I've got a dilemna.my grandson ,who is eleven ,is ready to hunt.metally that is.physically he 'spreety small.5 foot 0.and 75 lbs.I hunt withboth a bow and a 30/30 winchester.He's not even close to pulling enough pounds to hunt with a bow,and I'mm afraid the 30/30 will either break his shoulder or scare him away from guns.He has shot a 22 very well at the range.the smallest legal caliber for deer in va. is243.I've never shot one,and I dont have a lot to spend.I thought maybe a crossbow might be the way to go.I'd appreciate your thoughts very much,thanks
I would get him a Diamond Razor or Bear Apprentice or something similar that has a wide variety of pound increase. He will be able to strengthen up quickly
i started at age 11 with a 7mm, then upped to a 30/06. I also had a 20 gauge that got traded for a 12 once i got a bit older. the biggest thing i learned at that age was to build confidence. yeah at first i was a bit scared but i got over it. best bet is to mentor and support.
I was shooting a .30-06 at 10 I say let him try the 30-30 and if he's really into this hunting thing he won't become gun shy.
I dont know where you live but here you just order it for weapons that are in the 223 class and bigger
I don't think a 30/30 would be too big most of us were shooting bigger guns then that at that age although we were landing on our arsses alot after the shot. Also, 30lbs is roughly the min requirment in alot of places for draw wieght. Yup a 243 kicks about like a 22 if you can get your hands on one of them, although i did see you mentioned money was an issue. If the boy really want to put some meat in the freezer give him the 30/30 and let him run with it. I nearly fell out of my tree stand the first deer I shot with 20ga slug and I still love hunting although I prefer this quiter method now.
Each kid is different in respects to what they will and won’t tolerate as far as recoil. My 336 with 4x scope has very tolerable recoil with 150gr loads, and a little more with the 170’s but nothing that my fiancé won’t shoot. As for a 243 the Hornady loads are business on deer, and I would not feel under gunned with those. I looked at a used H&R 243 in a gun shop that was pretty cheap. One of the guys I hunt with shoots the same model in 270 and it is a very compact, good shooting rifle that is perfect for the smaller guys. Also look at Rossi, they make a single shot 243 that is easy on the wallet. I shot my first gun deer with a 25-06, another great caliber with lighter recoil than a -06. As for the bows there are a wide variety of youth bow. I wouldn’t just buy a bow for him. He has to go to a bow shop and find one that fits him. The first time I went bow hunting this guy stuck me with an old high country that I could barely pull back. When I attempted to draw on a deer the arrow came un-knocked and fell out of the tree, and I nearly ripped my shoulder off letting the bow back down. Good luck.
thanks for your advice guys.I just ordered a limbsaver recoil pad for the old 30/30.they claim a 70%reduction in recoil.I'm gonna put it on, and in the words of zz top,"let that boy boogiewoogie"
Just let him know that the adrenaline will be pumping, he will feel it shooting at paper but once he see's the buck drop with that heavy 30/30 load he wont even remember pulling the trigger. My little brothers the same way, we put him behind a lead sled on the range and that helped too.
