Youth Age for turkey hunting

Bone Collector

Bone Collector

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My son is way too young to hunt yet (2), but my nephew turned 9 on the 10th. My brother is busy all the time and money has been tight over his way lately, so he cannot invest in the guns he needs, to get his boy out there. Plus he never has the time to take him. He is ate up with it, and I have been trying to help get him in the woods. My brother is always saying he is too young to shoot. The other day I mentioned that he may be big enough to shoot a 20 ga. We both pondered it and were not sure.

Gobblegttr�s thread showed his 7 year old son, which from the picture is a bit smaller than my nephew who is 2 years older. My question is do you think he can handle a 20 with turkey load in it? I have one (Remington 870) but it is an adult model with 28� barrel. My second question is, do you think that will be too long for him? I need to get a new magazine spring for it, but was thinking I�d let him use it if some of you gave your thoughts and thought he could handle it. It is the first gun I ever bought, so I want to give it to my son one day, but figure he can use it in the meantime.
 
I shot a 12 gauge 2 3/4" gun when I was his age. I think it depends on the kid. If its a kid that is really excited about hunting and shooting, I don't think it will bother them. If you're just trying to introduce it to a kid with no experience who may be a bit gun shy, I'd be a little more worried. Personally, I think any 9 year old could handle a 20. A full size model may be a little to big length wise though. I know of many kids who are around this age who shoot 20s fine. Just pattern the gun yourself so you know its capabilities, then let him practice with dove loads. When you go turkey hunting, load it with turkey loads. If he's shooting at a turkey, he'll never notice the kick.
 
I figured that would be the case. He uses a pellet gun and .22 all the time to shoot. He loves chasing rabbits and squirrels in season with .22 and pellet gun.

I was most concerned with the length. Maybe I'll give him a shot with it and see if he can handle it.
 
I used a shooting stick with my 10 yr old daughter shooting my dad's 12 ga 870 with 3" magblends.

In the excitement of the moment, she didn't feel a thing! Now, it did have a recoil pad on it.

If he is going to have to hold the gun up himself, that might be an issue.

Personally, I don't think I would have him shoot the gun prior to the hunt.
 
PalsPal said:
I used a shooting stick with my 10 yr old daughter shooting my dad's 12 ga 870 with 3" magblends.

In the excitement of the moment, she didn't feel a thing! Now, it did have a recoil pad on it.

If he is going to have to hold the gun up himself, that might be an issue.

Personally, I don't think I would have him shoot the gun prior to the hunt.
Click to expand...

You think it would scare him of cause him to flinch?
 
It could. I made the mistake on my oldest daughter, and she didn't want to shoot after that.

That's just my opinion though.
 
My son killed his first turkey at 8 with a Mossberg Bantam youth 20-gauge. I put it on shooting sticks and let him shoot it with 2 3/4" shells. Then when he wasn't around I shot it with 3" shells and the morning of the hunt slipped them in. He never felt a thing. I shot it again this year and with it being so light does kick a bit. If you have something to rest the front on it may be better for him to shoot a regular size gun due to absorbing more recoil. Only concern would be if the length of pull is too long.
 
I've taken about 10 kids to kill there 1st turkeys at 7years old they must practice alot though you got to teach them where to shoot them/ break his neck and practice practice practice with exactly what he will be wearing while hunting face mask gloves vest and exactly where he will be sitting in a chair out of a blind against a tree ect. Let them practice with light dove loads or you will ruin a kid with the kick of a magnum turkey load! Good luck
 
I took my daughter dove hunting with a. 20ga at 9. I doubt he is smaller than she was. She loved it. She started turkey hunting the next spring and I just slipped the 3" shell in, she DID notice, but wasn't scared from then on.
 

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