gamewarden1

I have 3 daughters (7, 3, and 1.5) and the two older ones sit and watch the hunting with me for a bit.. Sometimes they get up and go play then come back and so on. The oldest has been asking me for the last couple years to let her shoot a deer. So finally this year i went and bought a H&R .223 compact. We are going to give it a shot. It all depends on the kids and how they are raised...And I agree that when it is shown in sporting good stores there should really be no hustle and bustle about it...

lil hammer

i think the only negative effect hunting shows have on kids is when they see big bucks get killed and expect to go and kill one just as big which could happen but very unlikely

eerdog

Here is the problem.... you said it. Need to keep personal opinions out of the school system. That teacher should have just said "that's nice". Our school system is the root of a lot of our problems. i am a forester, if this helps define why I am not a big fan of teachers teaching their opinions!!! Save the trees, Save the animals!

turkey guide

Everyone has their own way of bringing their kids into hunting and they do it at different ages. In Missouri the youngest legal hunters are 6. Of coarse not all 6 year olds are ready. But watching hunting shows is one way to prepare them. I made my first kill at 4 years old. It was a sparrow in a grapevine that I was shooting at with a bb gun. It was more of a lucky shot than skill, but I loved the fact that I had hit that bird. I gave my daughter her first bbgun at 4 and taught her to use it. As far as I know she has never tried to kill anything with it, but has used it to sting varmints in the yard to run em off. But when she was 10 she wanted to deer hunt. She shot my AR-10, 308 very well, and killed her first buck at first light on her first day. She had her pick of two bucks that came at each other and locked antlers about 50 yds away. In the past 8 years she has hunted some years and passed on others, but wants to hunt with me this year. She wanted to go practice with that same 308, and we did so last week. She is 18 and still shoots well, and I am very proud of her when I see her teaching the neighbor boys ages 6 and 8 to shoot her first bb gun. Their mother was a little scared at first but said it was ok. With their father passed on from a heart attack at age 33 they need someone to teach them. And those boys love hunting shows!

trkytrack2

The younger the better. Take a kid hunting and you'll never have to hunt for your kid.

srwshooter

i agree 100%,kids are going to think they can only kill huge bucks if they grow up watching most hunting shows. teach them to hunt and that its up to them on the size of buck they kill. once they learn the basic hunting skills ,they can decide if they want to trophy hunt or meat hunt.

as for the lady in the hunting department,you may have just helped her turn into a active PETA member. we must be very careful with this these days.. its like we all used to do after killing a big buck,throw it on the tailgate of the truck and ride down main street to show it off. we must stop doing things like that because it turns people against our sport.

when your kids watch tv shows be sure to tell them that its entertainment and advertisment and thats why they only kill big bucks,just to make you buy there products.

if it wasn't for hunting shows alot of kids would never get interested in hunting at all,so i think they are helpful in getting them started.

RJPOUTDOORS

My son has watched shows with me since he could watch tv. I have used shows to teach him about gun/hunting saftey. Now don't get me wrong there are a couple of shows i don't allow him to watch however, it all comes down to teaching childern the right way to hunt and how to be safe. Yes some people don't like seeing the game as it expires and as hunters we need to watch how much ammo we give peta to use. Good hunting.

bryant1

When I watch hunting shows my 3 yr old daughter will go get her pink toy gun and pretend to shoot the deer on TV. I use it as time to explain to her that all of her family are hunters and that God provides us these animals for our nourishment. She hasn't grasped the concept yet though, she's still a little too young. I've been taking her with me running deer dogs since she was born though and if she's anything like myself and my wife, I will have her killing bucks when she is old enough.