that prevent kids from trying hunting, the Legislature in recent years allowed 10- and 11-year-olds to hunt deer without first passing a firearms safety course (previously, deer hunters in Minnesota had to be at least at 12 years old).

Restrictions exist, and young hunters must be under the close supervision of a parent or other mentor. The idea, in part, is to give kids a chance to experience hunting before they get overly involved in extracurricular activities at school, such as team sports.

Lydia's first deer hunt was last year, when she was 10.

"None of her close friends hunted,'' Larson said. "But she did know of some kids in school who hunted. So she wasn't the only one.''

On that initial foray, Larson and his daughter drove six hours north over MEA weekend and settled in at a relative's deer camp west of Baudette. (The camp lies within a special October youth deer hunting zone.)

The excursion proved productive: Triggering a .243, Lydia dropped a nice doe, targeting the animal at 116 yards.

This year, over the same school break, Larson and his daughter again trekked north. This time two other girls and their dads joined in the fun, Paige Cowle, 12, and her dad, J.C.; and Macey Ravndalen, 14, and her father, Merlin.

"It was a big camaraderie thing,'' Larson said. "It wasn't just the hunting, though that's obviously important. It was the meals we cooked every night, hanging out — everything.''

Last Friday, Lydia — who is well on her way to earning her firearms safety certificate — and her dad hunted with no shots fired. For a while, Saturday also seemed jinxed.

"I just know I'm not going to get a deer today,'' Lydia said while she and her dad overlooked a field.

"Be positive,'' her dad said.

"OK, I'm positive I'm not going to get a deer today," Lydia said.

She was wrong.

That evening, when a doe appeared about 80 yards from where she and her dad were set up, Lydia drew down on the animal and felled it with a single shot.

The deer was one of two taken by the girls over the weekend, the other by Paige.

Will Lydia also be a bird hunter someday?

"Duck and pheasant hunting are different than deer hunting,'' Larson said. "She might want to get a little bigger and stronger before she tries it. But maybe someday, sure.

"It'll be up to her.''

Dennis Anderson danderson@startribune.com