Youth Duck Hunt
 

My son will be nine this year and he wants to go duck hunting. I bought a trip at our tournament this year and I plan to book one with HR&G. Those of you that know me know that I fish all of the time but I have not hunted in over a decade or more. I grew up deer and squirrel hunting and I have never duck hunted so this year will be a first for me as well.

I will need to buy my son a gun, I think he will be sensitive to anything that has intense recoil. I was leaning towards a youth model 20 gauge pump, what do you guys recommend and do you think he is too young to start hunting?

Brought my fiancé little girl on her first duck hunt at 6 years old. Killed two ducks one on the fly. They're never too young. Just make sure he gets lots of practice shooting before hand and even more gun safety training.

I think it is great that you are getting him into hunting. I think you are right on track with thte youth model 20 gauge. I would take him can shooting before the hunt if I were you. Buy some light load 2 3/4 shells and some ear plugs for him. That way he can get used to the gun and the noise. Don't be like my dad and buy 3 in shells for his duck hunt lol. Good luck!

I would take him to a gun store and let him pick out the gun that fits him best. Otherwise he might get a gun he doesn't like shooting and therefore not get into hunting

X2 on the safety training... Make sure he understands shooting lanes and how important they are

hey casey i bought a 28 guage bps youth for my 3 year old grandson i guess i couldnt pass up deal.but if you want ill let you use it and let him shoot it shells are kinda expencive but he u can use it this season and return when u r done with it.if it will help get another youth involved in hunting im game.

gun
 

Hey Casey, I put Matthew in a blind New Years day with Brett Stansel, he is so good with kids you cant go wrong. He Brett and son n law Brent limited out by 7:45. Just got his cupped green head back yesterday. Matthew is alot bigger but I rec. the heavier the gun the less recoil and auto loaders have less recoil. Matthew used Grampas old Belgium BR5 "Hump back" heavy as hell but he was able to shot magnum loads no problem. Plus if you get him a heavy auto he'll never need another for any game.

safety course
 

Don't forget the hunters safety course is mandatory.

hunters safety
 

Don't foreget, cause between Baseball and Football its hard to get the course in. It they only offer it on certain dates in certain areas. We were always missing a course b/c of ball.

Thanks guys, I appreciate all of the help. The semi-auto would kick less, you guys think I should go that route? My first gun was a pump for safety reasons.

I agree on the safety course, I will look into it today.

[QUOTE=ckinchen;307250]Thanks guys, I appreciate all of the help. The semi-auto would kick less, you guys think I should go that route? My first gun was a pump for safety reasons.

I agree on the safety course, I will look into it today.

A pump would only be safer if he never pumped it. If you are worried about safety with the auto, when yall go practice, only put one shell in the gun and make him get used to ALWAYS putting safety on when done shooting.

Those pump guns kick pretty good compared to a semi since there is nothing to absorb the shock except the shoulder. If it kicks, he will then begin to flintch and so on. Only give him one shell for safety purpose until he is confident enough to earn two of them.

I would go the auto route also.

Now is the time to get him shooting though. Find some where to shoot skeet to get him used to shooting a moving/flying target. Maybe even a dove hunt as a warm up.

What about a teal hunt since that season is about to start? I know HR&G offers teal trips.

I bought both of my boys the Franci 20ga semi from Acadamy. It is a good deal for the money and does not kick bad at all. I also have to recommend the Hunters safety course and get him out shooting before the season. Duck hunting is a addiction. Worse even than fishing.

You bring him teal huntin and he will be hooked....just know the skeeters are really bad.

x2

I would recommend a berretta youth 20 ga ....... very lite and very little recoil ...... but i would let him pick out his own gun, something that feels comfortable to him and get both of you a therma cell for teal season.

This is a nice little youth gun by mossberg -http://mossberg.com/products/default.asp?id=41&section=products

I would take him to a gun shop and see how they fit on his shoulder. I would also maybe take him to shoot clays first.

Kelly Haydel puts on a Waterfowl Camp every summer at his camp in Sweet Lake. I usually help with it. If he is fired up and you are interested let me know.

Dang Casey you just stirred up a us duck hunters like a bed of ants! LOL!! Passion son!

The auto-loader is the best idea, recoil will be far less. I would also go the single shell route, not only for the safety factor but as a single shot young ones will learn to make that first shot count.

EVO

I see that, I have been missing out all of these years. I am getting excited myself.

It doesn't take much to do that! 26 days and counting!

I agree on this as well. I think most of our first guns were crack barrels. I know mine was.

Casey, My dad tought me hunters safety when I was seven. Forty years later I took the hunters safety cours with Matthew. I enjoyed it, found out my DAD wasn't as smart as I thought he was, or My memory is worse than I thought! The great thing about it is you are then able to book trips with him in other states, many ie Colorado for example you show up w/o yours, you aint hunting and waisted alot of money.

I get fired up over some ducks!!!

My 11 year old shoots a youth model REM. 870 pump 20ga. You should look at them. Also, get him shells that are fast, fast....lol

I have my card, apparently he cannot get one until he is 10 per the LA WLF website.

nothing like watching those suckers cup on the side of the blind and do some crazy acrobatics swing around on the blind and the whole time your turning in the blind with them...absolutely focused...---especially them little teal!! F-16s!!!

The auto will kick less than a pump especially if it is gas operated. This helps with the kick.
Just have him put 1 shell in his gun. That is what I did when my son really started hunting 2 years ago.

Chicken what are you going to SHOOT????

excited!
 

Ya'll need to stop before somebody wets themself!:eek:

Casey, may check with Kirk and them at HRG. They did have some fields in Hacberry that had some dove in them. Dove season opens Labor Day weekend.

Who is the guide service?
Suggest plugging the magazine back to make it a single shot so there can be no doubt the chamber is clear.

I also would recommend the Berretta 391 youth model. My little brother is 11 and has been shooting this since he was 7. This is a great gun even though I'm a Benelli guy I have to say his gun has taken a beating and still going. I have a 870 youth and I promise you there is no comparison in the recoil, those things kick like a mule.

I have the youth model 20 Urika. Tried the single H&R when my son was that age and he fought back tears from the recoil.......

He is now 14 and we moved him to a longer stock this past season.
My boy is on the smaller side, just now breaking a 100 pounds as a freshman in high school.
You can teach them quite a bit on safety at a clays field.
Mine wants to shoot ALLLLL the time now.

I have another Urika that has a shortened stock if you would like to try it, maybe we can hook up in jennings at the sporting clays place and he can try it out.

The 20 gauge pumps can be bruttal in my opinion.
and if he has a bad experience now, it could set him back.
Go auto and go one shot until you are confident in his safety awareness.

My boy shot a single shot crack barrel 410 starting out. Just moving up to a 20 ga this year at 11 yrs old. The 410 was small enough in size and power for the first few years. Finding steel shot for it is not always easy, but its out there. My 8 yr old will start using the 410 this year. Also, whatever they are shooting, Shouldering it in the correct position can make all the difference in kick.

I was about to mention the age min for the safety course. I was going to get my 8 year old brother in a class this year and found out he needs to be 10.

The Gun
 

I have never been good with patience, thanks guys for everyone that responded.

I decided to stay home from the office today and we went to Gander and picked up a Remington model 11-87 20 gauge semi-auto with a 21 inch barrel, youth model. He picked up several guns but liked this one the most.

Good gun, good luck with everything, I hope he loves duck huntin!

awesome! Way to go!

He'll love that gun! Very nice, not to heavy and easy to clean which is another part of hunting/shooting that he will need to learn.

The two of you made a good choice.

EVO

You never have to worry about wasting that third shot with an over/under. I like the 2 I have.

EVO

We got lucky.....

Growing up in the country, I should know more about guns and hunting than I do, it just never intrested me. I'm starting to take an intrest now, seems like another expensive hobby....

Chicken that high$$$$ over and under you got will rust out quicky in the marsh. If you want a Benelli, get the Super Vinci or the SBE2. Both shoot 3.5" shells. The SBE2 I have in my pic was purchsed in 2004. Both guns (super vinci & sbe2) camo model are 1500 plus, good luck.

Just wait until you get into SCUBA Diving. I have a dive computer that cost me over 1200.00.

EVO

Thanks, I am going to look at both of these.

remington 1100 20 ga ladies model for kids. I grew up shotting this gun

I shoot an SBE II and love it

Hard to beat a benelli if you want a auto