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.