Last weekend we finally got away to the country again and my 12 and 11 year old daughters were introduced to gun basics, SAFETY, and fired their first rounds with a rifle. With a scoped bolt-action .22 they fired at 25 yards in clips of 8 rounds.
After they got the feel of firing a few rounds, we settled into concentrating on form and being consistent. My 11 year old was able to group 7 out of 8 from one clip within a 6" circle. My 12 year old shot one clip of 8 all in a 4" circle. I thought they did wonderfully for their first time, and I tried to point out the things they did right as well as suggest improvements. But most of all we just had fun and they got comfortable with shooting.
In between our trips to shoot we will be practicing dry fire at home in the back yard. They still don't quite have the control they will need to shoot accurately, and we can work on a lot without ammo. When they get good enough to hit consistently in a 3" circle, then we'll hunt armadillos or rabbits to put practice into a real hunting situation.
I'm mostly just glad that they know a little bit about how guns work now and have a respect for the deadly power of a firearm without being scared of it. :grin:
