Age for Kids First Buck

[J Wales]

I am certain there will be wildly different opinions on this...but I'd like to hear your perspectives.

My son is 8. He shot a doe with a rifle last year. He has practiced a lot, is a great shot, and is very safe in handling guns.

I am trying to decide when to allow him to start hunting for a buck, and what kind of buck to have him take as his first.

I know some people that allow their kids to shoot nice, big bucks as their first (and I don't fault them for that). For me as a kid, I didn't have an opportunity to shoot my first deer until I was 14, and it was a 1 year old that was barely more than a spike. I was thrilled with it.

I am leaning towards letting him shoot a young buck this year as his first, although taking young deer does not fit within our management goals (we try to only take mature bucks...not even spikes). My thinking is that he will be thrilled with a young buck, just like I was...and it gives him more to look forward to.

At the same time, I'm sure he'd be thrilled to shoot another doe and wait another year for a buck.

What do you think?

[Cbb1722]

id say the first buck to step out gets the hammer if he likes him. That's what my dad did with me on my first deer. My first deer was a buck because we couldn't shoot does. I got lucky and it happened to be a nice little 8 point. and I treasure that 1.5 year old shoulder mounted deer more than anything else I've killed

[RR 314]

My son shoots deer. If does need to be killed then he kills them. He shoots what is in the management plan. His first deer, at 6, was a mature 8, bigger than a lot of adults have shot. I don't see the point in shooting young bucks in your situation, but have at it if you think that is the way to go.

[RCDuck]

My feeling is that if he's old enough to shoot a doe, he's old enough to shoot a buck... any buck. If my management plan does not allow a kid's first buck to be a young buck, then there's a flaw in my management plan. But, I don't see restricting a kid to a small buck either... If my kid gets the first crack and "my" trophy buck, I'll be thrilled. To me, getting kids involved and hooked on hunting is the most important thing we can do as hunters or mentors.... far more important than our management plans.

My son shot his first buck last year with his bow. It was a 2.5 yr old 7 pointer and he was thrilled. Now, I'll encourage him to make his next buck bigger and/or older than the last.

[rladner]

My kids get to shoot any buck as their first one. After that they learn and follow the management rules. But I think getting the first one for a kid is more important than any management rule. That being said, if there are several bucks, we go after the most mature, not necessarily the biggest. But once they have a buck on the ground, the rules all fall back into place.

Note: my boys both use a cross bow. My oldest, now 10, is using a compound bow this year. We do not rifle hunt (nothing wrong with it) so shot opportunities are not as easy to come by.

[blntrey3]

My son Killed his First deer at age 6. It was an 11 point and his first shot at an animal. He hit him perfect. He is now ruined LOLOLOL

[Skinny]

Age for Kids First Buck

My daughter will be 12 this month. She's killed countless pigs and a few does....if we see a buck worthy of her shooting this year, be it cull or not, I'm giving her the green light.

I had the same mentality last year. She's proven she can kill with a rifle.




Skinny

[rsquared]

for me, it was all about management plan.. i made my daughter hunt does and cull bucks for a few years because that is what we needed done on the place and i only take a few trophies each year. but after she had done that for a couple years, then she got to take a trophy. for me, unless it is a cull and we are trying to keep herd numbers in check, i would not let a youth shoot a young buck just because they are a young person. plenty of does for that purpose.. would much rather they shoot an older mgmt 8 ptr or a 3 yr old cull buck.

if you are just over run with bucks, then that might change the plans.
i just don't think that a kid has to shoot a buck to become a "real" hunter... does taste better anyway

[flufster]

I think it is more about the kids maturity etc. I won't change my idea of management goals so that my kids can say they shot a buck. I explain my idea of management and try to add my kids to that plan. If the right cull comes along then he will get his chance. In the meantime we discuss our plan and shoot does and pigs


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[rsquared]

regardless, glad to see you are thinking about long term with him and glad you are getting your kid out in the woods and into the sport.

[junior]

age

My son was 8 when he shot this one. Had shot a pig and a doe before he shot this one. At that age, I think if a decent buck walks out let them shoot if they want. This was the first one that came out that afternoon, we didn't wait!! And you'll be more nervous about the shot than he will!!!
My daughter shot a doe her first year out, but she was so small she didn't start till she was 10(3 yrs ago). She was super excited about it. The last couple years she has held out trying to shoot a buck, it just hasn't happened yet. Had a nice buck on the camera, and she hunted about a week straight every morning from an hr before daylight, till about 1pm. he never showed back up the whole season. This will be her year!!!

[COOLDAD1]

Yep .....Both my boys were 6 when they shot their first deer.

[Miller]

I think there is no set age it just varies from one kid to another. My oldest son who is now 10 shot his first Doe at age 6. Then his first buck at 7. He has now shot several deer with his gun and bow since. He would shoot the first thing that walks out every time we go if it was up to him. He hasn't shown much interest in holding out for a "big one" yet so for that reason he won't shoot a trophy or big management deer until he shows me he wants to. He gets just excited about shooting or sticking a scraggly cul buck, so so mgmt buck or doe as he would a trophy. For him it would be lost on him at this point.

We own the land and have a lot of deer so that helps, but I do make him follow our management game plan. I don't. I just want to TRY and teach him that is the rules for everyone.

Back to the right age for a shooting a buck. My crazy youngest son has shown no interest in shooting a deer and he is 6. I definitely won't push it with him because his stubborn butt will just do the opposite.

My dad was more lenient on me. He let me shoot the first buck that walked out. The kicker was the next buck had to be bigger and so on. That seemed to work pretty good for me to. I guess my point is there is a 100 different ways to do it and probably no wrong answer. Good luck and hope to see some pictures of your son with a buck.

[AntlerCollector]

Im a little bit confused as to your thinking. If a big mature buck steps out are you going to tell him not to shoot it? As far as his age goes, he killed a doe last year he could have just as easily killed a buck. It seems to me like you are trying to let him shoot does and young bucks then graduate to larger bucks later on. If that's the case then it really makes no sense to me. The kid won't be ruined from hunting if he shoots a buck thats "too big"

[Txhuntr2]

My son was 8 when he shot this one. Had shot a pig and a doe before he shot this one. At that age, I think if a decent buck walks out let them shoot if they want. This was the first one that came out that afternoon, we didn't wait!! And you'll be more nervous about the shot than he will!!!
My daughter shot a doe her first year out, but she was so small she didn't start till she was 10(3 yrs ago). She was super excited about it. The last couple years she has held out trying to shoot a buck, it just hasn't happened yet. Had a nice buck on the camera, and she hunted about a week straight every morning from an hr before daylight, till about 1pm. he never showed back up the whole season. This will be her year!!!

My son will be 2 this November. I can't wait until this day comes for him!