Duck shooting season- There's an identification test?

["Tony Keene" <>]

Bill,

 You're right about a ten-year-old with a shotgun being a bloody stupid thing. 
When I was a Scout, we could shoot from the age of 12, but only air rifle. As 
you got older and better, you could go to air pistol and further on. By 14/15, 
we were using full-bore rifles at proper ranges, but it was a continuous 
process of checking and double-checking that the kid involved could a) handle 
the weapon safely and b) was mature enough to understand what they were doing 
and the risks associated with it.
 With proper supervision at a range, it's not a bad thing, but a shotgun in the 
field with kids, no matter how well supervised, is asking for a serious 
accident.
 Disclaimer: I've never hunted anything but circles on paper targets.
 On another note, are there a limited number of licences each year? If so, we 
could all apply and use up some of the quota, reducing the number of hunters.
 Cheers,

 Tony