You think I'm a proud granddaddy,or what?







f.t.






Not as nice as the first one,but not bad. Camera puked after one shot.




f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

Nice job!!!!!

Incredible! You are helping to raise him to be a good man!

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Fidelis Ad Mortem

A great day for you both. Good job on making a man for the future.

What did he use?

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I always take precautions

Outstanding! God bless you both!

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<><

Yep, thats a good start and he will remember the first buck always. Now where's Grandpa's picture?? I wanted to see who has the biggest smile!!

Beautiful buck, congatulations to you and your "hunting buddy" on his memory of a lifetime!

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"Life is short, hunt hard"

Remington Model Seven in .243 Rem.
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

I'm camera shy,but rest assured I was doing a lot of smiling.
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

As a former deer processor I have to ask:
Why was that deer not field dressed?
Especially at this time of year when the meat goes bad quickly.

It doesn't take much to kill a deer - That's just the start of the process.

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In dog years I'm dead.

It's ten minutes to the nearest processor. I've killed several hundred deer and ain't had one go bad yet. Thanks for your concern though.
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

That's a nice deer! It's always more fun to watch a young 'un shoot one than to do it yourself. That's the kind of thing he'll remember you by as time passes.

That's a nice buck! Congratulations to the young man and his granddaddy!

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Misty

I hope that grandpa is going to get it mounted for his grandson. That will be something that he will treasure the rest of his life. You only get one first buck. And an 8 pointer to boot.

I shot my first buck only a few years ago and took the advice of a friend that has probably taken over 100 deer. He recommended that the slaughter house hang the deer for a week to make it more tender. I obliged and then took the head and cape home and froze it as my taxidermist was gone to Florida til spring. In the spring he returned and thawed out the package and unfortunately the fur would not stay on the hide, so now I only have a European mount, (horns only).

So, the lesson is, don't hang the deer too long if you wish to mount the head.

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James Redfield
LM #497

Great pic FT. I know you and your grandson were extremely proud. Get'em started young.

That's a huge deer for around here. Let us know what he weighed.

Congrats to all

Charlie

That is so great Tom. Moments like those will last a lifetime.
The little man is starting off right. Congradulations to both of you.

Took me 20 years to shoot something that big.

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Sure you did

Great memory for him and you.

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Have guns...will shoot'em.

thats great! cant wait to take my grandson on his first hunt, he already loves guns and fishing and he is only 3!

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WILL WORK FOR AMMO!

Thanks for the kind words from all. To answer a couple of questions,the deer weighed 170 pounds,had a width of 17" and WILL be shoulder mounted. Not to worry about the hide being ruined. He was caped-out and in the taxidermist's freezer less than 3 hours after he was killed.
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

What exactly did the boy learn?
I have some reservations about a 6 year old holding up a stock Rem Mdl#7 .243 and making a clean kill.LOP on that rifle is way more than any 6 year old I know can muster to see through the sights.I am curious to know how a 6 y.o. on his own picks that rifle up puts it on the deer and makes the shot.
He didn't learn much about the insides of a animal he just killed or proper meat handling.Deer hunting to him at this point is grandpa taking him out,shooting a deer,drive up put him the truck and go to town that's it.
I think the boy got cheated,Is he even old enough to attend a hunter safety class to demonstrate he has the maturity ? most states you have to be 12 and are a jr. hunter until 18.
I think waiting until kids are 12 is a good idea,let them want and dream and learn before ever taking an animal.Instant gratification at it's worst.
I am sure I'll take a beating for this post,but it's the truth

Children mature at different rates. I have one son who is more mature than several who post here, while the other one has a ways to go before he's ready to hunt. In my opinion, the correct age to start varies widely from kid to kid. Some folks sadly never reach that point on the maturity scale.

Well longranger,I won't go into a prolonged defense for teaching a youngster what was taught to me by my ancestors at an early age and which I,in turn,taught my son. But,let me say that my grandson ain't your typical 6 year old. He's almost as tall as his grandmother and handles both a shotgun and a rifle very well. He shoots groups inside 3" at 100 yards CONSISTANTLY! While a lot of kids are learning how to play video games and such,he's with his dad or me learning what real fun is. And learning how to do it properly and ethically. He learns by observing,practicing and DOING. BTW,he was in the stand with his dad when he killed the buck,not with me. I was there shortly after when he called me to come. I was several hundred yards away. Might be you don't have the confidence in your ability to teach a youngster properly. Hell,by the time a kid is 12,as you suggest,he might very well have gone in a different direction entirely and no amount of effort on your part can get him interested in leaving the arcade to get him to go with you. As to driving him up to the blind,handing him a gun and letting him shoot a deer,he is perfectly capable of unloading and driving the Ranger to the stand himself.But of course,one of us accompanies him at all times. Perhaps you think we drive up to one of these and let him shoot it with the Remington 870 20 guage.





That's a 20lb Eastern "WILD" turkey with a 10 1/2" beard that he took in April. You think he should have waited til he was 12?

f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

I started mine catching beagles and picking up rabbits at four years old. As he got older and bigger and could handle things under proper supervision he got his first .410, then 20 ga., then 12 ga.,etc. He was safer and could shoot better than most adults by the time he was 12. He didn't hunt by himself or with his friends until I thought he was ready. I see no problem with a six year old in a stand with his daddy proping that .243 on the window of the shooting shack and taking his first deer....and a nice one too.

Those pics are priceless

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Sure you did

F.T. your assessment is spot on concerning kids. To take this in a different direction, as a Boy Scout Scoutmaster I see the time to interest a youth in something is very limited. I found that boys that get involved in scouting when they begin elementary school, with parents that are actively involved and supportive, will continue. Trying to involve those same boys later is almost hopeless. By Junior High there are so many competing things for there time. In Scouting our only TABOO item was electronic games. Don't bring it to the meetings, or on camping trips. The boys quickly found out that you did not need it to have fun and to learn something.
I took all four of my kids to hunter safety, my youngest son was 9, to young for the class but he went anyway. He scored the highest on the test!! When he was 12 he took the class again. I also was sitting aside him when he shot his first deer!!

Well FT, I say congrats, to you, your grandson, and the boy in between. Well done! Bet you all are proud!

Congrats!!!! Happy young fella right there too! Not only his grandpa!

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One gun is never enough...

I can say that two things are wrong here:

1- You felt the need to say this in HIS thread about a specific topic. You could have started your own but no...

2- It's his grandson. It ain't your business. This is between the kids family and not you. This is what is forgotten. It has nothing to do with maturity or anything else. IT AIN'T YOUR BUSINESS!!!

The state has no right to tell me when I can carry my kid hunting. My kids are MINE! Not the gov'ts. Not yours. They are my responsibility. It is my job. And I think FT and his boy are doing a FINE job with this one!

I started hunting at a very early age. And so have my daughters. For those of us who want to ensure the future of hunting this has to be done. It also teaches kids about the real world. Not that contained in a Nintendo DS...

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One gun is never enough...

Congrats to the boy, his Dad, and to you.
That's a beautiful buck and turkey!
Well done.
My youngest is a natural wingshot. By the time he was 12, I flatly refused to give him any more specific advice on shotgunning. He could outshoot me any day and any advice from me could only be detrimental!

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Hmmmmmm.....
As I zip into The Lounge day in and day out, I read through thread titles to "see what I need to look at". No way do I have time to read every thread here. So, I scan. I skip a lot of threads that look safe. They look safe because of subject matter and/or who the OP is.
I really get some surprises sometimes.

This is a thread I skipped.
I like ft's posts, and I like huntin' tales, but I'm very busy lately. I had no idea this thread would get contentious.
I've deleted some posts and done some editing.

If anyone wants to write a dissertation on field meat preparation or child gun training and hunting philosophy, start a thread and expound your views. Meanwhile, leave this family to contently gloat on events that will be cherished memories for a lifetime.
Put succinctly, show some consideration and 'good form'.

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Well said.




I have to agree. By the time a kid is 12, he's seen so much gun absurdity on TV it will be very difficult to teach one the correct ways.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

My daddy started taking me hunting when I was around the age of 5 or 6. I still remember us in a box stand together, with my boots off and his gloved hands rubbing my feet inside my socks trying to keep them warm on a cold NC winter's morning.
Well, to a 5 year old, 35 degrees was cold.

Before I ever got to carry a gun to the stand or shoot at a live animal, he made sure that I had practiced, practiced, and practiced some more and was comfortable with holding, aiming, shooting and the recoil of the gun.
That gun was a Mossberg 800b in .243, a full size gun, that truth be told, was probably a bit too big for me. But we worked on it and I eventually became proficient with it, and took many deer through the years with it before working up to a .270. He still uses that gun to this day, and says it's one of his favorites. Mine, too.

I recall several seasons of sitting in the stand with him, watching as he took the shots, just hoping for the day I would get my chance to be just like him.

I believe it was at the age of 9.5 when I was first allowed to sit in the stand alone. Of course, he was in another stand not that far away. Truth be told, he could probably see me from his stand, but at that age, I thought I was all grown up.
I still remember taking a doe that hunt, watching as she came down a creek, finding a small hole just barely big enough through the trees and taking the shot right behind the shoulder and dropping her DRT.
I also remember the feeling of excitement as my daddy came up and I got to tell him that I had taken a shot.
You couldn't have told me anything when I showed my daddy where I had placed the shot, and he told me that even he didn't know if he could have put a shot through that small of an opening in the trees.





Thanks FT for sharing your grandson's first buck. It brought back some great memories for me, and I hope you don't mind me sharing them in your thread.

It also recalls a saying that rings true today more than ever:

Take your kid hunting, and you won't have to go hunting for your kid.

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not limited by 30 characters

tell your grandbaby congrats from another young hunter! (ive been at it for about 20 years but im still a youngen i reckon)

FWIW my wifes cousin has been shooting deer for 4 years now with a 243, has taken more than me oh and did i forget to mention that SHE is 11 years old? some of the things posted on this forum amaze me.

Three generations enjoying the outdoors together. It doesn't get any better than that.

......moon

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NRA Life Member

Thank you to all of you gentlemen (AND lady) who understand my viewpoint on this matter. I really didn't anticipate the direction that this thread would take.
Regards,
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

F.T. Congrats on helping to raise the next generation that will help preserve our firearms rights and hunting heritage. I only wish that my first deer had been that nice.

James, I have taken more deer in my 49+ years than I can remember, and also made the same mistake you did a few times. There is a simple way around this problem. The taxidermist is simply going to bone out the hide (A.K.A. through away everything but the hide and horns) after hopefully taking good pictures and measurements, mount the hide to a molded foam form and mount the horns to the foam form. It's just a matter of going to someone who processes deer and getting a fresh head with shoulder hide attached and having your taxidermist mount the new hide to a new form and add your horns.

Class III

Congats FT, Your grandson will remember that day forever. in upstate pa picking out your sons first 243 is the sign he was called up to big game.We even put the year bought and information inside the buttstock because he will keep that gun forever. one day it will be his ground hog or fox gun.

The boy still did'nt learn squat about the insides of the deer he just killed,it's not a fish.

Well if he knew how to kill it he obviously knows something about the inside of a deer.I've gutted lots of deer and not really learned much about organ placement I didnt already know from Field and Stream articles I read before I ever killed a deer.I made my cousins boy learn how to gut deer because where we hunt we have to and I don't like doing it.I would imaging when he shoots a deer in the evening and the butcher shop is closed he'll learn to gut his deer,if not it's not my business nor yours.Teach your kids to hunt the way you want and let others teach their way,the important thing is they learn.

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Chad

Took 2 months,but he finally saw another "shooter".
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

GREAT first rifle...my son killed his first deer at age 8 with his....
Congrats to your grandson...I know how proud you must be

Kids should be taught proper firearm safety, hunter safety, safe hunting technique, clean kill technique, pride in taking game clean, safe game handling, safe meat prep and storage, respect for the game they take, etc. This will teach them to be honorable hunters. They should be taught as soon as they show interest and are physically able.

They should never be taught that animals are walking targets to do with as we choose because we can. They will grow to be horn hunters who kill proud bucks and dishonor them by leaving their corpses to rot in the field and returning with only their horns.


That's my two cents on teaching kids to hunt.

fat tom, cute grand kid and nice buck!

Thats great! I love to see kids being introduced to the outdoors, cant wait till my grandson is old enough to hit the woods

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WILL WORK FOR AMMO!

Congrats. F.T. fine looking boy and nice buck. I started my boys hunting at an early age, and they stuck with it. As I type this my oldest is in a tree with his bow. This morning he came over and showed me a vidieo he took with his phone of several does milling around under his stand. Fun stuff!

Proud kid and a proud Granddad.That's good enough for me.

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Dum vivo cano

Way to go! It's great to see the look on his face; he did good, and he knows it. TACC1

Thanks fellas. he's a work in progress. Just noticed sheriffoconee's post quoting me as saying the rifle is a .243 Rem. Of course it's a .243 Win. Figured I'd clear that up before the "i" dotters and "t" crossers flamed me out.
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country