I was watching one of the hunting shows on TV recently. A father and his young son, I guess he was eight or nine years old, were deer hunting from an enclosed stand overlooking a food plot. That's a good way to start a kid out, I suppose, and I was happy to see the plan was to shoot a doe, not a trophy buck. I agree with what my friend Larry Weishuhn told me a few years ago - kids should start out with does or cull bucks and save the trophy buck until they have gained enough experience to fully appreciate it. Anyway, the kid was shooting a .243 and father and son were having a great time as deer started filtering into the food plot. Then things went downhill.

An open sighted .22 is ideal for early firearms training for children but should remain a regular part of practice throughout a young person’s life, or ones adult life for that matter.

His first shot at a doe hit about five feet behind her. The second was way low and I forget where the next couple went but it was not into the doe, which in her confusion stayed in the open field long enough to allow him plenty of misses. The look of disappointment on the boy’s face was enough to break the coldest heart. Anyone can get a case of buck fever, or in this case, doe fever, but it seemed clear to me from the way the kid handled the rifle he simply was not ready for the experience. No doubt, this father loved his son and wanted to share the outdoor experience with him, and the child was certainly eager to join in the hunt. But there are many times in parenting when saying no is best for the child in the long run.

I often see parents at the gun club letting their small children fire rifles that are clearly too much for them. They have to tuck the stock under their arm and squint to see the target through a scope that is too far from their eyes. Often I’ll see them shut their eyes at the moment of truth because the rifle kicks too much and the muzzle blast is intimidating for them. This is a surefire way to develop a flinch that may persist for the rest of their lives.

Few parents would teach their kids to drive a car before they taught them to ride a bicycle yet a lot of parents seem to rush or skip entirely the appropriate steps in training and development when it comes to firearms. I understand the desire to get ones child into the deer stand as soon as possible. Those hours spent in the outdoors with our children are precious and fleeting. But we should never put our own dreams ahead of the real needs of our children. What children need are reasonable goals and a genuine sense of pride in achieving them.

A young hunter’s first deer is a milestone that should not be rushed. It should be the culmination of training and preparation, not a lucky shot by an ill-prepared child just to give their father bragging rights.

Children are impatient by nature but the sweet pain of anticipation is a powerful incentive to learn and enhances their appreciation. Anticipation is the reason Christmas is so special for children, or at least it was back when I was a child and Christmas was the only time we could expect to receive most anything new, other than clothes at the beginning of the school year and a pair of new sneakers in the spring.

I am not suggesting parents should leave young children crying at home when hunting season rolls around. It's a good idea to take kids along at a very early age on outings where their comfort can be assured. Just because they go with you though, doesn’t mean they have to shoot. I recall with fondness early childhood memories of going rabbit hunting with my father. I got to carry the rabbits.

If I had it to do over again, I would take a more methodical and disciplined approach to introducing my sons to firearms. I would start them out as many generations of children have started, with a pellet gun and I would not let them fire a real gun until they had developed a reasonable level of competence with the non-lethal variety. A BB gun is also an option early on but pellet guns are much more accurate and this accuracy helps the child build confidence. So I would relegate the BB gun to, at most, a brief tool of transition from toy guns to a quality pellet rifle.

The young man shown here goes by the username ShotgunShooter3. He practically grew up on our forums and we are proud of him. But it was the loving and disciplined training of his parents that most helped him develop into the fine young man and excellent marksman he is today.

It's easier to learn proper gun handling and trigger control without the distractions of muzzle blast, even the mild blast of a .22 rimfire, and the fact that low-powered pellet guns are usually non-lethal allows the parent to give the child more freedom in handling the rifle. Mistakes will be made. This is a fact of life when training children in the safe and efficient use of firearms. In a moment of excitement the muzzle may stray in an unsafe direction or they may forget to re-engage the safety. A pellet rifle allows the parent to give the child more room to make these mistakes, be corrected for them, and learn from their mistakes. Of course, this is the point where you want to introduce your child to the importance of safety glasses.

Once a child develops the skills to handle a pellet gun and the basic safety precautions are second nature for them, they can move up to a .22 rimfire rifle with confidence. I suggest starting them on an open-sight .22. Even if they choose to use optics later in life, as the majority of rifle shooters do these days, shooting with open sights is a basic skill every shooter should master. More importantly, shooting with open sights in the beginning connects the child more closely with the rifle and enhances the learning process.

In my opinion, the child should only be introduced to centerfire rifles after they have developed and demonstrated adequate skill with a .22 rimfire. They should be able to shoot the .22 rifle accurately and should show no indication of jerking the trigger or flinching. I understand the temptation at the range to let the kid try out the old man’s deer rifle and the child will certainly be anxious to do so, but some discipline for both parent and child will pay off big time down the road.

Flinching - jerking the trigger in anticipation of recoil - is the single most prevalent bane to accuracy. Spend some time at any gun club or public range and you will find that flinching is not an occasional occurrence among shooters. It's an epidemic that infects to some degree a vast majority of shooters. Simply put, flinching is a subconscious reflex caused by fear of the gun. It's easy to develop a flinch and difficult to overcome. So my advice is to never put a young child in a position where recoil can hurt them or muzzle blast can intimidate them. Train in methodical steps they can handle easily and do not give into the temptation to let them try something they may not be ready for. When the time does come to move them up to a centerfire, again, take it in baby steps. A .223 is a good starter centerfire for kids as there is little recoil and muzzle blast is not intimidating.

Given proper training with a firearm they can handle easily, children can learn to shoot well at an early age. It is important to instill the basics of firearm safety in them from the start and, of course, hearing and eye protection are a must.

Any child trained in the manner I have discussed is sure to be impatient at times and anxious to move up quickly. Here's where cold logic must take precedence over a parents desire to please their child. The process can be made more bearable for the child by approaching each milestone with a bit of fanfare and lots of praise. For example, when the child is ready to move up from a pellet gun to a .22, make it an event. Take the whole family to the range and first have the child qualify with their pellet gun by setting up a simple test of proficiency you're sure they can pass. Then hand them the .22 as if presenting an Oscar and share the warm sense of accomplishment.

Children want instant gratification but character and skill is developed through setting and meeting goals. I realize my plan for teaching children to shoot is strict and perhaps it's a bit unrealistic to expect a parent to follow it to the letter. Each parent must decide for themselves what's best for their individual children. I offer the preceding advice as food for thought – a rough guideline if you will that I believe is founded on sound principal. As always, your opinion pro or con is welcome and you can express it on out forum.