Re: hunting advise
I`d start em off with a .22 or a 20 guage shotgun....it will work for squirrels,rabbits, dove, quail. I`m sensing you`ve got deer hunting on your mind.
I know I`ll catch a lot of grief for this but I just don`t think a kid that age should be out there with a 30/06.....ONLY if you have a really experienced adult with them in their blind/stand at all times. It`s not just kids that worry me either in the field. I know a ton of guys that decided they want to be a deer hunter because Joe Blow over in the next cubicle comes in with pictures from his 100lb doe kill and lots of good time stories. So he goes out and buys him some camo ,a tree stand and 30/06 (or a Ar15 ) sights it in and away you go. Now he`s a deer hunter.
Sorry ...I didn`t mean to get off on a rant....but that`s the reason I quit deer hunting public land years ago. A .22 will kill you as fast as 30/06 but the lethal
distance of a hi-powered rifle is so much greater. The reason I say this is, I grew with a guy....back in time when there were`nt thousands of deer hunters in the whole state, and he had scar on his chest where he had been shot with a 30/06 by somebody in his party by accident. It missed his heart by about 3/4 of an inch. I can still see that scar in my mind 40 years later. Talk about lucky....I guess. He was 18 at the time.
If it was me I`d get you and the boys a class and get out and traipse around in the woods or field on some small game. In the meantime you can find a friend that teach you the right way to go about the big game stuff. I think young kids should have the opportunity to learn the little stuff while chasing the squirrels around have some fun instead of sitting in a tree stand maybe for days on end and maybe not get a shot for a long time. Once you have a season or 2 of big game experience then you can teach them. I also think its alot easier for them to learn about what DEATH is. A 6-or 7 year old ain`t got a clue and really any age until you`ve seen something draw it`s last few breaths, you really don`t know what it is. Some people can`t take it... and that don`t make them any less of a human. I know it`s a lot easier to watch a squirrel or rabbit take a minute or two to die than it is to watch a deer dragging it hind quarters after being shot less than perfect. Most kids will do anything to make Daddy proud and until they do a little of it ...they really don`t know if they truly like it or not. I think if they start out small it give them the chance to really learn about life and the great sport of hunting.
Sorry.. I didn`t mean to rant. When I started hunting about 50 years ago...you had to know how to "hunt" and there were skills that you had have to be successful. They were probably killing 3or 4 thousand deer in the whole state then. You had to really work at it. Now you run out there and climb up in you shooting house and shoot over food plots. To each his own !
Back to your question about a crossbow....I never did the bow of any kind...although my dad had beautiful cherry colored recurve...I believe it was a "Bear " brand. I kind of think at my age I might try the crossbow ... looks like it might be fun
Anyway get you all some schoolin and get them boys out there. My daddy used to tell other people I was pretty good boy till he taught me how to hunt and fish...then I didn`t want to do nothin` else. I always had to remind him that he never had to come and get me out Jail either !! I miss ole Pop!
