Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Serious question

For those that have\ had children that you got involved with hunting\shooting. At what age did you start the proper gun handling teaching? What about actually shooting practice? What about actually hunting? My dad started us hunting at 12 because that is when we were permitted to in Pa. Now they have a mentored program and I see some as young as 7 or 8 taking doe. I think it os a great opportunity! But anyway, any advice you could give a dad here? Anything you would do differently if you had it to do over again? My son is 5 months, and mamma wont let me take him shooting yet! But he has his own 22 ( thanks goalie!) And 500 rounds ammo for it! Just wanting to instill in him at a young age the importance of proper gun handling and the love for shooting! I do reload, so I figure on getting him involved with that once he shows an interest!

Not a dad, but if I were, starting at the very first trip to the range, backyard, National Forest, wherever his first session is, there would be proper fitting hearing protection. Critical in my estimation. And not just Marlboro filters squished into his ears.

Have fun with that boy growing up!

Dad did not hunt a lot. He was a farmer and didn’t have the time. But when he or my uncles did hunt, I started tagging along at about age six.
I and my brothers started with BB guns at age about eight. Started using dads 22 at age about 12 and 12 ga a year or so later. Received my own .22 at age 13.
That was a different era through. We lived on a farm in the boonies. I had a rifle and or shotgun in my car most days when I went to high school, as did many others.
Six weeks ago, my son and I took his two daughters age 4 and 8 dove hunting. They wore ear protection and camo and had a blast.

I started tagging along on squirrel and dove hunts about 6. Started carrying my bb gun on dove and squirrel hunts a couple of years later. I think I got my 22 single shot at 9. At that point I was able to follow along with my 22 (unloaded) on quail hunts too. I’d get to shoot it a few times at blackbirds or sparrows. My father kept the cartridges in his pocket until it came time for me to shoot. Just like Barney Fife.😊 I dove hunted on my own stand with my Savage 24 o/u at 13 and actually killed the first dove I ever shot at with that gun.

I followed the same sort of time line with my son. Started off on some hunts where he didn’t have to be really still, etc. Eventually moved up to deer and turkeys which weren’t around in numbers when I was growing up. I think he shot his first deer at around 11 or 12 and a turkey I called in at about the same age.

My son has been taking my grandson, now 6, “squirrel hunting” and scouting this fall. He’s a Phd in biology so he can get as far down “in the weeds” as my grandson wants as far as facts and info goes.

My son in law started shooting with my two grand daughters years ago (with 22’s) and they would tag along on dove hunts. A few years ago the oldest, now 18, started dove hunting herself and was on the high school trap team. She killed her first doe year before last and killed her first buck last year which scored about 160+. 😮 The younger g/daughter, 16, hadn’t shown too much interest in deer hunting but last year after her sister took that buck she all of a sudden decided she wanted to go. My son in law took her out with their 243 to see how she handled a center fire rifle. She put three rounds inside a quarter at 100 yards so no problems with it. The first time she went, she was getting discouraged and my SIL tried encouraging her by talking about how fast things can turn around. No sooner than the words came out of his mouth a doe popped out about 125 yards away. One shot and done.

Started them shooting at 8 with wrist rocket sling shots. Then one of those cheap crossman .177 pellet/bb guns. Mama would bring them to Elk camp for a full day and night and pick them up mid day after morning hunt so 2 morning hunts and one evening hunt and some time by the fire. Tin cans on old arrows stuck in the ground were plinked when in camp or card games in the trailer. Did the eddy eagle training. Around 10 yo bought a single shot marlin 15yn 22lr. Once they mastered sites added scope and worked that. We all did Hunters saftey at 12 and 13. Qualified the youngest with that marlin and my oldest and I used 10/22 s. Xmas the prior year was Rem 700 s 30-06 with iron sites and mid priced 3x9 scope, clear flip up covers with lepold mounts, those stretchy neprene slings. Guns were a little big for the younger one toting and handling but he was a terror at the range. Elk hunted with them 5-6 years as hunters. Some of the best times of my life. Both are in their late 20s now and still shoot those 700s. They are into shooting and regularly shoot with me or freinds.

i didnt deer hunt til i was in college.


My dad didnt hunt much when i was growing up. His work schedule was work the weekends and off on weekdays.

When he did hunt, i didnt get to tag along.

I did have a squirrel rifle. An old savage(?) single shot bolt gun that you cocked on the rear.

i started with a crosman pellet gun.

He retired this summer. I think hes really looking forward to this fall and hunting.

Elvie Boy....go get you the squirrely rifle.

My keed kilt her firss deer at 3 in dora the explorer pajamas, it was daddy poachin day aka yooth hunt an u shooda seen her wit that 300 mag

with my kids it was pretty much from birth due to being able to use guns right out the kitchen door if we wanted to, and did. boys went squirrel hunting when they were 4. daughter about 10. daughter didn't really take to hunting but still enjoys shooting occasionally. boys still shoot and hunt.

as for me, i grew up in PA as well. pellet & BB guns around 6. don't remember a lot of adult supervision. did hunter ed at 12 and thats really the first training i got. rest was just OJT. my old man had 6 boys so hunting was not always norman rockwell-esque. pull up onto the top of a windy, freezing cold mountain at about 530 AM, woolrich, schitty rubber boots 5 sizes too big with 3 pairs of socks. if you survived those mornings, you really liked hunting. most of my brothers bailed by their teens. me and the old man did a lot of mountain hunting.

We started taking our kids hunting with us at a very early age just to introduce them to family time and enjoying the outdoors together. Lots of snacks and a heater made duck hunts and deer hunts in a pop-up blind more fun for them and for us. Were there days I had to cut my hunt short due to having them along? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely!

Actual gun handling and shooting practice started at about age 6 or so if I remember right with 4-H BB gun shooting. Learning from other adults sounds "different" than hearing gun safety from Mom and Dad. Next up was .22 practice with small rifles at our local gun club. Both our son and daughter then took their first deer at age 8 using reduced-recoil loads that I loaded using SR4759 (now discontinued). They are now 18 and 15 and have been hunting with us ever since.

Enjoy...they grow up fast!

Truth.

My youngest son with a 243 when he was 11, natural shot, killed all his deer with one shot, two were running. I still have the same box of ammo, he got into girls, guitars and skateboards when he was 14

Good job.

Proper gun handling teaching was started at birth, I guess. I cant remember when I didn't know 'not to touch/handle Dad's guns'. They were strictly off limits.

Dad was letting us shoot his .22 at 4 or 5, with adult supervision.

Tagged along hunting with Dad from 5 or 6, but didn't carry a firearm.
Started squirrel hunting, with a firearm, at 10 or 11 with Dad, but after I got my first squirrel, I was on my own.

Never looked back after that.

Great

I have girls, only one of which cares to shoot and hunt.
Started will a red Ryder at 6, .22 shortly thereafter and going hunting with me at 9. Centerfire practice started @10 with .223 bolt and AR. Moved into the 6.5 CM which is her current rifle at 13. Killed her first deer shortly after her 14th b-day. Has since killed a few pigs and a cool cull 8pt. She has just turned 16.

I am the father of 2 daughters and am 16 years older than my younger brother. My father hunted, but couldn't teach a dog to eat a biscuit and wouldn't bother to try to teach a kid how to hunt because it would have cut into his hunting time. I started hunting squirrels and rabbits with my younger brother when he was about 8 years old. I started my girls shooting BB guns at 5 years old. Then transitioned to a .22 once they had gun handling down. I started dove hunting and hunting small game with them and they were my retrievers when they were 6 or 7. They never took to small game hunting, but both liked to hunt deer hunt. I let them be the shooters at age 8 on a controlled hunt on a game ranch. they had killed whitetails by the time they were 12 years old, They are both very good shots and display very good and safe gun handling skills. They grew up in a home with guns easily accessible and could shoot anytime they wanted after they displayed proper gun safety. Both of my daughters are in their mid and late 20s and neither of them hunt, but can certainly use a handgun, shotgun or rifle if the need arises.

My grandson is 2 years old and I am counting the years until I can teach him to shoot and hunt with me.

I snuck into my folks room and handled my dad’s old k38 starting before I can remember so mid single digits probably. Got a BB gun at 11, bought a shotgun at 14 if I remember right.

My own kids have had unsecured loaded pistols and rifles around them their whole life. Take the mystery away and it’s not a big deal. I don’t remember how old my son was when I bought him his first .22, but by the time he had his first deer tag gun safety and handling was not even on my radar as far as a concern.

It’s very much like leaving the keys in the car. Let em drive and show em how when they are young then it’s not such a big deal later.

Started both ours young, cricket .22lr as soon no as they could walk. There’s a pic somewhere of my son dragging his through the house by the barrel in diapers.
I do t recall a time in my life when there wasn’t a gun. Both grandparents farmed, shotguns behind the door, in the barn etc.. always a rifle behind the back door at our house.
My Dad had a pile of nice guns and told me from early on, “you can shoot any gun you want, any time you want as long as you ask. You touch any of them without asking and you’ll never touch one again”. We roamed the woods at my grandparents farm at I’m guessing 9-10yo with a Winchester 68 for squirrels and rabbits. A .410 with a slug for deer.

I was riding on my dad’s shoulders going hunting by the time I was out of diapers. Shot his 22 for the first time at 3 or 4. Got to drag a sawn off single shot 410 to the pond to ground sluice doves at 4 or 5, but only if I sat beside Dad, if I wanted to sit with my cousins or anywhere else I had to leave the gun in the truck. Killed my first deer and turkey while I was still single digits. Like BGG says, we didn’t have a gun safe and I’d been told they were off limits unless Dad was with me, was never an issue.

My boy I’ve been taking along since he was in diapers. Put two Huggies and a couple dinosaurs in my pocket along with some snacks and head out with him sitting on my right shoulder. We’ve killed deer, turkeys, coyotes, doves, ducks, dozens of pigs and probably other stuff. He’s 6 now and still loves to go. I gave him a Daisy BB gun to take dove hunting when he was 3, couldn’t cock it by himself but I’d have to load it so he could put the “insurance” BB in every one we got.
For his 5th Bday he got a Savage Rascal. We shoot it pretty regularly, always have it and a brick of shells in the truck. He’s been trying to shoot a pig with it but we haven’t had the stars align yet. When we take it deer or pig hunting he totes the gun and I have shells in my pocket, at this point it’s mostly just about letting him carry his gun and doing it safely.
He’s got a couple deer rifles waiting on him, one I bought him and one a friend promised him when he was born. Maybe in a year or two it’ll be time.

As said above, ear pro is important eyes as well. Main thing is getting them out there to get dirty and see and ask about bugs and plants and leaves and animals and birds, that’s the good stuff.

PS if you don’t already fish you need to start, kids love fishing and it’s better weather for having little ones out and about.