10,000 mentored hunting licenses sold

MADISON (AP) - State wildlife officials have sold more than 10,000 mentored hunting licenses.

Wisconsin's mentored hunting program allows 10- and 11-year-olds to hunt with an adult within arm's reach. The program began on September 1.

The Department of Natural Resources says it has sold a total of 10,016 mentored hunt licenses through Sunday. Most of them, about 6,770, were gun deer licenses.

The young hunters are zeroing in on their targets, too. A preliminary tally of deer registrations for the Oct. 10-11 youth deer hunt, open to children between the ages of 10 and 15, shows the harvest jumped from 989 deer last year to 4,777 this year.

The DNR says there have been no reports of any accidents involving mentored hunters.