Duck Gun Suggestions for my 8 year old son

[Throwback]

Eight years of age is unusually young to start duck hunting so here are my thoughts:

Kids attention span at that age is very short. Plus, their ability to manager/tolerate bad weather and cold temps can add other stressors. Kids like action and activity which can be a challenge in duck hunting. Best to shorten the hunting day rather than expect the child to suffer through it. You want them to really enjoy themselves the very first hunt.

As for firearms, pump shotguns even as 20 guages, have significant recoil. This recoil will produce incorrect mounting of the gun, lifting the head off of the stock, and recoil flinching. A small gun like a .410 eliminates these issues but it is really the gun of expert shooters and not suitable to kill ducks in most situations. That being said, the hunting adult can always inform the youngster that they just made an incredible shot on that last bird regardless of whether the child hit it or someone else did.

I recommend a semi-auto loader in 20 ga. with a short enough length of pull so gun mount is good. Time spent shooting clays for a month will also be beneficial.

Take snacks and hot chocolate along for both of you. I can still remember my first "duck hunt" from 1954. Didn't kill and ducks but I did manage to kill a coot (or so I was told!). I was shooting a .410/.22 over and under made by Savage and the coot was probably 30 yards away. Naw, I didn't kill it, my older brother probably did.

I agree

how many ducks is an 8 year old really going to kill anyway?

 

[delacroix]

.410 with TSS turkey loads. Should weigh over 5#. You can get a 28ga or 20ga that light, but you'd have to roll your own TSS. Yildiz single barrel with the buttstock stuffed with weight would be a good start.

Nothing wrong with waiting until older. My kid thought getting the snot kicked out of him was a hoot when he was five. I discouraged it but he kept asking. Now that he's 8 and trying to improve his shooting he shies away from the hard kickers. It messes with his concentration too much just like it does adults with big magnums. I'm limiting his shotgunnery to turkey only with light loads until he gets bigger.

The point is this is a niche product thing for a reason. Beware moving too far too fast.

 

[NMH5050]

Reckon I should also mention that Remington products ain't what they used to be. Might be better off to go used if you choose this route.

I agree

how many ducks is an 8 year old really going to kill anyway?

thanks for the help. We have a good place to shoot woodies so it will be over fairly fast. I agree.. He probably wont be able to kill one but if he thinks he did that will work for both of us. It would be my friend and him doing the shooting. I will be with him the entire time. thanks again.

 

[jdgator]

thanks for the help. We have a good place to shoot woodies so it will be over fairly fast. I agree.. He probably wont be able to kill one but if he thinks he did that will work for both of us. It would be my friend and him doing the shooting. I will be with him the entire time. thanks again.

Consider a used Charles Daly 20 guage semi. About 100 bucks and if he drops it in a beaver pond it won't be the end of the world.

 

[DRBugman85]

I started my 8 year old Granddaughter with a Remington 20 ga 870 youth,1 shell at a time.Now at 13 years old she is deadly and can shuck it as fast as a auto.
Plus she can hit what she shoots at.

 

[Para Bellum]

thanks for the help. We have a good place to shoot woodies so it will be over fairly fast. I agree.. He probably wont be able to kill one but if he thinks he did that will work for both of us. It would be my friend and him doing the shooting. I will be with him the entire time. thanks again.

Let the first ones hit the water. Get the lil guy a drake Woodrow for his first bird!

 

[gobblestopper12]

I started on an Remington 1100 express shooting doves as a child. The best thing my dad ever did was only let me have 1 shell in the chamber while I was young. It taught me how to take my time and learn to aim rather than start firing rounds off. As I got older, he let me put 2 shells in and then eventually 3. One of the best things he ever did for me as far as hunting goes, in my opinion. I'm 27 with a dead eye now because of this reason. 20 ga is plenty for a wood duck. My dad laughs at how the duck hunting scene is today. When he tags along with us, he wades in old blue jeans and shoots the ol 1100 and bags more than all of us without a $2k shotgun while wearing walmart apparel lol.

 

[Bubba_1122]

.410 with TSS turkey loads. Should weigh over 5#. You can get a 28ga or 20ga that light, but you'd have to roll your own TSS. Yildiz single barrel with the buttstock stuffed with weight would be a good start.

I have an 8 year old grandson that enjoys going with me and my son in law. His 5 year old brother is lobbying to join us this year, and I'm much looking forward to it.

I don't expect either to shoot at ducks this year - just not quite there yet. I imagine after the hunts we will let them shoot at some stationary targets just to get more comfortable.

That said, I'll be shooting a 28 gauge 870 with blended shells (half TSS #9's and half steel #4's). Used it for turkeys last year with home grown #9 TSS shells. Deadly little gun.

Got the blend recipes from my TSS supplier and will load them myself (reason I'm doing that is had neck surgery couple of years ago. Doubt I'll ever shoot a 12 gauge again and when I shoot high brass 20's my neck goes numb and my fingers tingle for the better part of a day. Just don't want to play with that).

I'll shoot my 28 on a very limited basis (maybe 6 or 8 times a hunt and if any issues then I'll just cook breakfast for everyone while they hunt).

If it works well on woodies then it'll become my grandson's gun next year and I'll load him some shells during the off season.

 

[MudDucker]

I really like 28 ga for youngin's and even this old man likes it for dove birds and quail. My huntin' buddy busted up his arm a few years back and loaded up 28ga with heavy shot and he was a duck killin' fool with that gun.

 

[critterbait]

I agree

how many ducks is an 8 year old really going to kill anyway?

I guess that depends on the 8 year old. At 6 my son was shooting them with a 410 at 7 he was using a 20ga pump and at 8 using a berretta 20ga auto and he was deadly with it and very focused on the hunt and now at 20 years old I don't even like sitting beside him because I don't never get to shoot.

 

[oops1]

My son’s first was a benelli montefeltro 20 gage..it was somewhat pricey but came with a youth butt stock and an adult size. He used it for hunting as well as the shotgun team at his school. It’s had well over a thousand rounds through it and hasn’t missed a lick. He’s 15 now and he and I both still use it. You won’t outgrow like other youth models.