age for starting to shoot
 

just wondering what ages did you let your kids start shooting

RE: age for starting to shoot
 

7 and 8 years

RE: age for starting to shoot
 

I am working with mine right now and he's 5.5 !! He get's impatient with it so I am going slow !!

RE: age for starting to shoot
 

My son shot another 10 point buck last night! He's gonna be 4 next month. I said itwas only8 points but he said I had to count my thumbs. That little convenience store gun has killed must be over 100 bucks in my house the last month alone. :DAlways remember it's not the amount of time you spend it's the quality of time. Seriously, He's gonna go tree ratin' (squirrel) with me next year just to watch and point them out. Then at 7 I'll get him a bb gun and he can go on a duck hunt with me. Deer? hmmmm probably 10 or 11.

RE: age for starting to shoot
 

I was 8 with a 22 bolt. Worked well for me so that is what I'm planing for mine. My daugther was good to go (8last month) until something made her back out. Still haven't found out what so I'm going to wait a few more years on her. She'll have to learn sooner or later cause that is my rule. Don't have to like it but while guns are in the house you will know how to safely use it just cause you never know. My son (5 last month) can't wait till he can go shooting with dad. If he calms down a little I may take him at 7.

RE: age for starting to shoot
 

I guess I was about 9 or 10 when I first started with an old Win. 22 bolt. The very first thing I got, tho, was a schooling on gun safety and proper usage. Muzzle direction, backround, loading & unloading, and learning to treat a firearm wiyh respect. If you always consider a gun to be loaded, you will be much more careful with it.
My grandson is 6, and I'm going to start him with a BB gun this summer. A few years of schooling and grasshopper hunting with that, and I'll consider moving him up to a .22. I bought a "Chipmunk" .22 rifle years ago, just anticipating this to come along. I think proceeding rather slowly and reinforcing the principals and ideas you wish to instill in them is very important.

RE: age for starting to shoot
 

I was young, probably around 5 or so. License at 10 and first buck at 12(first year I could legally deer hunt). No kids of my own, so I don't know what age I would teach my own kids. My buddies daughter is 4 and she called the other day saying how she wants to go huntin with us guys, so we'll teach her with a BB gun before long.:D

RE: age for starting to shoot
 

started shootin a BB gun at 4 or so. dad would load in a specific count of BBs..toss a can in the yard and count how many hits i got out of how many BBs were in the gun. funny how i remember that. then at 5 or so we would walk down in the woods with the 22. hed always find a can or something someone left behind and let me blast away at it. around the same time he let me shoot a 357 revolver with a 38 special in it..i remember i about dropped it..dad was behind me and made sure i didnt. he was always right there behind me guiding me and watchin. shot the 22 and bb gun till i was about 10. then i got into everything else from shotguns to pistols to legally owned sub machine guns and full machine guns...even a belt fed 1919. i was lucky to grow up and be best friends with a pretty large gun dealer in the areas son. my dad was also friends with the dad. so id go to their camp every weekend with them and burn up ammo from the time i was 10 on.

RE: age for starting to shoot
 

My son's only 5 now and hasn't shot yet. I'm taken him and he handled the noise ok. I don't think it's a matter of age of when to start them but rather an issue of maturity. They've got to be able to understand what's going on and the dangers involved. Drive the safety into them until they're telling you safety measures. When they can show the level of understanding and maturity to deserve to be shooting , it's time. For some that's 6 or 8 for others... heck I know grown adults that aren't mature enough to bring to the range. It's not a question of age.

RE: age for starting to shoot
 

I started taking my son turkey hunting when he was 4 (me shooting), but started him with a BB gun at 4 too. He had to learn and show me safety before we ever put BB's in it. He upgraded at 6 to a .223 and went deer hunting for the first time. Shot his first deer at 7. He's 10 now and shooting a 7mm-08. There's no set age, when they are ready, they are ready....Just don't ever make him, let it be fun!

RE: age for starting to shoot
 

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.

RE: age for starting to shoot
 

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.

RE: age for starting to shoot
 

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.

RE: age for starting to shoot
 

I agree!

RE: age for starting to shoot
 

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...:eek:

RE: age for starting to shoot
 

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

RE: age for starting to shoot
 

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?

RE: age for starting to shoot
 

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.