An afternoon at the range with my 8 year old.

[GregC]

Took my 8 year old to the range this weekend. For the last year or so, he has been shooting my AR, as the recoil is minimal, but it is a step up from a .22. As he has been going hunting with me most of deer season, he has now decided that he wants to shoot my .270wsm, just because it is a bolt action and different from the AR. Not wanting to ruin his newfound enthusiasm with the much greater recoil, I told him he would have to wait until he was a little bigger. I have a Savage .22-250 that I told him he could try, even though it is a normal, adult sized stock with a typical 22" barrel. I let him shoot 2 shots at a target about 30 yards away, just to get a feel for the gun. Then we hung a target at 100 yards. His first 4 shots could be covered by a quarter. I couldn't be prouder of that boy!

 

[taliv]

awesome! nice work!

 

[neededausername]

Great job, I can't wait to take my son to the range. He's only 16 months old right now so I think I will have to wait a few years. What age and what firearm did you first let him shoot?

 

[1KPerDay]

Nice work, Greg.

 

[coug]

sounds awsome we need more like the both of you in the world. sounds like it won't be long and you will be buying a new rifle for him. my 11 year old daughter shot her 3rd deer this year @ 150 yds. with my .223 she loves it.. she got her first one @ 9 yrs and she is hooked. good job.

 

[JDGray]

Awesome!

I also started my son out at 8yrs old, hes a pretty darn good shot now at 13. He likes shooting my Savage 10FP .308 the most, burning up my match ammo like no tomarrow

 

[Floppy_D]

My boy 's six, and I can't wait to get him to a range. We've been working with a Crosman pellet pistol, and he can finally follow some directions... I suspect there may be a Daisy BB gun in Santa's sleigh.

 

[ritepath]

My 6yo boy hunted with me all season also, (we still have late muzzleloader) he did take a buttonbuck during our youth hunt at 25 yards. It was great my greatest hunting success. He loves to shoot, and his 8yo sister loves to shoot but she won't shoot anything but the 22's, and she's not even remotely interested in hunting with me.

I did kind of screw up with my son earlier in the season when I let him fire "his" 410 for the first time without me supporting him properly. I wasn't watching closely enough and he had his eye right at the hammer. When he shot it the hammer hammered his eyelid pretty bad. Right at the moment he won't shoot it again, but he'll still shoot my AR's.

Passing along my love for shooting and now hunting means the world to them and me.

 

[donny640]

I remember my first time at 100yrds that is pretty cool. The target is probably already mounted and hung on the wall.

 

[GregC]

We actually started at about 6 with a BB gun in the back yard and a .22 at the range and at the hunting lease. Not long after that, we graduated to the .223 AR. His younger brother just turned 5 and has been shooting off and on for the last 6 months or so, but it is mostly me holding and aiming the gun and him pulling the trigger. Mostly it gets him used to the noise and keeps him interested and involved.