Thread: How young is to young?

I'm going to go against the grain here, and say too young.

At four, he is not going to remember much in 6 years time. He will have a limited attention span and energy level for big walks.

By all means take him, but involve him in the other side of hunting, the things that are arguably more important than the shooting part. Things like picking up decoys, plucking ducks, looking for possum eyes in the light, carrying the rabbit in his special "hunting' pack. Teach him about the animals you hunt, the weather etc. Equip him with a usable skillset so when the time comes for him to shoot he will be keen as mustard, and the actual act of learning to shoot at the age of 7-8 is a formality because he has been technically 'hunting' since he could walk.

Originally Posted by Pointer

I'm going to go against the grain here, and say too young.

At four, he is not going to remember much in 6 years time. He will have a limited attention span and energy level for big walks.

By all means take him, but involve him in the other side of hunting, the things that are arguably more important than the shooting part. Things like picking up decoys, plucking ducks, looking for possum eyes in the light, carrying the rabbit in his special "hunting' pack. Teach him about the animals you hunt, the weather etc. Equip him with a usable skillset so when the time comes for him to shoot he will be keen as mustard, and the actual act of learning to shoot at the age of 7-8 is a formality because he has been technically 'hunting' since he could walk.

Totally understand your point Pointer.We do go tramping with them but they are short walks, may be an hour of actual walking on a good day then its on the shoulders. I would not dream of taking the 4 year old hunting i was just seeking advice on the age to take him to the range and introduce him to firearms. But thanks anyway for your opinion. I am new to firearms myself and value all advice from those with far more knowledge and experience than myself.

Thanks for all your advice and comments. I have a bit of thinking to do . May even have to seek the advice of the misses.

Originally Posted by POME

Thanks for all your advice and comments. I have a bit of thinking to do . May even have to seek the advice of the misses.

Oh don't do that POME. A woman will just confuse your thought process

Originally Posted by Rushy

Oh don't do that POME. A woman will just confuse your thought process

I have asked her if she thinks it is a good idea to start him shooting. The reply was "hummm". Anyone know what this means?

Originally Posted by POME

I have asked her if she thinks it is a good idea to start him shooting. The reply was "hummm". Anyone know what this means?

That sound means many things, but none of them are good!

Originally Posted by POME

Totally understand your point Pointer.We do go tramping with them but they are short walks, may be an hour of actual walking on a good day then its on the shoulders. I would not dream of taking the 4 year old hunting i was just seeking advice on the age to take him to the range and introduce him to firearms. But thanks anyway for your opinion. I am new to firearms myself and value all advice from those with far more knowledge and experience than myself.

If you can find a nice bit of farm land where you can hunt the bushline why not take you 4 year old. at the last farm i was running we had pork almost year round. i took my young fellas out with me and they learnt to stalk game at ages 5 and 3 pointed out the bunny rabbit that will give you away or the parry that will give you a way. which way the wind is blowing they picked it up well for young fellas and my 5 now 6 year old is a ninja when stalking. i remember the first time i got them in close to some pigs we would have been less the 10 meters away on the other side of the drain and my boys were so excited yet they held on to there lips and just watched them i thought the boys were going to explode. young kids pick things up bloody quick while getting the cows into the feedpad i taught my 6 year old to drive the 4x4 farm truck in less then 30 minutes with calm direct instruction my 6 year old got a handle on clutch and throttle control while steering he was not perfect but with a short tutorial he had full control of this vechicle in the paddock. the point is dont under estimate what the young will understand.

Originally Posted by Pointer

I'm going to go against the grain here, and say too young.

At four, he is not going to remember much in 6 years time. He will have a limited attention span and energy level for big walks.

We took our 4.5 year old skiing he was still talking about it at 10. I took him 308 FTR shooting for his 14th, I think he was old enough then to be responsible...and understand guns are dangerious...now he shoots almost as well as me...not that that is saying much LOL.

regards