There is definitely some helicoptering going on. Having been in a similar position with my own daughters, I gave guidance while she was lining up on her shot. But not catching brass and hovering quite that close. Once we had the deer spotted and she said she was ready to shoot and she had it in her scope I simple told her where to put the crosshairs as a reminder while I was watching through the binocular. The one exception was her first kill with my TC Encore in .357 Maximum setup as a pistol. We were hunting from a ground blind and the closest the deer would come was 176 yards with a 15 mph crosswind. I had to specifically tell her on the deer where I wanted her to place the crosshair in order to drop the bullet into the boiler room. Once we agreed that she knew exactly where I wanted the crosshairs I told her to shoot when ready. I wish I had it on film. She put the bullet exactly where it needed to go and the deer just stiffened up like a fainting goat and tipped over in his tracks. Those first years are a lot of teaching. I personally think 8 years old is pretty young. I didn't get to shoot deer until I was 12, though laws have changed since then.
Selmer
"Daddy, can you sometime maybe please go shoot a water buffalo so we can have that for supper? Please? And can I come along? Does it taste like deer?" - my 3-year old daughter
My son has been pulling a trigger since he was two. Shot his first animal when he was 4. ON HIS OWN. I should clarify this. I was at his side coaching him. He was NOT alone.
NRA Endowment Life Member (and proud of it)
Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something. - Plato
I don’t see anything wrong with what dad or girl did there, other than once he told her to take off the safety but not to shoot yet. My daughter killed her first deer at 8 and is now 11 with 3 does and a buck under her belt. I racked the bolt on her rifle this year when I thought she missed, luckily the buck stopped and fell over before I got it done.
I personally think 8 years old is pretty young. I didn't get to shoot deer until I was 12, though laws have changed since then.
I say it depends on the kid hunting. My daughter asked to hunt elk when she was 8, a hunt didn't happen until she was 9. I had to take her out of state to hunt because of age limits in CO. I would have made it happen sooner if she had asked earlier, as she'd been tagging along since she was 5 years old.
Like stated above, it depends on the kid. The fact that he was having to tell her to eject shells and close the bolt not to mention grabbing the brass is kind of a flag that she might not be quite ready and then you add in the fact that she cried. Were they tears of joy or tears of sadness? Was she happy because she killed the deer or because it made her father so happy? Did she go hunting because she wanted to hunt or because she wanted to spend time with her father? Is she going to have happy dreams or nightmares? Hopefully, she has happy dreams. My daughter wanted to try hunting because a friend of hers hunted with her father. I was going to take her out but she lost interested when her friend moved away. I am kind of glad she didn't end up going. I don't think it was in her and she would have regretted it. Some people are hunters and some aren't.
