bowhuntererman: my son started at the age of 14. He had no success his 1st. season, not even a shot. I kept telling him that many of us go for years without success. I think the important thing is to make each hunt a father/son experience that you can build upon. Ensure him and try to instill in him that a successful hunt is much more than filling a tag. Also, I would suggest that you try to know your area extremely well. By doing so you will be more capable of placing the young hunter in the honey hole, cat bird seat or whatever term you want to use. Sacrifice your chances for his. Give him every opportunity to get that shot off. Position him so if the hot spots fail he can be posted close to a known bedding area. Proceed from the opposite side of bed, still hunting, very slowly working toward the boy's position. He might just get his chance if some bedded dear finally bust you and head towards him. These are some of the methods and educational curve I developed for my son, Joe. He is now 17 and has 3 bow kills, 2 shotgun kills and sad to say, one lost 6 ptr. that he nailed from 28 yds.. It was a single lunger, and I saw that deer hit the deck 4 separate times from my location. I still can't believe we lost him, but we are sure that he drowned trying to cross over to a dying island he was trying to make. However, I used that as an educational tool. These kids have to know the good, the bad and the ugly. Oh yeah, make sure you let him gut that 1st. score with a few pointers from Ol' Dad. They seem to learn real quick and you can see your boy growing up before your very eyes. Don't dare forget the camera so you may record that once in a lifetime 1st. grin of success. Sorry to ramble but I feel very strongly that hunting is in our hands and we must pass on the skills and attitudes of ethical hunting to them so that they in turn can repeat the process for their children. GOOD LUCK!!!