Title of this forum.

[PEPAW]

Am I the only silly one who chuckles every time I read "youth hunting and shooting"?     :oops:    
Seriously, I am past most of my killing these days, but treasure the times I have helped a young one learn to shoot a rifle and later take a deer, turkey or pig.   Here in TX, we start them very young.  My 6 yr old daughter took her first two does this year with a cut down .222 and my 10 year old son took his first buck (a ten point!) and those were two of my favorites days hunting ever.
FYI   I did not hold, aim or point her gun.   I simply put her in a stand where I knew we would have close, broadside shots and told her to aim just where we had practiced by drawing x's on photos of live deer.   She even helped my field dress both and asked 1 million questions!   I know the .222 is too small for large deer, but for 70-80 field dressed does at close range,  it simply works when hit in the vitals.

pepaw

[MS10point]

I grew up hunting with a doctor that had about every gun you could think of, but if he had to choose just one to keep, it would surely have been his .222. He has killed hundreds of deer with it and still uses it to this day. Most shots are to the head or neck. I agree it may not be the best all around caliber but with the proper shot it is very effective.
See Ya!
TP

[Don Fischer]

I'd have a hard time with the 222 on deer, even small ones. But I think that if people really went out of their way to teach kids to shoot, indeed themselves, and if they taught exactly where to shoot and which bullet to use. If they got off the "I'm only human" kick and taught kids the great responsibility that goes with killing an animal. Then I think I could say that some 22's might be good starters. I'm pretty sure that people that come to a hunting site are probally more inclined to instill these values in their kids. More so those that come to threads like this, I don't enough. You guys that are active here on this thread shoud be appluaded, you really are the future of sport hunting. It will go in the direction you guide it.

[41 mag]

I am new to these forums and have read a ton of post in the past year or so before joining up. I have to say that your right on the starting them young here in Tx. I took my first deer at age 6 using a sporterized M1 carbine. My daughter, learned to shoot a Pump 243 when she was 6 and hunted with until she was 9, when she took her first spike buck. Of course she declined the 243 and shot it with my 25-06, and from then on I have to fight her for it.

I am hoping to get my grandson out this fall using either the same Carbine or my little Compact 308 with reduced loads. He will be 5 this Thanksgiving, and with a little help form PawPaw, I am sure he is up to the task. He has been hunting with me since he could understand sit still and be quite. LOL We have taken many hogs while in the woods together and he is persistant in the fact that he wants to get one himself. 

He practices all the time with his "bolt gun" we picked up at Gander Mnt., and knows that when we see hogs his job is to cover his ears or put on his muffs and quick, before Pawpaw starts shooting. LOL