5 is way to young to give them a highpowerd rifle and let them hunt..thats the age to take them walking in the woods and such...then about 7 take him to start watching hunts...and scouting and such..then depending on the states regs(here u must be 12 and havea saftey course to get a liscense) id say 10-12 depending on how he acts....i didnt kill a deer for about 5 or 6 hunts...then the last day i finnally got a shot and got my first...but before that was turkey and small game hunting...4 yrs later i still havent taken a turkey and learned to enjoy the woods in turkey season!