How young did you start your kid?

Shooting a rifle? My son is only 4. Im hearing of some teaching their kids at 5. Im kinda baffled by that. I was thinking starting him at 7 or 8.
What did some of you do? How young was yours? What caliber did you start with? What methods or techniques did yall teach?

Mine will be 4 in February and he is sloppily shooting a BB gun. The only rifle he will shoot first will either be a .22, .22 hornet , or a 6.5 Grendel and probably in that order.

I think I was 4 when I was shooting the BB gun at my grandparents.

Stated around 5 with a bb gun and cricket 22lr. He is now 6 about to be 7 and shooting a CVA savage 44mag single shot. Hearing protection is a must. He enjoys shooting but sometimes doesn't like to stand close to the guns that are loud and you can feel. Safety and proper gun handling is stressed. He shoots a good bit but last weekend we were going to shoot and he wanted nothing to do with it, I don't push it. BTW, he wants to kill a deer with a spear, cause its quiet.

Started mine on pellet guns around 5. 22 single shot bolt gun at 6
22 autoloader/223 bolt gun at 7
At 8 yo one of my boys went to a .243 bolt gun. The other fell in love with a Marlin 30/30 and has been with it ever since. They both killed their first deer at 9yo.
My oldest (24) rarely hunts the youngest(20) would rather hunt than eat.
Funny how that works

7 with a .22 and scope. Once I saw they were able to consistently hit the target and could actually handle a rifle, their first shot was at a deer. .243 for the first one and 7-08 managed recoil with the second. Adrenaline will eliminate any recoil issues on those calibers.

I had three girls, all of em started with a 22 chipmunk by age four, 6mm for deer by age six on two of them. Middle girl, Lisa, didn't hunt but was the best shot at age six by far.

I started my grandson Dylan shooting a 22 at 18 months, by age 2 1/2 he could out shoot his momma. He shot the diamond out of a card at the fair that year. He was shooting a 223 by age three, killed a BIG eight point at four with my youth 243 and several hogs with his "223Lazergun" as he called it. (it has a red dot sight). He shoots almost every gun I own including a 454Casull Lever gun and my 45Colt revolver. He is eleven now and loves to shoot.

He made me drag out my pre war 22 Colt Woodsman last weekend for him to shoot. Shot pretty dang good too.

He's killed a handfull of hogs with a knife hunting with Hogwild, first when he was seven years old.

I've never "pushed" him to shoot guns, he just saw me and wanted to do it too. He is a hell of a shot with his recurve bow also.

My son is wanting to go hunting. He hasn't ever shot a rifle so I'm thinking next year will probably be better to let him try.

Got my son a BB gun last year and a single shot 22 bolt gun this year... He just turned 5

I started with a 410 and so did my son. He is 7 and has never touched a rifle. He can feel the kick and see the results of a scatter gun. My thought is that he will respect it more than no recoil and seeing a small hole in the target with a 22.

I started mine with a .22 at about 6. I don't remember him ever having a BB gun. His first deer hunt with a gun ( .243 single shot) was at 10 I think.

I don't know the exact age I started , but it was before I learned to read and write. I've always been better at shootin' than readin' and writin'.

Best way to get a kid shooting well is turn him loose with a 22 and keep him supplied with ammo. Tell him to see if he can shoot the barrel out of it.

BB gun at 3. Youth 22 at 4. AR at 5. Killed 1st deer at 6 with a youth 7’08 downloaded. Key for a kid is hearing protection, managing the recoil and make it fun. Shooting paper is boring, try balloons, eggs, metal spinner targets, golf balls, anything that gives immediate feedback. If their having fun, they’ll want to practice.

Been working with mine since he was a little over three. Now he his four but he's still got a lot to learn. I've already got him a little 22 I'll probably start working with him on

I know I killed my first deer at 8 with a 243. I had a 20 gauge to shoot squirrels and such with a year or two before i killed the deer

I never owned a BB gun till I was in my 30's. My dad didn't allow BB guns in the house, said they wern't respected and taught bad gun safety. Didn't allow motorcycles. He was a doctor and called em donormobiles. Pretty smart man.

My grandad was a surgeon. He said exact same things. That's funny

My son started shooting a BB gun at 3, a 22 at 4 and a 243 with a red dot at 5. He shot a lot of each before he moved to the next one. He started hunting with me when he was 3. When he was 5 he carried his own gun. He killed his first deer 3 days before his 7th birthday. He got a 7-08 for his 8th birthday and now he is 13 and has shot just about every gun I own.

Exactly, That's why my son never had a BB gun, I'm not a fan of them. "You'll shoot your eye out , Kid."

We went straight to a 22 with the main emphasis on safety. When they get where they can handle a 22 themselves , buy them ammo by the brick. They'll become crack shots in no time.

different times back then. When I was 10 my first cousin and I used to go camping along the Cahaba River, both of us armed with a 22 or 410. We'd stay out for a couple of days, make a food run and stay a few more days.

I let my grandson shoot a rifle/shotgun by himself, but handguns require my supervision.

I was allowed to take our 17' Boston whaler from cotton bayou basically anywhere I wanted north of the pass. I explored every island and canal at Alabama pointe at age 13. No way I'd let my kids these days.

Started taking my son hunting when he was four. He went and we hung out in the stand together. No gun for him until he was 7 or so..

I started both of my boys at 4 years of age. The oldest lost interest but the youngest didn't I took him along a lot. Up until he was 8 he had a pair of binoculars. I didn't let him shoot my rifle due to recoil. I did teach him how to shoot with a shotgun (20 gauge) and he was quite efficient with it. He was good to have around due to his excellent eyesight an uncanny ability to find deer in the thick cover. I didn't let him hunt alone until he was 12-13. Only then he was using my single barrel 12 gauge with OO buckshot. A lot depends on your child's maturity level. My son shot a boss gobbler when he was 9 years old. There was a writeup in the paper for it. He has yet to connect on a deer and his priorities don't allow him the opportunity to hunt now. He's 26 now and has a son and working. His time off is spent with his son. I can't fault him for that at all. He wants to go but for now is content with me giving him some deer sausage when available.

Took my daughter turkey hunting at 8 yrs old. She didnt shoot though

My son is 7. He started shooting BB gun at 4, AR of the bench at 5. He can shoot really good for his age but just isn't really fired up about hunting yet. He will go a couple times a year but that's it so I'm not pushing at this point. He can however ring steel at 250 with the 6.5 Grendel just using a front rest.

Started my son off at 3 with a bb gun. At 4 we went to a single shot .22 and he loved to shoot at pumpkins. Also shot a 20 gauge with bird shot off a Caldwell field pod, he actually missed 2 gobblers at age 4 and that hooked him. Age 5 we shot the AR a lot and again we shot pumkins and ballons. He killed his first deer at age 5, he made a perfect shot and immediately put the gun on safe because thats what ive stressed since day 1. At that age we only shot off the field pod to keep recoil to a minimum and noise was never an issue because we wore hearing protection. He is 6 now and killed deer #2 yesterday with the AR. IMO that AR is perfect hunting rifle for youngsters to start off on. not much recoil at all and the stock configuration lets them shoulder it well. Luckily recoil doesnt bother my son and he loves to hunt.

Started taking him with when he was around 6 or 7. Got him a 20 gauge at age 10 and he killed his first deer with it. Got him a youth 7mm-08 at age 12.

I never understood the rush to get the kid a kill by age 6. I always thought it was the dads wanting it more than the kids.

Dr. B

My oldest killed his first deer at 5 (using an I scope). He is now 8 and just killed his third yesterday. Last year was the first year he actually shot with his eye to the scope. He killed a doe the first time he shot on his own. We use a youth model bolt action 7-08 with reduced recoil core lokts.

My 2 started going with me at 3. I will not let them shoot a deer until 7 or 8 at the earliest

4 years old cricket .22

Gun safety first and foremost. I tried teaching him to use irons sights but that frustrated him at that age. Got him a scope on the cricket and he loved it

thats how i was started. my dad have me a 20 ga single shot for my first gun. that thing kicked the crap out of me but I learned respect and some fear of guns. my cousins all got 10 22's and they treated them like bb guns. I was never taught gun safety or how to hunt I just land on my own. lol I was running around with a 20 ga at 8 yo blasting every squirrel and bird on the back 40.

At 3 mine started shooting a BB gun and went on a few hunts. .22 rascal at 5 and put a scope on it this summer to get my oldest acclimated for a deer rifle. He started shoting my AR-15 by the end of summer. The adjustable stock and mild recoil are ideal, he can’t shoulder a factory Youth stock. We went on 2 hunts this weekend in hopes for his first deer kill at 6.5yr old. We saw a few on the first hunt but didn’t have a clear shot. I hope gets a shot soon, but killing a deer isn’t what our hunts are about.

Me and middle brother had bb guns at 4 and 5 I was 5 he was 4. My youngest brother got a bb gun at 8. Me and the middle one are only 13mo the apart. We then got 410 shotguns at 7 mine was my great granpaws model 37 Winchester and his was a NEF youth model. Then got Mossberg 500s 12 ga. At 12. The youngest didn't get a 410 because shells got expensive when his time came. He got a Winchester 20ga. When he turned 12. And we all shared a single shot bolt action 22 with a broken ejector that my granpaw taught us how to shoot iron sights with.

9-10 y.o. & i used the low recoil 140 gr in a .30-06 & she handled it well ...

killed first deer and turkey whne I was 7. before that I walked around with my bb gun and shot birds, squirrels and rabbits

Every kid is different and some are ready before others are. Dad's have to make that call.

My oldest killed his first deer (with a crossbow) at 11 and his first turkey (shotgun) at 12. His first season that he wanted to hunt.

My youngest killed his first deer (gun) at 6 and with crossbow at 7. His first turkey with shotgun at 8. He's my little hunter.

My daughter is 7 and has been going with me since she was 3. She got her first rifle at the end of last season to start getting comfortable with it. We still have a ways to go before she is ready to shoot it on her own.

Both of my girls started shooting a .22 at 4 years old. One is now 11 and the other will be 5 next month. My oldest killed her first deer with a crossbow a 6 and first one with the .243 at 7. She had only shot the .22 prior to shooting with the .243. This has been the route I have taken on about 8 kids (mostly girls). None of them had shot the actual hunting rifle prior to their first kill but had all practiced with a scoped .22. None of them flinched and only one missed their first shot and this was mainly due to her shaking with excitement. The hardest part the young ones tend to have is finding the animal in the scope. I recommend practicing this as much as shooting.

I'd second the notion of BB Guns being off limits. I think they are seen as toys not firearms. Not that I don't have 3 of them at my house.

My 9 year old started on the .22 and rapidly progressed to the AR(5.56) at age 7. If I hadn't stolen* a 700 in .243 during Gander Mountains death song , she probably would have stuck with the 5.56 for another year or so. When we lived with woods in the back, we'd use the canned .22 and subsonics on the steel I had back there on the regular. The AR style rifle works well for smaller folks due to the innate lower recoil, the stock adjustment abilities.

We regularly do dry fire work, finger off the trigger until on target etc. Probably spent 25+ hours in the last year with the .22 and the .243 doing dry fire work.

We went to the range several times and the last time, we played the 'pop the balloon' meaning that I took some helium balloons of different colors to the range and staked 'em to the ground at 25,50, 75, and 100 yards. Then I'd tell her to shoot the blue one, the yellow one, etc. that way she had to move the gun into position (using a caldwell field pod)

I hung a stand on the tree in the backyard 2 feet off the ground and made her do dry fire work out of it, in addition to working on moving slowly acquiring the target. I put a blue force gear sling on the rifle, and while in the stand the sling was around her, just in case it slid one way or the other. Lots of safety talk, lots of 'ethical shots' talk and at 8 and 9 she could really wrap her head around making sure the animal doesn't suffer and only taking good shots. She was all about hunting and has been asking me since February when Deer season started! On Sunday she shot her first deer, at 50 yards, worked the bolt, put the gun on safe. The Hornady custom lite in .243 is soooooft shooting. and I shot it MOA at 100 yards.

TL;DR
Depends on the kid, dry fire, range trips etc. I think .22 shooting at 4-5+ AR at 6 and 7 and go from there.


*I didn't actually steal it, but for 300 out the door it felt like it.

killed my first deer when i was six with a .243 from then on i was shooting a 30-06 or a .308

Took my son on the way home from the hospital 1 day after being born. He killed a 155" 10 point with a .338 Lapua at 700 yards.