When is the right time to let a child start hunting?

Raising three boys, I’ve been around a lot of youth-hunters over the years, especially when you also consider nieces, nephews and my buddies’ kids.
I’ve also covered stories reported in this column about state-sponsored youth hunts and 4-H shooting programs.
There’s nothing like having children down to the camp running around playing.
One question I get asked all the time is how old were your boys when you took them hunting? Therein lies the problem. I can tell you when my boys first hunted and handled firearms. It was different for all three of them. What’s more, I would never tell someone my way was the right way. Looking back there were a few things I’d have done differently.
One story I tell those who ask the “when is the right time” question is the father of a 7-year-old boy who walked up to me with his son saying to his boy, “Tell Mr. John what you did last weekend.”
Looking up at his father, the boy said, “What?”
With an exasperated look, the father said, “You know, son, tell him about the deer you killed.”
The boy looked up at me and said, “I killed a deer.”
I attempted to gush over the little boy’s accomplishment to congratulate him when the father interrupted to finish the story, telling how the boy had killed a nine-point buck.
The little boy didn’t have a clue — bless his heart. And it wound up being one of those awkward moments.
Two weeks ago, a 9-year-old girl on an adventure vacation with her parents accidentally killed shooting instructor Charles Vacca while firing a 9mm UZI submachine gun. Vacca, 39, was killed when the girl was unable to control the recoil of the firearm.
It seems parents just can’t seem to wait to put firearms in the hands of their children, whether it’s to involve them in hunting or shooting sports. Believe me, I get that. It’s that way with everything. I don’t care if it is baseball, basketball, gymnastics, taekwondo or dance, to name a few activities. The feeling is “the earlier the better.”
There are a couple of statistical facts from the National Safety Council’s Injury Facts Reports’ latest edition worth noting. One, annually firearms are involved in fewer than 1 percent of all accidental fatalities. There are annually more accidental fatalities due to motor vehicles, falls, drowning, fires and burns, ingestion of food and/or objects, and poisoning than by firearms.
Second, firearms account for the lowest cause of injury among youth. Firearms are involved in less than 1.5 percent of all accidental fatalities among children.
These facts are in no way the go ahead, green light or me saying it’s OK to put a firearm in your child’s hands. One accidental fatality to me is too many. On the contrary, it’s me saying don’t be in a hurry — take it slow. Moreover, no two children are the same when it comes to firearms.
There seems to be an old school and new school when it comes to children and firearms. The grandfather my boys grew up around was a marsh man. What’s more, he had guns all around his camp and the house where he lived that were loaded and in plain sight of not just my boys, but 10 grandsons in total. Their pawpaw had both bark and bite, where not even a crawling baby went near the weapons.
By contrast, I never keep a gun loaded in the house, and the majority of time they remain locked in a gun safe. My feelings have always been not to leave anything to chance.
In a press release from Southwick Associates conducted by HunterSurvey.com, it was revealed that 46 percent of sportsmen surveyed took at least one child hunting in the past year. The report said the common perception was that those children were almost always a son or daughter; however, it may not be completely accurate. When asked how many children they had taken hunting within the past 12 months, 21 percent reported they had taken one. Fifteen percent had taken two, five percent had taken three, two percent had taken four, and just more than two percent had taken five or more.
So, what is my answer to those who ask me the “when” question? The first thing I tell them is “when” they are able to understand and pass the hunters safety course, they might be ready. This is the beginning of being old enough to know better, in my opinion.
Second, is your child physically mature enough to properly handle a firearm? Most loaded youth model rifles and shotguns weigh better than seven pounds. Even walking short distances will fatigue children who carry their gun to the blind or stand. But also lifting a gun to shoulder, acquiring a target and swinging through it takes a certain amount of physical strength and coordination.
The majority of 9 year olds don’t do this very well. That’s not me saying don’t take them until they can. It’s just me saying when ducks are flying and cupping into the decoys, can you put your shotgun down in the heat of the moment to make sure they are doing the right things with theirs?
My oldest boy made his first kill when he was 9 years old. I spotted a rafted up bunch of poul’deau and rowed our little Johnboat close to them. I said to my son, “Crack it to-em, Jason.” He fired and the recoil from his Harrington and Richardson Ducks Unlimited Green Winged Teal single shot 20-gauge knocked Jason down.
He jump up from the deck of the boat and said, “Did I get them?”
“You sure did,” I replied as I checked him out to see if he hurt himself.
The lesson I learned with my oldest boy was to be sure next time the child can physically handle the firearm in the field. He shot the little crack barrel gun at targets, but in the boat was something else. I was lucky that day.
There’s nothing like being with your child when they kill their first rabbit, squirrel, duck or deer. And there’s nothing like being next to them as adults while hunting or at the range shooting for that matter. The key with all of this firearm stuff is getting them safely to the place where they’re doing it when they’re old enough to know better.
If you wish to make a comment or have an anecdote, recipe or story you wish to share, you can contact John K. Flores at 985-395-5586 or gowiththefl@cox.net or visit www.gowiththeflooutdoors.com
Announcement: The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has posted numerous youth lottery hunting opportunities with upcoming deadlines of Sept. 5, 12, 22 and Oct. 3, taking place on various Wildlife Management Areas throughout the state for both ducks and deer. Applications can be obtained on the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries website, www.wlf.louisiana.gov.