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26 October 2007

How To Teach Your Kid To Shoot A Deer Rifle

Posted by Darrell under: Rantings Of An Outdoorsman .

 

My son took his first deer last year. He dropped her at 110 yards with one shot from my 30.06.  I know some adults that probably couldn’t have made that shot. Why was he successful?

I’ll warn you. You may not like what you are about to hear. My method for teaching my son to shoot a high powered rifle may not fit into your moral code. But it worked really well - so I’m going to share it.

Most people that can’t shoot a deer rifle accurately flinch when they pull the trigger. I’ll watch them shoot and watch them jerk that trigger and flinch their whole body. Some of these same guys can shoot a hickory nut at a 100 yards with a .22! So, what is the problem? In my opinion, they are expecting recoil and their body is flinching in anticipation.

The amazing part of this is that I personally have NEVER felt recoil while actually shooting at an animal. I’ve felt plenty of recoil while shooting targets. I don’t know what it is, but it seems like you don’t notice the recoil while you are hunting. Howevef, most everyone seems to feel it when they are target practicing.

So, if you don’t notice the recoil when actually shooting at something (like a deer) why would you flinch and mess up the shot? Because even though you aren’t going to feel it, you’ve felt it before (while target practicing) and you are anticipating it.

I knew that my 30.06 would give my son’s shoulder a pounding. No question asked. I also knew that if I took him out to target practice with that gun, he would probably flinch when he actually shot at deer. My solution?

I taught my son to shoot with a .22. And, he can shoot! He is deadly accurate with my little Ruger 10-22 with 3×9 scope. He breathes right and is perfectly capable of hitting a quarter at 50 yards.

Prior to last years youth deer season we did a lot of shooting with the .22. He kept asking me to let him shoot the 30.06. I refused. He kept asking me, over and over, “does that gun kick, dad?” I replied with the only answer that made sense “not any harder than that .22 you’ve been shooting”.

“But, dad, some kids at school have told me about how hard their dad’s 30.06 kick; are you sure it doesn’t kick?”.

“Not one bit son. I promise you won’t feel it!” I replied a dozen times before season arrived.

Right before we left the cabin that Saturday morning he looked at me and said “you sure it doesn’t kick dad?”   “Yes son. I’m sure. You won’t feel a thing. Just pretend like you’re shooting the .22, OK?” My son looked at me in a way that said ‘hey, I’m trusting you’ and simply said “Ok dad - just like the .22″

After my son dropped his deer with one perfect shot I asked him if the gun kicked. “I think it kicked dad, but I sure didn’t feel it!” was his reply. “See, I told you son”

I’m not suggesting that you don’t need to practice with your firearms. I’m not saying that you don’t need to make sure your guns are sighted in accurately. My 30.06 was sighted in dead on. I made sure of that.

I know guys that will shoot hundreds of rounds of ammo each year prior to deer season and then miss deer. They don’t have a bench and bags out in the woods with them. They jerk the trigger and flinch and miss. The more they miss, the more their confidence is depleted. And, the more they miss.

I helped my son gain confidence by actually hitting his first deer. I taught him to shoot on a gun that wasn’t loud and didn’t kick. Then I convinced him that the gun he was using for deer was going to be just like it. I made sure that gun was sighted in and accurate. The firs time he shot that gun, he was shooting to kill and he did. It may not be the best method for teaching a kid, but it worked well for me.

Tomorrow, we hit the woods for Missouri’s Youth Deer season!

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