What age should you start them hunting?

[Elton]

I am becoming a father, our little boy will be born in 6weeks and this got me thinking. What age do i start him hunting?

I myself only got into hunting at the age of 25 after getting married and the in-laws took me with. My family has always been semi against it.

Needless to say I think 25 is a bit late? But also my little nephew shot his first animal at 5, which I think is a bit early. Especially judging from our trip last year (he was 7 last year) and it seemed to me like he was more blood thirsty and wanting to shoot just anything and everything. I understand a kid not having all the patience and getting excited, (we all do) but there is a clear difference between excited and just wanting to kill?

Your inputs will be appreciated

 

[RockSlinger404]

I'm also wrestling with the same question, our boy is 14 months old. At least its a nice problem to have!!!

I shot my first blesbuck at around 10 years, which in my mind is about right. The hunter needs to fully understand that a life is taken in the process. I'll probably start him off on wingshooting and progress from there onwards...

 

[Elton]

I also have 10 plus in mind, will obviously teach him how to shoot and track. And have fun with the "windbuks". And take him on a hunt to see what happens and if it is for him. But to actually shoot the animal i feel he should be able to understand as you said that a life is taken. To be appreciative of that life and have a respect for where his meat comes from.

 

[Shootist43]

Elton, for what it is worth I took my sons hunting when they were 14 for the oldest and 10 for the youngest. However, that was many years ago. I took my older grandsons bow hunting when they were 5. More recently my youngest grandson who has been sitting with his dad or me since the age of 5 very responsibly took his first deer at the age of 9 with a 6.5 x 55 Swedish Mauser that had been cut down to "kid" size. All of my sons and grandsons started off with BB Guns and tin cans, then graduated to air rifles and 22(s). Encourage your son to hunt with you, but don't push him beyond his comfort zone.

 

[Hunt anything]

My earliest memories are being carried by my father to a duck blind on the backwaters of the Mississippi River in Minnesota I was maybe 4 years old. My first hunt that I was able to carry a gun was a bolt action .410 for squirrels at about 6 in Alabama. First duck with same .410 a blue winged teal at 7 and first whitetailed deer at 10 with a12 gauge slug. this turned out good for me but Alabama has no age limits on when a youth can hunt like some states.

 

[Rocked and Loaded]

I started taking my son dove hunting when he was five and a half. He did a little bird dog work for me and I made sure to get him ice cream after every morning. At that stage I was mostly interested in him having an enjoyable experience outdoors and with the men.

I didn’t bring him deer hunting last season due to him still being fidgety but he’s turning seven and I plan on taking him turkey hunting this spring.

I’ve been focusing on keeping him interested and not pushing him too hard. So far it’s worked and he’s enthusiastic about hunting and eager to participate more.

 

[jeanes]

My dad started taking me hunting with him when I was small enough that he carried me on his shoulders. He kept Hershey's Kisses in his coat pocket for when I got restless. Not sure what age that was but I was about three when he allowed me to fire his .22. He had to help me hold it. He didn't know he was creating a gun nut monster so be careful.

 

[Mountaineer]

As soon as they can walk is a great age. I started mine around 18 months. I used a backpack to carry them in 99.9% of the time. I started letting them shoot around 4 years of age. 22 cal with red dot sight. I used a potato and pop cans full of water to teach them how damaging a bullet can be. Remember to always have them to wear ear protection when anyone shoots.

 

[Neil Molendyk]

Remember to always have them to wear ear protection when anyone shoots.

Great advice, often overlooked. I took my children out shooting gophers (ground squirrels) when they were 6-7 and then they were on their own shooting them at around 10. Two of them took to big game hunting at 14, two never enjoyed big game hunting but took up competitive target shooting, (Schutzen), to each their own. But two that hunt have freezers of game meat and two that don't come and get it from Mom and Dad occasionally. Don't push it onto your kids because like most things, its not for everybody.

 

[sgt_zim]

dad let me start carrying a crack barrel 20 ga for squirrel hunting when I was 7 or 8.

a 7yo is certainly old enough to be talked to about Fred Bear's missive on hunting and killing, adjust the language as appropriate, but the concept is within the grasp of an avg 7 yo boy

“I have always tempered my killing with respect for the game pursued. I see the animal not only as a target, but as a living creature with more freedom than I will ever have. I take that life if I can, with regret as well as joy, and the sure knowledge that nature’s ways of fang and claw or exposure and starvation are a far crueler fate than I bestow.”

 

[thriller]

Well I shot my first deer at 9. A whole lot of my friends shot their first between 8-11.

 

[WAB]

I bought a little break open side by side toy shotgun for my son when he was four. You inserted toy shells in it and they went bang when you pulled the trigger. He had to treat that gun like a real gun, no cowboys and Indians!

When he was 5 I took him on a pheasant hunt in CRP land. It was all about him not about killing birds. My top dog got on a hot scent out front but the old rooster looped and my son walked right into it. The bird took off at his feet and, unbeknownst to me he raised that little gun and let fly. I had a safe crosser which I took cleanly at the exact second he fired that toy gun. That was one surprised little boy! He’s been addicted to pheasant hunting ever since.

He started carrying a 20 ga youth 1100 to hunt birds when he was 7. It was very controlled at first. I walked behind him without a gun. I repeatedly made him indicate his safe zone of fire. On the first hunt we went into a Kansas creek bottom loaded with quail. He started with a full box of shells. He came out with two shells and the most unlucky quail in the state of Kansas.

At 12 he was allowed by our state to hunt big game and drew trophy deer, antelope and elk tags. He harvested a 15 1/2” antelope, a 5 1/2 year old 4x4 muley and a 6x7 bull elk.

Personally I would have started him on big game at 10 but the state wouldn’t allow it.

 

[C.W. Richter]

6 weeks prior to birth is optimal! lol When my Great Grandfather took me hunting at age 3 (i tagged along, watching and listening) and dropped a nice 10-pt whitetail buck using a .45 cal. percussion muzzloading "plains" rifle, that was IT for me! I was hooked for life. As I recall, i started shooting a bow and bb gun around age 7-8 and got my first rifle (.22 mag) at age 10 (now legal "mentor program" hunter w/ adult supervising) and shotgun (16 ga) and centerfire rifle (30-30) when I was of legal hunting age (12) here. I took my kids (M & F) out when they were 5-10 and by age 10 they could shoot well! Both still enjoy hunting today. My Son's (like his Dad's) life revolves around it. That, and the .45, a pic of my G. Grandfather and the big buck "we" hunted are hanging in plain view, everyday! As they say, unless they have that "LOVE NATURE DNA," early success is key to keeping them in the sport, so everything you can do to help them enjoy the great outdoors will go a long way....(incl. subsequent generations.) If i die today, I KNOW my grandchildren and theirs, will continue the deeply, genetically embedded Tradition! Read G&A articles aloud to your wife's womb (while she's sleeping) and take him to outdoor shows in the stroller!

 

[VertigoBE]

I'm expecting to become a father in less than 2 months now. I too have been thinking about this.
However I do see a distinction between exposing your child to hunting and having your child hunt him/herself.

My nephews, aged 3 and 5 came for the first time on a small game hunt in Flanders fields, one year ago. We repeated this 3 months ago or so. They are quite fine being around the shooting, the game birds, the shot game, etc. But I would wait a few more years before putting them behind a rifle in front of some game.

My future wife, who does not hunt, just has no interest in it (or firearms) will also have a thing or two to say about the topic concerning our soon to be daughter I believe...

 

[Jfet]

Do not by the kid a bolt action rifle until you know his dominant hand. That is advice from one of my former students who is left handed but his father bought him a right handed rifle on the day he was born.

 

[Dukeisok]

Buy him a lifetime hunting and fishing license before one year old (in NC it's a third the price of an adult license). My son sat in a deer stand with me at 7 but was limited in his ability to sit. He killed his first deer at 9 with a hundred yard shot off the sticks with a youth model 6.5 creedmoor. He is now 13 and has his own 20 gauge that he carries up to hunt squirrels and crows by himself.

 

[Neil Molendyk]

Do not by the kid a bolt action rifle until you know his dominant hand. That is advice from one of my former students who is left handed but his father bought him a right handed rifle on the day he was born.

I did the same with one son, turned out to be a southpaw. With my grandkids I waited. Turned out that three were right handed, three left-handed. They all got CZ 452 22's on their eighth birthday but finding six CZ 452's, three right and three left was a challenge indeed was they were discontinued by that time. But it got done.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

Grandpa started taking me out to shoot sometime after 5 and before 10 - cans and milk jugs at the old farm, with an H&R 922 revolver. He gave me my first gun - a Daisy Golden Eagle - at age 7 and had me shooting sparrows at the farm. I took Hunter's Ed at age 10 (the minimum age) and received a break open .410 shortly after. That fall I shot my first critter - a cottontail.

I think somewhere before ten is fine. Up here in AK a lot of village kids get started well before then. I started taking my kids along well before ten, though only my daughters showed an interest. I started them off on spruce hens and such at around 8 or 9, with a break open 20 gauge.

This is very much a "your mileage may vary" topic, though I think exposure should be happening early and often.

 

[Mike B. 216]

I think it all depends on how mature the child is. Stress gun safety while target shooting and judge each child individually when they are ready to hunt.

 

[TXhunter65]

Start shooting bb guns around 4 with supervision, after a year or so step up to a .17 or .22 shooting targets, after they become familiar with the weapon and its operation have them shoot small game. I had mine start out dispatching trapped animals, then explained to them why we trap and the necessity of killing those animals. I'd work on small animals for a couple years then step up to larger game. My son shot his first deer when he was 8 so it took us 4 years to work up to larger game.