What age do you think kids should start shooting?

[skipglo]

My son is only 3months old but I find myself day dreaming of the days he will start shooting with me. I don't want to start any kind of moral debate here. I'd probably start him with a pellet gun and then move on to 22lr. Of course he would learn all about proper gun safety and such. Just curious what you all think is an appropriate age?

Six with a BB or pellet gun. About 2 with nerf guns, and at about right now or 5 minutes out of the womb....start making guns out of this little fingers and softly say BANG

 

[Tyrel19]

I started my twin boys between 18 months and 2 years. Every youth matures differently. One son wanted to become a military sniper, until he was involved in an motorcycle accident which put him out of that line of work. My other boy has 3 rifles that he can put 3 shots within the size of a quarter. Both are better than me. I started shooting around 7. Idaho was the perfect spot to grow up in.

 

[snakeeyes]

My son started with a 10/22 cut to fit him at age 5. By 6 he was wanting to get in the deer woods so I stepped him up to a 223 and then a 243 over the next year. Killed his first buck at 7. He got a little scope bit the first time he shot the 243 and I thought I ruined him. He powered through though. He is almost 19 and has bagged a buck every year since then. Best feeling in the world experiencing that first kill. I might have teared up a bit.

I wish my son could have started that soon. He wasn't even supposed to be in the woods with me til age 11 during deer season. He was but it was a big fine if he was caught. When he got his 1st deer it was a nice 22" heavy racked 9 point and he literally had to sit on my lap to take his shot.

 

[Starlite]

My son is only 3months old but I find myself day dreaming of the days he will start shooting with me. I don't want to start any kind of moral debate here. I'd probably start him with a pellet gun and then move on to 22lr. Of course he would learn all about proper gun safety and such. Just curious what you all think is an appropriate age?

I started my son off by using one of my old fashioned cap guns and plastic toy guns at age 6. I thought he could grasp some of the concepts of gun safety. At age 7 was a low velocity BB GUN. 8 was a higher velocity pellet rifle. At 9 he got a iron sighted 22. At 10 he worked very hard at adopting all my teachings so he got at 223 Rem. With a scope
At 13 he was shooting his GF's 30/30. At 20 while he was out west working he bought a 300Win Mag. Today at over 30yo he still loves to hunt coyotes with that same 223Rem and deer with his GF's 30/30. Although he has yet to win a moose tag he has that 300Win Mag at the ready. Today he's doing the same teachings with his son. Plus my GS loves to help me in the reloading room. More teachings which I love. My philosophy is see one. Do one. Teach one.

 

[pburton]

I have two kids. My daughter is 23 and my son is 17. My daughter was never interested in shooting or hunting when she was young. My son on the other hand, wanted to start shooting at a very young age. At 5 I got him a BB gun. At 7 he was shoot one of my .22's. At 10 I bought him a .17hmr, which he still loves to this day. At 11 I bought him a .243 and a .410. Currently he shoots a 6.5 CM and his new 6.5 PRC. About two years ago my daughter decided that she wanted to start shooting. Probably because her boyfriend and his family are really into hunting. She is left handed and left eye dominant and at that time I did not like the factory left handed rifles that were available. So I had a rifle built for her and she now loves it. She has been shooting this rifle for a couple of years and just this year got her hunting license and put in for tags for the first time. It really makes me happy to see my kids now enjoying what I have enjoyed since I was 5 years old.

 

[PNWdude67]

My son is only 3months old but I find myself day dreaming of the days he will start shooting with me. I don't want to start any kind of moral debate here. I'd probably start him with a pellet gun and then move on to 22lr. Of course he would learn all about proper gun safety and such. Just curious what you all think is an appropriate age?

My boys are 23 and 20 now and i remember vividly the first time I took each of them with me in the field. The oldest had been on a boat with me since he was a few months old as I was a charter captain and fishing guide back then. He went on
hunt with me when he was 4, the first time, and we look forward to hunts together every year. My youngest was 3 mostly because he wanted to keep up with big bro and hang out with me too. For me, as a dad, the primary focus of those outings was one thing: FUN!!! We had lots of FUN and it was not about me filling my tag, it was about them having fun and developing an appreciation for the outdoors, hunting and fishing. Over the years my oldest still has the passion and my youngest has developed other interests. Both greatly appreciate the experiences they had growing up. We were fortunate to have access to an amazing ranch in the family where we could do this 'til they were 13 and 11 years old and they both harvested their first game there. Share your passion and excitement with your son and make the first outings short and fun with no pressure on you to find game or make a harvest. Same with shooting, start small and have fun while building respect of what a hunting gun is. Introduce him to it when you can give your undivided attention to him at that time. Do your zeroing, serious practice and load development another time. The rifle or shotgun Is something special and interesting, but it's not a toy was how I approached it. You have a lot of fun times ahead!!

 

[Len Backus]

Your state of Washington is so Blue it is turning Black......the point of no return.

COBRA

KNOCK IT OFF!

 

[Calvin45]

I started my son off by using one of my old fashioned cap guns and plastic toy guns at age 6. I thought he could grasp some of the concepts of gun safety. At age 7 was a low velocity BB GUN. 8 was a higher velocity pellet rifle. At 9 he got a iron sighted 22. At 10 he worked very hard at adopting all my teachings so he got at 223 Rem. With a scope
At 13 he was shooting his GF's 30/30. At 20 while he was out west working he bought a 300Win Mag. Today at over 30yo he still loves to hunt coyotes with that same 223Rem and deer with his GF's 30/30.

The best GFs come with 30-30s!

side note my obsession absolutely started with cap guns, nerf guns, and BB guns. Long range too, from the very beginning I was always trying to see from how far away I could knock a pop can over.

 

[dxlbaile]

Been shooting with this guy since he was 4. Love the time we spend.
22-250 4 shot group. He is 7 now.

 

[beardedbowhunter]

My son started hunting with me this year, he is 3. I bought him a daisy bb gun and he shoots until he is tired and then does something else. While squirrel hunting this past fall he insisted that I allow him to shoot my 12 ga. I knelt down and he put the shotgun under his arm allowing me to put it against my shoulder, and he pulled the trigger. I understand that he didn't actually shoot, but he ABSOLUTELY loved it. Make it fun and allow/help them do as much as they want to do to foster that love.

Oh and PS I was packing a shotgun in the woods hunting by my self at 9.

 

[beardedbowhunter]

The best GFs come with 30-30s!

side note my obsession absolutely started with cap guns, nerf guns, and BB guns. Long range too, from the very beginning I was always trying to see from how far away I could knock a pop can over.

I presume GF in this case stands for Grand Father and not Girl Friend

 

[Calvin45]

I presume GF in this case stands for Grand Father and not Girl Friend

Doh! That would make more sense absolutely. But the statement stands either way I suppose

 

[basinman]

I started teaching my granddaughter when she was 7. She shoots 4 of my 22 rifles, 3 with scopes and 1 with iron sights. She learned on the iron sights and moved to the scoped rifles. She loves shooting and I hope she develops and interest in hunting as well. She also learned to shoot a little recurve bow but when she saw my compound bow, she wanted one like it. Now she has a little Barnett compound bow she loves to shoot.

 

[Calvin45]

better start buying guns now!

Sounds like a good plan! The reality is that I've pared down my collection in the last few years on account of this new stage of life and it's financial demands. No regrets tho.