I agree with Big Guy01, give him a couple of years to get used to recoil. If not, you could lose a future hunter/shooter and thats not worth taking a chance on. I was in the same boat as you with my nephew. My dad gave him a Winchester 37A .410 and after shooting it the first time, he wouldn't shoot it anymore. I spent hours and hours in the backyard with him trying to put into his head, "its going to kick ya, but it is not going to kill ya". He finally got it and the next thing I know, he's ready for anything. To me, its a mental thing. Good luck and give it time. If he wants to hunt that bad, he'll come around.