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