A New Hunter is Born

[Cleathorn]

Hey Guys (and girls!) - when is the right time to buy a young man his first gun? My wife delivered our 5th child, a boy named Tarpon James Joy, on Saturday. He and mommy are doing great and will be home tommorrow.

That makes 5 for us, a 5 year old daughter, twin girls who are 3, a son who is 2 and now Tarpon (yes, we like to fish as well as hunt and the name is derived from a 125 lb Tarpon that I caught on my flyrod to finish out the flat Grand Slam in Belize this past summer). I already told the story of my "oldest" and her first turkey hunt - but my wife says 2 months is just too young for Tarpon's first gun.

For all of us hunters out there with kids, it is essential that we encourge them to join our sport, or at the least educate them about responsible game management and the role that hunters play in conservation. I do not belive in pushing kids int anything. I think you show them the attributes that an activity has to offer and let them be the ultimate judge of their interests. Even if they do not join us as hunters, its vitally important that we educate our children about responsible game manegment and the role that hunters play in wildlife conservation and sustainability.

It is also important that we guys have sensible minded wives who keep us from starting our children hunting before they can walk.


As a side note - I do have one of those backpacks to carry young children and my "oldest" was fishing with me at 3 months, her first fish were steelhead (yes we caught fish) and each of my kids has been out well before there first birthday!

 

[TOM]

Congratulations Cleathorn!

 

[LouisB]

Congratulations Cleathorn!

 

[gre493]

Congratulations Cleathorn!

 

[NUys]

Congratulations Cleathorn!!

Never to soon to buy a gun, you can always keep it and give it to him when you think the time is right. I like the idea of the backpack!

 

[enysse]

Congradulations! I think as early as 7 years old...someone can be taught to shoot a gun. I think a air-rifle or BB gun is best! Then if they show enough gunsmanship, they could be move up to 22 rifle. I was shooting a recurve bow before I got gun.

I think every child is different physically and mentally. And the parent is responsible to make sure his or her child is up to the challenge of the shooting sports...because bullets and arrows bring responsibilities. I think you can have a non parent do the teaching too. Because I know I have mentored a number of people...adults and children.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Congratulations on your baby boy Cleathorn! Wow, you've been busy! How do you find time for hunting and fishing?

I can tell you that some my first memories are of our hunting dogs and going hunting, even though I was not the hunter yet... and those are some great memories. I am very grateful to have had a father and family who took the time to bring me along at such a young age. All I can say is that I have loved everything related to hunting, animals and nature since I can remember. I think that it is great that you are taking your children to have those experiences when they are very young and for this they are never too young. It's also good to let them decide for themselves if it is for them!

As far as buying your sons their first gun, I think that you will know when the moment is right when they can show you that they are safe and mature enough to handle the responsibility of a firearm... every child is different.

 

[Billy Stewart]

Congrats on the new addition!:loopy: Get him a gun now and put it back for him thats what i did with my son i let him have it the first year he went deer hunting. He shot a spike with it that was a really special day!!!

 

[ndbwhnter]

Anytime is the right time to buy them one. When you let him use it that is a personal choice, but there is some good advice above.

Getting him one this early in his life and giving it to him later adds a little more "story" behind the gun. As that gun gets handed down through the generations, the "stories" behind it become more important than the gun itself.

nd

 

[gildy]

Congratulations on your new addition. There is no greater gift! You're right that we need to share the outdoors and our hunting heritage with our kids.

Dave

 

[ThomasBeaham]

Congratulations Cleathorn and Mom!

 

[milford]

Congrats to you both

 

[ChrisT]

Congrats to you both

Congratulations on the newborn!

 

[Shallom]

Congrats Bwana... enjoy the addition.

 

[Popo]

Let me also join others to congratulate you and wish you all a happy new year.

 

[daggaboyblog]

Klancy the littlest hunter.

Hey Cleathorn.
I had my little girl Klancy out in the bush hunting pigs at 6 months in a back pack. I carried a pair of earmuffs for her and only took the shots that gave me enough time to get her ready!
I picked up a savage single shot .22 with a mini, pink laminated stock and a peep sight and I will have her onto it as soon as she shows a real interest at cracking off a shot; given progress to date, I would say she will be 3 or 4? All very strictly supervised, and she will not be shooting at animals for a long time yet, this will take some maturity.
Klancy has hunted pigs, rabbits and fallow deer with me here at home and has hunted with me in Limpopo and North West province. Klancy is now 19 months old and we have another baby due in 4 weeks.
So I'd buy the gun, and hold onto it until they can get behind the butt, point the thing over a rest and shoot a tin can with daddy sitting beside them. I have attached just a couple of what must be hundreds of photos of my number one girl and I out on the hunt...
Fun times ahead!

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

schembridan, your daughter is so cute from head to toe in pink in the bush... She is very lucky to have a father who gives her the opportunity to have such experiences. I too use to take my daughter hunting with me from when she was just a young thing.

Here are a couple of pictures of my daughter in Africa... One sitting by an Ostrich nest that we found in the bush, and the other getting ready for a game drive with some pals.