webejonesin2

My 10 yr old wants to try turkey hunting, being that the two us startin from scratch,, My question is what would be a good starter shotgun for him? --now the draw bk is hes literally just strting-ie- he has just develloped the want to strt hunting, within the last month or so- he just out of the blue decided to try it- WHAT A RUSH awesome thing to hear--anyhow just need some serious help--thnks for any ideas.

mauser06

wow thats interesting.....most kids dont just want to hunt at that age...either they are raised as sportsman....or they getthe bug when they are 16-18 and all their buddys are telling hunting stories and going hunting and stuff and they are being left out....i seen ALOT of kids try to hunt because we sit around school telling stories and we are always hunting as a group.....good to see your kid is interested....turkey hunting will get him HOOKED! its a BLAST....as for guns......a good started gun would be a 20 ga...if you want to go cheap just to make sure he likes it you can pick up a single shot for under 100bucks most places......then if he likes it he can upgrade later....20 ga 3inch mag will work fine within its range.....good luck to you and your boy!!

coyote caller

Truthfully if I was going to start the young lad out. It would be with a BB gun or pellet rifle first. I would teach him all about the gun, gun safety, and all the responsability that goes with owning and shooting any firearm. I would also set him up for a hunters safety coarse first. I would be hard on him to the point where "SAFETY" is the most important part. And drill that into his head. Not to sound harsh or mean. But too many kids take for granted that owning a gun is just a right they have. And don't care or worry about the safety and respect that owning a gun is really about. Then after teaching him all that. I would purchase him a good 20 ga. shotgun, then start all over again. Never stop letting him know just how much responsability there is when he takes that gun into the field. I know that some people are going to say I'm going too far. But as far as I'm concerned you can never tell or preach enough the the younger people about guns. Another thing always make sure that when teaching a new hunter, that you make it fun for him or her to learn all this. And always praise him or her when they do something good.

webejonesin2

No I dont think your going over board at all, He's looking forward to taking the Hunter safty course. To be honest his new excitement for the erge to hunt has me concerned, Im not sure if he is ready for it. Yet im thrilled to pieces, he's allways (along with his brother )have shown intrest but the actuall 'kill/dyeing' end of it im not really sure he grasps, the consequences of pulling the trigger- as for which gun to strt out with-for turkey-the 20 gauge sounds good. thnks for your input--I do believe that safty above all comes first.

The other area he has informed me he wants to try is Archery. one at a time.

huntnma

that is great.....i would definately get him to take the hunters safety course....and then take him out to the range, i think a .20 guage would be a good gun for him....then move up to the 12 gauge...good luck

HighDesertWolf

the first shotgun i shot was a 20 ga when I was 9 and it was great I dont remember the recoil being bad at all. I would say a 20 ga is deffinately the way to go. Then when hes about 15 or so get him a 12 ga. good luck

Bobgobble2

Jones,if I could add one thing here,if you get him a 20,make sure he gets accustomed to it!Take some dove loads and let him have some fun.A little target shooting at first to let him experience recoil than maybe some wing shooting!Getting him aqainted with the gun will make him much more comfortable and confident when he hits the woods after the real thing!Obviously your supervision is involved here as to overall saftey issues here.Turkey targets are cheap!!!Whatever you get him make sure you impress upon him the first shot is going to be your best shot opportunity in the turkey woods,so consequently make it count!Good luck fellas!!!

jrbsr

Safety must be first.

A good hunter is a Safe hunter.

A safe hunter is a good hunter.

When I was little my uncle took me out and set up cans and peaces of fruite.

and then shot each one to show me just what a gun can do to a person if

Handled improprtly.

A grape fruite or a canalope when shot close with a 20 ga or a 12 ga will explode all over the place.

I seen just what it would do so I became saftey conense right off the bat.

A shot gun even loaded with pop corn when shot close will destory pretty much any thing it hits.

So take a grape fruite or a canalope and shoot it up close to show your son or daughter just,

How powerfull a gun can be - and just what it could do to a person if they were shot with it.

I am glad to hear young people getting interested in hunting.

Like said before Safety Safety Safety.

And then more safety.

Good Luck

jrbsr

hawglips

I have three sons who went with me without a gun a few times before they were allowed to carry a gun, even though they were experienced hunters of other game. Getting a good idea how its done beforehand cuts down on frustration and mistakes when its their time to pull the trigger. Turkey hunting is unique in some ways.

20 ga. guns make good turkey guns, unless you just like to see how far you can kill a turkey. As long as your goal is to bring the birds into good range (within 30 yds), you will kill them just as stone dead with a 20 ga. load of 1oz. #6s as you will with a 2 ozs. of #5s from a 3.5" 12 ga. (One of my sons killed a turkey at 55 yds with a load of 3" #5 Hevishot from a Benelli Nova 20 ga. It was a novice mistake made by an anxious boy, but it just shows that a 20 ga. can be a very effective turkey gun.)

If you don't have too much turkey hunting experience, I'd try to get someone to take you with them a few times to learn as much as you can before trying to take your boy out yourself.

Hal

benhuntin

First word of advice. Make it FUN for him. Getting a ten year old to sit still for any length of time can be an impossible task. Kids get bored easily. A kids idea of fun hunting is often alot different than ours. Keep in tune to the child and if he seems to be getting bored switch to something different to keep his interest up.
If your son has never shot a gun before, start out with a pellet gun or a .22. After he is comfortable with the non kicking crack of a .22 I would try a .410 shotgun. Let him shoot a few rounds a day for a couple of weeks and if he seems to be able to handle it,, move him up to a 20 guage. A 20 guage with #5 2 3/4 inch shells is what I killed my first turkey with when I was 15.