I use a swing blade knife with a gut hook so that punching the gut isnt an option for him or me for that matter. My personal opinion is that with the knives today on the market that if someone punches the gut its because of lack of proper equipment.

I skipped school when I was 14 years old. By ten o'clock two does were dead. I never field dressed a deer at the time and only seen it done once. Being all alone and barely knowing what to do I gave it a shot. It took over well over an hour to do both but it turned out OK. What gets me to this day is

If he/she is old enough to kill a deer, they're old enough to gut it. That's part of the "deal". :s4:

The primary concern on my mind would be the child's ability to handle the knife. This isn't about what is appropriate for him to do or see but about his ability to make the proper cuts without injuring himself, most importantly, and being able to do it without cutting any of the digestive tract.
Young children don't always have the physical dexterity to safely handle dangerous tools..

I gut the first one I ever killed @ 12. Dad said your old enough to kill it you can gut it and clean it. Cleaned squrriel' s since I was 8.

6-8, when you start taking them squirrel hunting to learn the basics of hunting, gun safety and shooting...Then when you start taking them deer hunting at 12-13 they should be ready to help with the gutting of larger game....

Too many hunters start with deer and never learn to hunt...

but you will put a weapon in their hands.:eek2:

Teach em just like you taught them to shoot.

He's been right there for all the jobs and assists. He gets an anatomy lesson each time. I'm just worried about him cutting himself or cutting the gut and having a mess.

I will have him do most of the next one and assist when he needs help.

I think each kid is different. My son shot his first deer when he was 8. I did his first few and made him help so he could learn. Then on his next few, he did them and I helped him. Now, he does his own. Personally, I'm not letting any young kid go solo on their first few.

You worry too much.......the boy has to learn sooner or later.

And don't give him a big knife - simple small pocket knife is all you need.

I teach gutting in our Hunter Ed classes and have students as young as 9.

As a suggestion use what we do with Hunter Education Program. It is a method called The EDOC System -
Educate - Demonstrate - Observe - and then Congratulate.
Sounds as if your boy has witnessed the first 2 for quite some time. Now is the time to Observe - correct if needed but do not to get upset or holler - but find ways to praise where you can - and then when ever he is done Congratulate.

We all know we learn from our mistakes.

And as many others have written - you know your boy, and know when it is time, we are just feeding you ideas and suggestions.....

JW