How old was/is your kids, when they start hunting. I have been toting a gun as far back as I can remember, when I was a kid "under 10" I had some accidents, dropped a hammer let gun go off, Luckly no one was hurt. Dad was super strict on gun saftey, but I would be excited and not pay much attention. Now both my girls love the outdoors, my oldest is 7, and she wants to deer hunt this year. She has went alot with me with her BB gun, and will again this year, I personally still feel like she is to young and isn't big enough to carry a real or handle a real gun, even though I would be right beside her. SO I go back to the question, what age do yall think is a good age, or do you base it more off of mental and physical size?

Now I am not judging anyone elses kids or age, nor the tragic accident on the dove field.

Now this is a opinion base thread no wrong or right answers, if it turns into a pissing match about who's right, I'll get the mods to pull it..

I don't necessarily think there is an age. I think it is kid specific. I know some adults that don't need to be carrying a gun.

Will was 5 when he went with me the first time carrying a gun. He was 6 about to be 7 when he killed his first deer. He had been shooting a 22 since he was 3.

I let my girls go with me up to 10. I then started letting them do the shooting with me in the tree with them. They still want me in the tree and they are 12 and 13 now.

My Son was with me at a very young age. He killed squirrels and such early. First deer at 10.

I think it depends on the kid.

My son Gabe was very tender hearted when he was young. The thought of injuring or heaven forbid killing an animal was unthinkable to him. When he reached about 10 he started showing an interest in going hunting with me. Last year at age 12 he killed his first deer and was as happy a kid as you'll ever see in the deer woods.

In my mind it is child specific and no one knows there child better than the parent.

Seems like I was shooting pretty young with a 22 and squirrel hunting pretty young with one as well. Then later dove hunting, then later deer hunting with a shotgun (dogs).

Def depends on the kids. My oldest has been going with me since he was 6. Of course he was a 6yr old and our hunts were short when the whether was decent. Killed his first deer when he was 8 and first buck at 9. He's 12 now and still enjoys it. My youngest will go and likes to go but doesn't or at least hasn't yet got serious about wanting to go all the time. He did kill his first deer and first buck last year when he was 7. He's 8 now and I plan on taking him a good bit more this year.

IMO, if she wants to go with you, by all means take her. It will be good daddy daughter time. Plus if your lucky maybe you can kill one with her and she can see what its all about from the beginning to the end.

I think it comes down to this, What do you have to loose? Nothing.. Take that baby girl and make it a good time. Don't sweat all the talking and moving and laughing so seriously (I'm still working on that myself). Enjoy it and have fun.

my $0.02.

I was hunting by myself at 8 y/o. I would squirrel hunt in the morning and deer hunt in the afternoon. I killed a couple does that year. I hunted with a Rem 1100 20 ga. I believe I was 11 when I got my 270.

I carry her all the time, she just gets puffy cause I don't let her take "her real gun"

Tim was 5 when he killed his first deer with a 223 rifle. I took him to a ground blind on a bowhunt only part of the club that morning. We had a small doe come in and I shot it mainly because he was saying "Shoot it daddy, shoot it." That afternoon we went to a foodplot with a large shooting house. Later that afternoon a button buck came in and I let him shoot it. I don't know who was more excited him or me. When we got back home with both deer and were taking pics, he looked up at me and said "Dad my deer is bigger and it's a buck."

Stephen killed his first deer last year at 6 that was also the first time he shot a large caliber riffle. I would let him shoot his scoped 22 and the day we went I made him make ten kill shots on a deer we drew before he could go. Last year was the first year he really got into any kind of hunting and he wants to kill everything now.

This is definitely kid specific! I started going with my dad when I was 3, just going and sitting, watching, and sleeping/snoring in my sleeping bag haha. I started with squirrels and rabbits with a little .410 single shot and eventually started deer hunting in a stand alone at age 9, which I killed my first deer on the last day of the season. Got my own first rifle for my 10th birthday and still hunt with it today at age 28. I always remember going over gun safety and being very conscious of what I was doing when handling any firearms. I think it just depends on the comfort of the kid and their training and respect for the weapons.

Those were the good ol' days.

My daughter was 7 last fall and all it took was a buddy of hers to kill his first one on the youth hunt and all the sudden that got her going. She went 2 for 3 last year both were does and now it's time for horns. She's been going with me since she was 4. Yours will tell when they're ready. Don't push it just it will occur naturally. Mine had never fired a rifle til last fall and now she shoots better than me. There's no set age or time just be ready when they say they're ready!

This.

As already stated it depends on the kid. My boy got his first deer at the age of 8. I was carrying him at two years old in a sleeping bag. Each kid is different. That's our job to brang them up right and teach them and our decision on when to cut em loose.

Kid specific but shooting a deer don't mean carryimg a loaded high power rifle around either. Mine were both 7 when they killed their first but I did all the weapon handling as well as operating the safety and scope zoom when they were on target. Yes I let them shoulder am unloaded gun for the walk to or from the stand if they wanted just so they would feel like they were "hunting" but that's about it.

Correct. Mine started at 9, killed one of his biggest bucks first year hunting.

My oldest has been with me on a few hunts since age 6.... She killed her first turkey at age 8.... Her first deer at age 9.....

They can go/hunt/be involved, etc without carrying. Mine are 6 and 11 and my 11yo killed his first at 9. We've solved a lot of the worlds problems sitting on greenfields in the afternoons with them having kindles, iPhones and iPads in hand. Make it fun, tell a bunch of stories and run a bunch of teaching scenarios and the "killing" opportunities will present themselves.

I will also say this from my experience. The adrenaline rush you will get when your child is about to drop the hammer is more than you can imagine. I still get a small case of the fever when I'm hunting, but when my boys are gunning, I'm shaking like a leaf on a tree. Its an awesome feelin!

I got a Rossi 243 single shot you are welcome to borrow. Both my boys have killed with it. Not sure how big she is but its very small and she can prob shoulder it fine. Its not really accurate in our terms but it will drop one dead at or within 100yds. I'm sure we could hook up if you wanted to borrow it.

They got a youth NEF .22 hornet, that has dropped 10 in there tracks so far over the years, Me and Jess both has banged flop with it.

My kids have been hunting with me since they started walking. My son killed his first deer at age 9. He is 13 now and a very good shot with a rifle. I let him sit a few time by himself in the shooting house that we have in the yard at the camp. Proved he could be trusted to hunt by himself. He will hunt on his own this year, of course dad will not be to far away. Both my kids were raised with guns in their hands and know how to handle and respect them.

I think all kids should advance from bb gun to a 410. Let them shoot cans and see the damage a gun will do. A 22 don't have the kick and damage to target that leave the impression that guns do damage. I think that has to be instilled into them. My almost 5 yo is nowhere near ready. I had hoped he would be able to shoot a bb gun by now but he is not even ready for that. From that age to about 13 girls are more mature in my opinion. Just my 2 cents

Started hunting with my dad on the ground when I was 6 or 7. He was veeeeeryyy strict on gun safety and all around hunting safety. I'm glad he did because I have carried it on.

I got my oldest son who is 6 now a .22 cricket when he was 3. He didn't shoot for a while, but practiced gun safety/handling. At age 4 he could shoot it pretty well from a rest at short ranges. He has continually progressed to where I feel comfortable letting him load and shoot it while I'm with him. He can shoot a decent group off hand at 20 yards now and shoot the bullseye out off a rest out to about 40 yards.

He is like a sponge, and soaks that stuff up. He better not catch you closing a bolt on a rifle in the house. He will call you out on it.

He has been shooting my AR off a rest and I'd be comfortable letting him shoot at a deer out to 50 or 60 yards right now.

I allowed my son to be the gun-toter when he was 13. He'd seen a lot of deer killed and had been around hunting since he was 6-months old (yes - I put him in a blanket and sat him on the ground with me once when he was an infant), but I wanted to make sure that he completely understood the consequences of pulling the trigger.

It's certainly up to the parent and child, but in my experience I believe that the parent is the one normally pushing a child to kill a deer. And when a parent pushes a child to kill a deer, the parent and the child have absolutely no respect for the animal - which is completely unbelievable to me, personally. I also believe (based on countless examples) that poor shots and wounded animals are accepted by adults when a child injures the animal and doesn't recover it; however, the same understanding attitude is not shared around the campfire when an adult does the same thing.

While this will be an unpopular statement, it is better to teach a child to hunt than to put a gun in their hand and teach them to kill and there is a HUGE difference between the two.

I just do not let them have control of the gun except in a controlled manner.

They understand gun safety and have hunted since around 6 but when it comes down to it. I tote the gun, I load the gun, I control the gun.

My boys are 12 and 14 but I still dont want to be responsible for a accident when I am there and control the situation. I let them carry it now but I dont load it till we are in a sitting situation. They still learn about hunting and get to enjoy good times with dad.

^^^ This. My boys are 16 and still hollar across the dove field, safety on?

My son is a month old. Y'all think he could handle a 30 degree boat ride this duck season?

I started hunting with my dad as a dove retriever at age six, by ten I was hunting with my same age cousin along the Cahaba River. We would camp out, taking our 22 and 410. times have sure changed....

My daughters started hunting at very young ages, me carrying em on my shoulders at first. Oldest girl killed first deer at age seven. Middle girl never wanted to shoot anything but liked to go along. She was the best shot of the three. Youngest girl loved to hunt from age two er so. She would pitch a fit if I didn't take her. She killed a 140" but when age was ten, still hunts some at age 28.

My grandson Dylan was hunting in diapers, first turkey hunt before he was two, called his first gobbler at age four. He was in the stand with me when I killed my best bow buck, he was 18 months old. He says he helped drag it out. He killed his first deer at age four, a big eight point, scope got his eye. I caught hell for that.




"dragging a bow killed hog"



still in diapers calling turkeys with my wife


shooting "his" Barrett....LOL


he IS a camera clown...


small boar with his 223 "lazer gun"....



chicken raiding possum he killed by him self, first bow kill



just turned eight. Two hogs he killed hunting with Hogwild this summer.



TAKE EM YOUNG

TAKE EM OFTEN

TAKE LOTS OF PICS

HAVE FUN AND BUILD MEMORIES......

Dove hunting is one of the most dangerous types of hunting there is anyway, right behind quail hunting. I started taking my oldest dove hunting when he was 10 and sat with him every year until this year (he's 14). I'm talking about a group dove hunt now, not sitting in a field by yourselves. I took my 8 yr old to a field I have by ourselves Sunday evening. No way id take him to a group hunt at 8.

DW. I'm glad you posted this. Anytime you can get a kid out in the woods or on the water then go for it. I have had deer/turkeys and bout any other animal spooked away from me when I take my son with me but one day he will catch on. Poor guy really loves turkey hunting. Wouldn't trade it for anything. He has been asking me to go turkey hunting alot since this past season. He's ready to go anytime.

He currently carries a bb-gun. Unloaded , he's still a lil wild and full of energy for a real gun.

Please don't take him turkey hunting. That's a terrible idea. Look at how YEKRUT turned out.