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.