Kids are all different.....you have to be the judge.....start them on a Daisy BB gun and go from there......it will become obvious when they are ready for a .22 and so on.....there is no magic age. Regards, Rick.

I bought my son a Red Ryder for Christmas when he was 4. Last week I bought him a "Cricket" single shot bolt 22. He turns 7 next month. We will be hard after them squirrels come spring! I don't know how many he will hit, but I bet he will put the fear of GOD in a lot of them! I gonna be a lot of fun.

In our state you have to be 12 to get your first permit. My kids started shooting bb guns at age six. To me thats plenty early. Every kid is different though.

I agree!

im 17 now and i remember getting the sh!t scared out of my b.c my older brother was learning to shoot the bb gun(at the time i was so exited to be able to shoot) i dont remember how old i was but my brother accidnelty pointed an empty gun at my dad and he flipped....i learned alot from him and as i look back i find it hilarous, but i would agree with most b.c my lil cuz is 9 and he is almost ready for the gun...but not just yet he is vary imaturehowever when we say we would go shoot he would become a Christion boy, perfect in ever way.i think if u do it early it gives ya kid a sence of pride...maybe straiten them out..i remember it made me feel like a million bucks!!!!!and i aint half bad now...

I was 6 when my grandpa took me out to shoot cans & bottles with the .22. It was a bolt action Winchester (model 63?) with a 4x Weaver scope, & I sat on his lap in the driver's seat of his full size GMC Jimmy, & used the window frame as a steady. I felt like the luckiest kid in the world!

I started my 1st 2 boys when they reached 6, & they've done well. Actually, it's been a great way to connect with the 2nd one, who's always been slightly aloof from me. Now he says, "I'm a dead eye, aren't I Dad?!!!". Shooting is his favorite 1 on 1 activity with me.

Now, I've only got 2 more boys to go!If we ever go on a family big game hunt, I'll be BROKE! But I'll have about another 15 years or so to save for it!

FC

My son was already three when i met my wife. So he didn't start shooting until he was almost four. I bought him a Henry Mini Bolt .22 and he has been burning shells ever since. He has shot my wifes 243 from the bench a couple times and holds it under an inch. I take him squirell hunting all the time. My daughter started shooting my Bearcat at 15 months. She is now 3 and has a pink Crickett rifle that she asks to shoot constantly. I also bought them a pair of recurves from Rhino archery. They have bouth taken several Armidllios and possums. Some will tell you it depends on their maturity. You cant expect a lot of maturaty from a child that young. But they are very good kids and listen and pay attention. They do really understand just how dangerous a fire arm can be. Shelby automaticaly checks her chamber when i give her her rifle and puts her safety on as soon as she closes the bolt. Ryan is now eight and i do not hesitate to let him hunt. There are adults i would not be in the same county with, when they pick up a weapon. The question is, do you think your child is ready?

My grandfather got me my first BB gun at age 4, which I shot in his yard for many many hours. Around the same time we started to go hunting. At the end of every hunt (I didn't carry any gun, bb or otherwise) I would get to shoot the shells out of his Remington 22 Semi-auto. I was small enough that I had to put the stock on top of my sholder to be able to see through the scope.