Gun for Daughter

gspgunner · Post by **gspgunner** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 6:06 pm

My daughter is 5 yrs old and my son is 3. I`m looking to get a nice .22 for them to learn how to shoot. I`m looking for some pointers on how to go about teaching them.

edondero · Post by **edondero** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 6:12 pm

I'm 23 and I think a .22 is what my boyfriend wants to teach ME on! I'm slightly offended. Which brings me to something that I've been thinkign about for awhile....How does one go about learning to hunt? Shooting clubs? An all-inclusive guided hunt at a lodge? I don't know, but I want to!

Post by **ezzy333** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 6:18 pm

A nice Daisy BB gun would be a good place to start. After they demonstrate they can handle it without pointing it at anybody and carry it in a safe position then they could move up to a youth model 22. I do nor believe in pushing them in any way. There are many years in their future and its always Dads who are in a hurry. If they have done everything by the time they are twelve you will have some bored kids and that will mean problems. Nothing wrong with making them earn everything they get.

Ezzy

Post by **ezzy333** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 6:21 pm

edondero,

Hunting can't be taught. It has to be experienced. Go with your BF. That is the best way to learn.

Ezzy

gspgunner · Post by **gspgunner** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 6:36 pm

Thanks for the tips. I was 5 or 6 yrs old when my Dad taught me to shoot ,and yep it was with a Marlin .22. He was very strict with my brother and I when it came to guns.

dceverson · Post by **dceverson** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 6:38 pm

I agree with Ezzy. BB gun is the way to go!

gspgunner · Post by **gspgunner** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 6:51 pm

I guess I`ll go with the trusty Red Ryder ( I guess I have to pull the reigns back every once in a while)

Don · Post by **Don** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:14 pm

My 4 yr old grand daughter got a chipmunk 22 for Christmas 2006. yes she does shoot it.

WildRose · Post by **WildRose** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:30 pm

edondero wrote:I'm 23 and I think a .22 is what my boyfriend wants to teach ME on! I'm slightly offended. Which brings me to something that I've been thinkign about for awhile....How does one go about learning to hunt? Shooting clubs? An all-inclusive guided hunt at a lodge? I don't know, but I want to!

Don't be offended one of the most important things when introducing people to the shooting sports is to keep the recoil and noise to a minimum so you don't scare them off!

The best way to learn to shoot and to hunt is with someone with a great deal of experience in teaching both as a freind, mentor, hunting partner etc.

I have had quite a few people over the years send me their kids, or bring their kids along and ask me to spend a great deal of time teaching them on our hunts. I love it!

I have had trips booked by novice couples too where we start out with a day of basic shotgun introduction, shooting some clays etc, maybe a half day of the same the next day, and then we'll move to trying to shoot some hand thrown released birds, then planted birds, and then the "real thing" to follow it up.

Lots of ways to get to where you want to be. There are a lot of people very talented/gifted at the shooting sports that unfortunately couldn't teach you how to load one. It's just all automatic after thousands of repetitions. Being able to break things down in a stepwise fashion, and still keep it fun while being able to explain the what, where, how, and why is not something everyone can do. CR

PaulW · Post by **PaulW** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:47 pm

My first gun is a 22 marlin 39A, got it when i was 10 my daughters 1st was a marlin 880 also around 10 years old. i cant remember the first time i shot a gun i just remember the present under the tree and the next days squirrel hunt.

griffgirl · Post by **griffgirl** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:06 am

edondero wrote:I'm 23 and I think a .22 is what my boyfriend wants to teach ME on! I'm slightly offended. Which brings me to something that I've been thinkign about for awhile....How does one go about learning to hunt? Shooting clubs? An all-inclusive guided hunt at a lodge? I don't know, but I want to!

Edondero...

This is what I did years ago when I was taught.We have a hugh pit and would bring the clay launcher out and shoot.Once I got the straight-a-ways,then we would move the launcher different ways to get shots going up and to the left and to the right.We would do fast rights and fast lefts.

Once I had that down then we went to the trap range.I used a 20 ga o/u.There not loud and theres no recoil.Nice little gun.I liked that so much I took up sporting clays.Its a little more realistic for hunting....Dropping Ducks,Springing Teal,Rabbits, ect

Now for the BRAG....After all that practice I stuck with Sporting Clay shooting,went to alot of shoots and took 2nd place in a state shoot for Women.I hit 97 out of 100.I have alot of AA trophy's collecting dust.

So just get out and pratice and you'll be hitting Ducks,Birds or whatever you hunt in no time.Women and fast to learn how to shoot and many Men will agree.......Shawn

ACooper · Post by **ACooper** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:38 am

A Chipmunk .22 was what I was going to suggest, but for kids that young a bb gun is probaby better. I had a red ryder when I was a kid and thats what I learned to carry when I followed my dad around, he let me go on the short hunts, I dont remember how old i was but I had to have been
4-6 years old. then progressed from there to a single shot .410.

utahmomof4 · Post by **utahmomof4** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:32 am

edondero wrote:I'm 23 and I think a .22 is what my boyfriend wants to teach ME on! I'm slightly offended. Which brings me to something that I've been thinkign about for awhile....How does one go about learning to hunt? Shooting clubs? An all-inclusive guided hunt at a lodge? I don't know, but I want to!

My husband started me out on a .22, too. It's a great way to start, and you will quickly work your way up as you become more comfortable with the recoil, etc.

I would recommend looking into a local chapter of Women in the Outdoors (through the National Wild Turkey Federation) and/or Becoming and Outdoors Woman (usually run through the state wildlife/national resources division). Participating in the activities with these two groups have helped me to develop my own outdoor/shooting/hunting identity and passion. They have all-day clinics, shooting clinics, hunts, and all kinds of stuff. Next month, I'm going on an all-ladies pheasant hunt with some of my BOW buddies. It's great!

Mav&Lizzy · Post by **Mav&Lizzy** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:57 am

I have 4 kids ages 14-3 and they all shoot. My son is the oldest been shooting a .22 since he was about 3 or 4. Well he thought he was shooting anyway

dad did most of the actual shooting. Aiming and control but I let him pull the trigger. At 5 he got a bb gun but was only allowed to handle it under strict supervision from me, uncles and grandpa's. At 5 he also started tagging along on quail hunts and was allowed to carry an old heavy toy gun that had the barrel capped. He was corrected often on how he treated it and how he pointed it. At about 6 or 7 he was allowed to carry his BB gun on hunts but the bb's were in his pocket. When we would take breaks he was allowed to load a few and take some shots at trees and to wander slightly away from the rest. He thought he was doing some real hunting on his own but everyone in the party kept a close eye on him. At 7 or 8 he was allowed to carry his bb gun on hunts and occassionally his .22. He was then allowed to hunt squirels and rabbit when we were breaking. We (the adults) had more fun during this time then when we were hunting. When he was 9 I started carrying a light weight 20ga when it was just him, I and grandpa. When the dogs would point his grandpa or I one would assist him in shooting the .20 ga while the other handled the dogs. He got to put a lot of lead in the air that year but never got a bird. He also received a 20 ga youth model Mosseburg that year but was back to carrying it unloaded the rest of that season. The next season he got to carry it opening day but there was a ton of people in our party (well just 6 but..) so he wasn't allowed to load it until the last point of the day and I had the rest of the party walk off. He had done a bunch of clay pigeon shooting leading up to this and he got his first quail on this point. He was only allowed to carry his gun loaded while it was just his grandpa and I hunting throughout this season. At 10 he took his Hunters Ed course and got a 100%. I kept hunting parties at small numbers that year but allowed him to carry his gun loaded all year. I'm now convinced that he is safer than I and most of the people we hunt with. At 14 he now carries a Pointer 12ga O/U that he won at a banquet and bags more game than I do.

I by no means am trying to say this is the only way to go about teaching your children to hunt/shoot but it has worked for us. I'm in various stages of this plan now (well have been for the past 14 years LOL) will my 3 daughters which are 12, 8 and 3. Though the 12 and 8 year old girls aren't as dedicated as my son was (he never missed a hunt until he hit Jr. High and had other obligations) they all know how to handle a gun or more importantly that they don't handle guns without me present. Oh and my 3 year old?? The only bird hunt she missed this year she was sick and it was freezing rain out (most hunts she sits in the truck with her grandpa and gets out occassionaly when the dogs are on point near where she is at). The wife said she laid on the floor crying with my old bird dog that is too old to hunt the whole time I was gone!! She is pretty dedicated!! I missed a nice 12 point buck this year because she moved at just the right (wrong) time. It was 18 degrees and sleeting at the time too!

gspgunner · Post by **gspgunner** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:15 am

I was beginning to think I was the only one who started their kids out shooting at such a young age

utahmomof4 · Post by **utahmomof4** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:40 am

My 3 older kids (ages 5, 7, and

love to go out and shoot the .22 rifles. We put the rifle on a rest and the kid on a chair, stand over them, reinforce safety rules, and they line up the red dot sight and pull the trigger themselves. My 8-y/o son got a pellet gun for his 7th birthday and he's an excellent shot with it. My 3-y/o daughter got to pull the trigger on a pellet gun at the DNR booth at the State Fair this year - again, obviously a very controlled environment. We are HUGE on gun safety here, and they aren't even allowed to point toy guns at people. In my opinion, education is less dangerous than ignorance and I would rather my kids were educated at a young age than make a stupid, deadly mistake out of ignorance later in life.

WildRose · Post by **WildRose** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:57 am

gspgunner wrote:I was beginning to think I was the only one who started their kids out shooting at such a young age

By the time they were six and nine my half pint 45-65lbs nieces were shooting my 7mm STW (with a really good muzzle break) at 200 yard targets (and hitting) and with some help in holding it up shooting sillouettes with my 44 (8.5 in ported bbl)shooting light 44sp loads HA!

Worst part was that they were both outshooting their brothers who were teenages!

My brother, sister, and I all started with the same old remington pump that might dad was taught to shoot with as his first gun. Our first shotuns were 20ga that we both got at the same time when he was eight and I was seven. CR

WildRose · Post by **WildRose** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 12:01 pm

In my opinion, education is less dangerous than ignorance and I would rather my kids were educated at a young age than make a stupid, deadly mistake out of ignorance later in life.

Parents willing to take the time to properly educate and introduce their children to the shooting sports at a young age and keep them involved in the, are the type of parents typically that end up with very responsible children anyway.

I'd be willing to be large money that the "Columbine boys" were neither one participants in 4-h rifle and shotgun competition, nor boy scouts who had earned their shooting (rifle, shotgun, handgun) merit badges. CR

utahmomof4 · Post by **utahmomof4** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 12:02 pm

WildRose wrote:
In my opinion, education is less dangerous than ignorance and I would rather my kids were educated at a young age than make a stupid, deadly mistake out of ignorance later in life.
Parents willing to take the time to properly educate and introduce their children to the shooting sports at a young age and keep them involved in the, are the type of parents typically that end up with very responsible children anyway.

I'd be willing to be large money that the "Columbine boys" were neither one participants in 4-h rifle and shotgun competition, nor boy scouts who had earned their shooting (rifle, shotgun, handgun) merit badges. CR

Agreed.

lvrgsp · Post by **lvrgsp** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 12:15 pm

Yep a Red Ryder is a good place to start, I know I started that young, I was also made to carry a gun in the field never loaded for a few years to, a single shot .410. A good progression might be a Remington .22 Cricket, not sure if they still make it but it was a good one to teach young kids on.

My .02

Chip

ohiohuntinweim · Post by **ohiohuntinweim** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:06 pm

My daughter has just turned 7 and I am planning on teaching her how to shoot with a 'lil cricket. Its a single shot 22, and for my daughter (ever the GIRL) it comes with a pink synthetic stock. If nothing else it may keep her interest. Just imagine her 275lb father at the range holding a bright pink .22 making sure he knows how to use it before he takes the kid out

I am also going to use those targets that glow when you hit them...black over flo. yellow or green. They also have those portable metal spinning targets and the clay pigeon holder to hold clays. So they "blow up" when struck.

Make it fun, enjoyable and SAFE

Post by **ezzy333** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:35 pm

I have a little kids 22 that was made by Daisy. Cute little thing with a synthetic stock.

Ezzy

lvrgsp · Post by **lvrgsp** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:20 pm

Good to hear there still making the cricket, that is a nice little rifle for kids to start out on. heck to be real honest with you it makes a pretty good squirrel gun. I gonna have to pick one up again.

Chip

cancrkkennels · Post by **cancrkkennels** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:46 pm

no your not the only one who starts there kids young I have 5 of them 13 to new born all but the new born shot my 13 year old shot his first elk this year my daughter has a chipmunk and it made a good starter gun but no kid should be allow to shoot without adult supervision. When my kids shot I leave my guns at home and help them