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Your height and strength will determine what size shotgun you should use. When I was younger, I started with a .410 single shot. It kicked my shoulder pretty hard, but I would only shoot it a few times for practice while shooting at cans behind my house, then once or twice when out hunting. When I got a little bigger, I used a 20-gauge semi-auto. I practiced a lot more with this gun because it didn't kick much and I was strong enough to hold it up for a long time. Now I'm 12 years old and I just got a 12-gauge semi-auto last year for Christmas. I highly recommend the semi-auto shotguns because they don't kick near as much as the single shots. |
1. ~ Always remember the " 4 Most Important Gun Safety Rules" whether target shooting OR hunting. 2. ~ Learn to use the sights or scope on the gun. 3. ~ Use the end pad of your pointer finger to pull the trigger, not the first joint or the middle finger. 4. ~ Keep both eyes open with your dominant eye in line with the front sight and the target, begin to pull the trigger very slowly, always keeping a steady movement of your finger while keeping your eye on the FRONT SIGHT, not the target. 5. ~ NEVER jerk the trigger...only pull it back slowly. This is the BIGGEST TIP for hitting your target! |
The only thing to think about when your planning a hunting trip with a rifle is...."who's going to be carrying it in the woods?" If you are carrying it, then you probably want one that's not too heavy because you'll get really tired out. If your dad's going to be carrying it, then it doesn't really matter what rifle you use. I would NOT recommend using a .22 rifle for deer because the bullet is too small to make a good kill shot. You could probably use a .223 for small deer, but I used a .243 (the one in the picture on the right) for my first deer. It's light enough to carry for a while and it has a bi-pod on the front. If you don't have a bi-pod, you can rest your gun on a stump or the side of a tree, or even on your knee to help make a steady shot. The .243 is a great all-around varmint rifle too - as this coyote found out! |
Sometimes I use a .22 pistol for shooting turtles at the pond or an armadillo that's digging holes in our yard. But mostly I just shoot pistols for fun and target shooting at our range. It's great practice for learning how to line up sights. Starting out with a .22 pistol is perfect for kids because they're light and they hardly kick at all. Then, after you've shot about 500 rounds with the .22, you can move up to a 9mm, then a .357, then a .45, then a .44 magnum...the possibilities are just about endless!!! But you've got to be a pretty big kid to be able to hold these big pistols steady and be able to handle the KICK of these bigger bullets. REMEMBER: Pull the trigger slow and steady and DON'T FLINCH!! If you start flinching with the bigger guns, go back to the .22 or BB-gun for a while until you break that bad flinching habit! |