Advice about teaching my sons about fieldsports please

stratts

Well-Known Member
Hi guys after some advice and feedback about teaching my twin sons all about air rifles and fieldsports generally
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I know they are a bit too young at the moment at 4 1/2 years old but when did you teach any of yours or take them out decoying, ferretting, etc?

They know that I go shooting and Nathan points his finger at any pigeon and rabbit he sees and says 'pow, 40p or pow, quid!', much to the wife's dismay and my amusement!!
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They have also watched me skin bunnies and helped to pluck pigeons already and tday when I said the bbq was coming out they wanted rabbit kebabs
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Also when I asked what they wanted to do Saturday they said go to the woods and stalk and watch some deer. Which we tried but to no avail due to the constant questions being asked
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Just wondering when they would start to understand the safety and danger of guns, etc?

Cheers
 
They start to understand the safety and danger of guns as soon as they are born - loud noises and sudden movements startle - so start as soon as possible. I wouldn't expect them to have the experience to choose the right actions for a while (and it is easy to rush it and spoil things) but if you can teach them to stay clear of the fire, you can teach them basic gun safety.

The following are the rules on the subject that my grandfather taught me after the birth of the first of my kids:

1) Never too young to start.
2) We learn by example so whenever they might be watching or listening, make sure you do the right thing and explain why you are doing it.
3) We learn by example (2): remember that they will learn bad habits just as quickly, so keep them away from people who set the wrong example until they are old enough to know the difference.
4) Keep it fun and interesting.

One of my greatest fieldsports pleasures is to share it with my sons, as my father and grandfathers shared it with me.
 
my grandad taught me the art of 'poaching' rabbits when I was just out of nappies...ferrets, frosty mornings..long nets.. running dogs...He also had an old .22 we used, rusty as feck..single shot open sights...great memories from a time when it was 'ok':cry:
 
Just keep doing what your doing stratts.

I had my oldest boy (now 9) out fishing from a young age (4), only started with the odd hour here and there to keep him interested, the more we caught, the more he asked to go and now loves it, even a blank day still gets smiles.

We used to stalk in on rabbits/squirrels etc just for fun and see how close we could get. Again, it helps hone young skills without it being like a training course.

Some of the best fun we've had together has been out in the field, be it building highseats, duck blinds, plucking his first pheasant, whatever, all quality time.

I can't wait for this years school holidays, this is an old thread last years October break and the antics we got up to:

Busy Week- Fieldsports school holidays

Then came the time to bring in the spud gun (remember those!!) and some training on muzzle awareness etc, all done with fun in mind but serious about the handling aspect. Set the seed of safety early and it will grow and evolve well as they mature.

He was 7 when a friend passed on an old air rifle but we have really only been using it from last year as it was a little heavy for him. He's now a good shot with it out to 30 yards and even shoots off sticks now.



I also revisited my youth and bought 2 ferrets for us, had them 3 years now and this is a big favourite of his, he can gut, skin and we always eat what we catch. I think this is a particularly valuable lesson for him in many ways. Responsibility of looking after the ferrets and how the food gets from field to table etc

He now comes stalking with me and has taken to reading up on shooting etc without being prompted which I think is great.

My youngest is 4 1/2 now, he now comes fishing and will join us ferreting this winter.

We bought him a cheap and cheerful very low powered plastic bb type spring gun. With a few targets set out he's was just recently as happy as larry, funny watching the oldest boy showing him "muzzle awareness" with an empty gun but it all starts from here.







Most importantly, make it fun but safe & I don't push it on them but encourage it when they ask to tag along. Time spent out and about with them is never wasted.

I hardly get many BASC young shot type days locally so it's up to me to get out and about but maybe you have better access to these days which an only be a good thing.

Let us know how it goes

Cheers

Rigboot


Youngest lad needs cammo and eldest needs more weight on front foot.......good luck to them.!!
 
I don't know if any of you have any daughters, but I wouldn't dismiss their interest either! If the baby turns out to be a girl in November, then despite what he mother says, she's coming out with me. If she wants to, obviously...
 
Good point about daughters Pine Marten. I taught my eldest daughter to shoot to an aceptable standard when she was aged 12 and recently my youngest daughter who is now 12 has started shooting. It is the younger daughter's ambition to shoot in the Stalking Directory /H4H shoot in June.
 
Thanks guys some cracking replies, advice and pics. I won't push either of them towards shooting or anything eles for that matter but I do hope they show an interest for obvious reasons!

I'm lucky in that they are both quite intelligent and bright for their age (due to their mother!!) so I don't think it'll be long before they learn the safety side of things, but I also don't want to wish the time away and stop them from being kids and playing soldiers, etc!!

In fact I found these pics of Nath when he was 3 after I came back from the shooting show at Newark with 2 toy guns. They have red dot sights and he was a natural aiming at Peppa Pig on the telly :lol: Again to the wifes dismay (You see a pattern forming here?!) :doh:

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The wife was away for a few days the other week so o took my daughter, also 4 and a half out for a picnic and a stalk in the local woods. She knows that you need to be quiet ifyou want to see deer and even commented on the noisy children and barking dogs in the are. We were rewarded by getting to within 30 yards of a pair of feeding muntjac and then 20 mins late a lone doe eating the blue bells. I had the video camera on sticks and she had her little camera. Respect for your quarry and an appreciation for the countryside. As important as any other lessons and of course keep it fun. She couldn't wait to tell mum what we'd been up to. Good thing we didn't go to the gun shop then.....
 
I know the feeling you have. My lad (4) was using his nerf gun in prone the other week and insists on helping me clean the rifle's when I get back. He practises muzzle awareness too ( on the nerf gun )

My sister in law left her boy with us when he was 4. He is now 9. He bought his toy gun with him. He pointed it at my wife only once. With a little gental coaching. By the time his mum came back he was demonstrating handing over a clear chambered gun. They want to learn from you use the oppertunity. Good luck.
 
Love this thread, just had a little boy, he's 6 months old now and i cant wait for the adventures we are going to have.
 
I took my son out with the air rifle when he was about 4.5- 5yrs old.

had it sitting on a wall with a 25l plastic drum and some coke cans.
once he got comfortable hitting the drum he slotted a coke can dead centre at 25yds! he even kept the can as a souvenir!

expose them to all aspects.
they don't need to be actually shooting to understand and develop an interest.

my kids (7, 3 and 2) all shoot magpies with their fingers whenever they see them, i havent even consciously done that!

on the flip side they need to understand that it is not just about murdering everything.
They know why we shoot magpies and foxes and have helped me fill the bird feeders (pheasant and wild), build bird boxes, make ladybird/beetle hibernation tubes and various other things in the name of conservation.
 
My Son (6) and Daughter (8) had thier first shoot with an air rifle earlier this summer. My daughter was by far the keener of the two and managed to group about 1" at 15 yards. Not bad with a springer.

They've been coming out and reviewing ground for years though: looking for and identifiying sign, watching animals, generally getting an appreciation of the fuana and flora.

They also understand the food chain (especially how mr fox eats chickens) and that you should have a reason to shoot anything (food, population control etc), never just because you want to.

This has moved on significantly from last year when everything was shot just becuase it must have been injured and in pain (I think this came from the old Dog passing).

When next doors dog brought in a mixi rabbit the kids sensibly brought it round the back of the house for me to "dispatch"; their (much older - 13) friend from next door was sugesting it should be nursed back to health and wanted to keep it in a shoe box.
 
Just started taking my 9 year old son out with me to show him what its all about, we had a go at the pigeons last time i was home and he loved it, wants to go all the time now which i think is fantastic, Great father/son time and very good company to have.
 
I was in a quandary about my son. He loved nature and was fascinated my animals of all sorts. He also wanted to shoot with Dad. After teaching him why some animals needed to be killed (ground squirrels and other destructive vermin) I taught him that some are killed for our food. I emphasized that with the exception of vermin, I never shot an animal I wasn't prepared to eat. These things he understood. The next phase of his teaching -and one that I had help with from a very good and trusted friend- was to teach him how to become a cold, calculating killer when he is behind the trigger. I taught him that once he has made the decision to kill, he was to do it without emotion. He was to calculate the shot and make it. I don't think it was easy for this gentle boy to grasp but eventually he came to understand that this was the burden of making the decision to take a life and it was what was owed to the game he was shooting. Kill quickly without any emotion. He practiced regularly and became a skilled marksman with both handgun and rifle. When he hunts he does the game justice by his efforts. I know this is only one aspect of field sports but it does bring many other aspects into perspective. My son is grown to be a man and is a good and gentle man who still loves nature, but he knows where he stands when he enters the food chain.

My good friend spend many a sweltering hour with my son and I in the low desert along the Mexican border shooting varmints. I have always appreciated the subtle encouragement he gave to my son in the field. He used to put up this quote on his posts on other sites. It fits; especially the last line.~Muir

"Despite our ever-changing, ever-indignant world with its growing ignorance of and indifference to the ways of the wild, I remain a predator, pitying those who revel in artificiality and synthetic success while regarding me and my kind as relics of a time and place no longer valued or understood. I stalk a real world of dark wood and tall grass stirred by a restless wind blowing across sunlit water and beneath star-strewn sky. And on those occasions when I choose to kill,....I do so by choice, quickly, and with the learned efficiency of a skilled hunter." -- M. R. James
 
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Good point about daughters Pine Marten. I taught my eldest daughter to shoot to an aceptable standard when she was aged 12 and recently my youngest daughter who is now 12 has started shooting. It is the younger daughter's ambition to shoot in the Stalking Directory /H4H shoot in June.

My daughter used to come out pigeon shoting and stalking with me from the age of 10, she would watch, and help to gralloch, thought she was going to be a shooter, however at the age of 16 years of age, she discovered boys!!
 
That's pretty normal, most chaps are lost to their hobbies for a period of their lives because of education, trying to start a career, the following period of a lack of money, other interests, but the groundwork is done, and they can come back later if they like. Good work!
 
Both the daughters approached me to try shooting when they were about the same age, just turned 12, and asked if I would teach them to shoot which I was only too happy to do. It's always been my hobby and while they have grown up seeing me go off shooting or stalking I have never pushed them into shooting and wouldn't be at all upset if they didn't want to know or be involved in any way. None the less as they wanted to give it a go I thought that it might as well be done properly as I am a bit of a stickler for safety. As it turns out they are both safe reasonably good shooters. So much so that neither one is afraid to speak out if they see any transgression of safety on the range regardless of how senior or experienced the shooter is. As far as I see they have learnt a lot of self control and discipline as result of their involvement along with a healthy attitude and respect for firearms. It's for reasons like this that I am only too happy to help facilitate the scout movement this week end when they are holding a jamboree and they asked if they could use our club range for the day to introduce 400 youngsters to air rifle shooting. I have also been asked if our club can help the local troop to take their shooting badge. The scout leader has this desire to take a team to Bisley to shoot at national level and I think it only right that the club should help if at all possible.
 
My daughter came stalking first at age of 4; saw 2 deer killed that evening. For several years she was a regular companion and was always keen that Dad should "shoot it, go on shoot!" which was often a welcome catalyst too make an outing productive. She could shoot 410 then 20 bore and hit clays at 10. At 13 she has other sports and pastimes but my values are well ingrained.
Her brother wasn't really interested in guns and shooting til about 9, now at 13 he has a half share in a sprocker pup too train, shoots his 20 bore very well and is in the same two shoots as myself. He's a good rifle shot and likely too be allowed his first chance on roebuck this summer. Nothing too compare with sharing your passion with next generation. ps he doesnt get reprimanded for shooting his air gun at quarry in trees or on barn rooves and I'd trust his safety judgement better than most adults in shooting field.
 
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