I have daughter who is eight years old, she has been bow hunting with me now for four years.  Just in the last couple of years I have let her hunt with me out of a buddy stand with a Jr. Hunter Saftey System.  Last spring I took her turkey hunting with me and she loved it, playing with the calls.  She has been around guns and bows from an early age.  She has her own compond bow and she goes to 3-D shoots with me sometimes.  I have let her shoot my .22 rifle a few times and talked with her about gun safety.  I am going to enrole her in a hunter safety class next year and let her start shotgun hunting during the youth season when she is ten.  I have friends who have started the kids out earlier and some say they are going to wait until they are in their teens.  What are your thoughts on the right age to let kids hunt?

Happy and Safe Hunting

I think it depends on the child. Sounds like your daughter has grown up hunting which is awesome. I have a 6yr old that goes hunting with me and has been since he was 4. He also has a compound bow and I work with him shooting in the backyard at the Glen Del Buck. He loves it but he hasn't got the whole aiming thing down yet but is hitting the target so thats a plus. But it sounds like your daughter is ready to roll since she has been doing this with you for a while now. I say let go have fun and experience the great outdoors in new ways! Good luck to tou and your daughter this year.

my boy Aidan is 7 yrs old and has been in the duck blind with me for a couple years now. He doesn't carry a gun yet and I honestly don't think he's ready. I really think you have to judge your own child as far as maturity level. Aidan is smarter than most his age as far as book smart but I don't think he's ready when it comes to common sense. Harsh, I know, but its reality. Now my 5 yr old boy Connor, he will be ready at an earlier age than his brother. I think you need to judge your kids during non hunting situations and work with them until YOU feel comfortable with them going on a real hunt no matter what the weapon of choice is.

I think the biggest part of taking kids hunting is keeping them interested, sometimes deer hunting can be slow and hard to keeps kids attention. I know when i was little sometimes pheasant and small game hunting kept my interest better and may have contributed to my continued interest in hunting.

Posted By Justin on 19 Jul 2012 09:21 PM
I think the biggest part of taking kids hunting is keeping them interested, sometimes deer hunting can be slow and hard to keeps kids attention. I know when i was little sometimes pheasant and small game hunting kept my interest better and may have contributed to my continued interest in hunting.

I agree totally!