I went squirrel hunting with my dad several times between the ages of 7 and 10. Never saw anything and we usually just shot a couple boxes of .22 shells at variuos targets we brought out with us. i then took hunter saftey when i was just turned 10(march). there we shot 5 clays with a 20 and 5 with a 12. from there i was hooked. i started shooting on a league when i was still 10 (june). i went with my uncle because my father worker an early second shift. I started with a very old model 12 field grade, made around 1960. it is a very light gun with a very tight choke. my dad told me that it would kick hard but i would learn to brace myself and the bruises would go away as i learned. i would break 10 to 15 birds that first year. we shot for about 15 weeks, once a week with 4 boxes of remington 3 dram #8. I would come home rip off my shirt and go in the bathroom and look in the mirror. i learned that the less bruising there was the better i was getting. i didnt mind the kick at all. i actually enjoyed it. i would see the guy be like doesnt that hurt and i would say i just see the birds break. for x-mas that year my parents bought me a vest. for my 13 b-day my dad took me to gander mountain and bought me a BPS 12ga. with a 26" barrel. I still shoot that gun every week (I am 20 now). this gun being heavier doesnt kick near as much and i am the only guy at the club witha pump gun. 2 weeks ago i busted out the old model 12 and i had to switch guns halfway through because I got kicked inthe eye because it has almost no drop to it at all and being 6'5" doesnt help anything. I started reloading all my own shells and experminting with different loads(just what the books say not conjouring my own up) when i was about 15. this is also about the same time my parents let me take the guns to the club alone with out any adults there. when i 16 i started to take my little brother (13) to the club. I never had any supervisior look over my shoulder. they said the trusted me and that was enough. as i grew up i have seen kids come and go because of parents looking over them on the line. they become very embarresed and it kinda pushes them away. the first couple of rounds would be understandabout but not more then the first 2 or 3 times to the range. I have to say that without someone behind me i felt like a man even though i was only 10. i was with men much older then me particapting with them without any special provisions made. but i can see that i have rambled a lot more then what the question asked. all i can say is make the kid feel grown up and important and you will see how well they do on their own.
skog
skog
