I got to tag along with my great-grandpa, Dad, and numerous uncles as a kid on squirrel and bird hunts. I went duck, quail, dove and deer hunting regularly with my Dad and others from about 9 on. I just wish it had been earlier. My great-grandpa was a stickler for gun safety (and he didn't think twice about wearing out a young'uns hide for being careless). Teach them early by example - they've gotta see it modeled before they can do it, and gotta do it several times in a controlled environment before they will always get it right. On a morning squirrel hunt a couple of weeks ago, my oldest wanted to carry the my .22 Ruger. I told him that was fine as long as he kept it pointed in a safe direction. The first time he pointed it at something unsafe to shoot, I carried it the rest of the time, but he could still shoot it when we saw a squirrel. About an hour into the morning he inadvertently pointed it at me (with an open bolt and empty chamber - gotta think what a kid might accidentally do!). He was so upset that he wanted to stop hunting. Not because he couldn't carry the gun, but because he had not kept rule # 1 in the front of his mind. We stayed for a while and he missed 4 squirrels.
I have 3 kids - boys ages 5 & 7, and an almost 3 yr. old girl. I have taken my 7 year old deer hunting with me 3x now - twice this year and once when he was 5. His brother wants to go on an afternoon hunt with me sometime over the next couple of weeks (he doesn't like the woods in the dark). My little girl wants to go just because her brothers can. She's going one warm afternoon with me because she's more likely to fall asleep and we don't have much in terms of winter woodsy wear for her, yet.
Rebeldon - take 'em with you early! They might be too young to carry a gun, but they need to be out there with you for lots of reasons!
I take all 3 of them shooting about once a week. I took them Thursday to try out the little 28 gauge single shot I picked up for them (36" from stem to stern -just the right size for a kid). My 7 yr old loved it and will get to dove hunt with it next year. My 5 yr old thought it was great, he just couldn't aim it very well. And my little girl got to "shoot" it - she really did pull the trigger, but Dad held it to his shoulder and aimed for her.
All 3 of them have seen squirrels, rabbits, birds, and other small game that we've either gotten together or I've brought home. They usually watch me clean them. My 5 year old caught his first catfish using a squirrel heart early last spring, because he knew catfish liked bloody bait and thought that would work well in our little pond - the catfish weighed almost 9 pounds!
Take 'em shooting. Take 'em hunting. Spend a little more on stuff designed for them now and they'll learn respect and ethics so early in life that it will be second nature by the time they're teenagers. It's an investment on which you'll see inestimable returns and share countless hours with them that they (and you) will treasure for a lifetime.
Thanks, Art, for the topic!
ERRainman