Starting this year's hunting season, junior Californian hunters can now enjoy a new benefit. In 2014, Governor Edmund G. Brown signed AB 1709 which amended Fish and Game Code section 3031 by extending the eligibility period for a junior hunting license by two years.
According to the Redheaded Blackbelt, the recent change in the law, any individual who is under 18 years old on July 1 of the license year qualifies for a junior hunting license. It doesn't matter whether that individual applies before or after July 1 of that year.
The change in law allowed for an extension of hunting benefits for young hunters like exemption from some endorsement requirements, access to unique junior hunt opportunities, and reduced fees. Although there remain some special exceptions to the new law, which are of particular importance to understand during waterfowl season.
The California legislators are still adamant in banning lead in ammunition, the said law is expected to go into full effect by 2019, as reported by the Science Line. The government wanted to educate the junior hunters about this law as well.
Hunter Course posted on their website that there is no minimum age to purchase a hunting license as long as the child have a valid hunter education certificate before they can obtain the hunting license. There are also certain age restrictions for different game tags. This depends on the species hunted, for instance, deer tags must be at least 12 years of age on or before July 1 on the year the tag is purchased or acquired.
The change of the age definition is only applicable to California state law. The law did not change the federal regulation definition of a junior hunter. This is because waterfowl are migratory, and the waterfowl hunting laws fall primarily under the jurisdiction of the federal government. For this reason, junior hunters who are 16 years of age and older must have a federal endorsement stamp.
