Gun Shy – Help

This past spring I decided my son may be old enough to give turkey hunting a try. He had come along before but never shot. I have a youth model 20 that he could use. I decided to see if he could shoot it. He’s shot a 22 for a couple years so he’s not a stranger to guns. I set up a target and put him 20 yds away with 2 3/4″ 7 1/2 shot. He shot a couple times and said he liked it. Gun seemed to shoot ok. So I took him out during the youth season. First time out we had some action and he was really excited about it. Next evening I called in a Tom to about 15yds… BOOM. Miss… He was pretty down but I tried to pep him back up. We were out the next night and he missed again… this time he was pretty hesitant to shoot because he didn’t like the extra kick that the turkey loads were giving. I patterned the gun with the turkey loads and sure enough the gun was off. I switched chokes and tried again and it was dead on. Mistake on my part. So now I know the gun shoots straight… but he no longer wanted to go out, unless he didn’t have to shoot. Since spring I’ve asked him if he wants to shoot anymore. But he will only shoot the 22… won’t touch the shotgun, even with the 7 1/2’s. So I’m just sick to my stomach about this because I feel like messed up big time.

So how can I get him back to shooting? He wants to bowhunt instead… which is awesome except he’s only 9 and won’t be able to pull a bow capable of killing anything for a few more years. He’s still very enthusiastic about hunting… just not shooting. I’m trying not to push him back into anything until he’s completely comfortable… but a little part of me thinks he’s hesitating because he missed and if he were to shoot the shotgun and HIT his target, then the fear of the kick would go away.

What do I do? Is there a good way to transition from the 22 back to the shotgun?

Thanks for the input

Tough situation but I think you’re right in not pushing him. Take him with you and you do the shooting for awhile, might be a few years, but hey, he’s in the field with you. He’ll see how fun it is and eventually the kick won’t feel that bad.

Another idea is to create a situation with some friendly social pressure, such as hunting with a friend or another father/son team. If his friend of similar age is going to shoot, he may feel competitive and want to shoot too.

Good luck!

One additional thought, make sure that youth model 20 is well padded. I started with a 20 gauge single shot. Thing was light as a feather and had no pad. I’m sure my dad looked at it and said that thing won’t kick much. WRONG. Light gun, no pad, I hated shooting that gun. When my daughter started shooting, I had the option of a no pad 20 or my well padded WSX2 in 12 gauge. I put her in the 12 gauge with light loads and had no problems.

ET

Do you have access to a .410? Maybe starting smaller and working his way back up.
DT

He is only 9. Keep taking him with you and when he is ready, he will start shooting again. The 410 route could be another possibility. I have a 9yo nephew and he wants to shoot a 12g already. I do have him shooting my 1100 20g. Alot less kick than a single shot.

Ya 20gage for most 9 year olds is on the big side. I would wait 6 months to a year to let him grow and add on some pounds and then restart him with a .410 gage. All depends on his physical size. I was average size and I remember the .410 was perfect at the ages of 10-12 then I switched to 12gage which was a big jump but I had also put on a lot of pounds with growing.

That’s a bummer that thing turned out that way. I’d not be in a hurry to rush him back shooting a shotgun. Like others had said he most likely will come around in a year or so. I got my 11 year old daughter shooting her Youth 20 gauge ex[press this last spring. I was a little worried the kick would bother her so I started her on 2 3/4 target loads. She only took 2 shots with the turkey loads I had patterened the gun with. She did notice the extra kick but was Ok with it. I’m a little surprised he felt the extra kick with the rush of shooting at live game. Possibly he did not have the gun placed well and that caused him to feel it a little more. I know on one of my daughters shots she did not have it tight and it did hurt her a little. She made a point of keeping it tight after that. A hard lesson but good one. It now time to get her out with a deer rifle. I think I’ll start her on a buddies 243. Hopefully that goes well. Hang in there he will come around in time.

Yeah I should have mentioned his size. He’s a big kid for his age. He is in the 90th percentile for his age for height and 70th for his weight. I was much smaller at his age and started on the same gun. Its not a single shot, its a pump gun and I don’t remember it kicking much when I was that age. It was really warm when we hunted so he was only wearing a thin long sleeved shirt when he shot.

410 is a good idea. Never thought of that. Thanks for the input so far.

All good suggestions above, here’s a small twist and my story of too much too soon.

Ask him next year if he wants to try again then maybe a 410 or other options. The key is getting him to say yes and then make sure you’re set up for success. Another year or two to grow may help quite a bit. Definitely keep bringing him into the field!

My story of too much too soon has led to a flinch problem that I’m still fighting in my 40s. Like your son I started small with bb gun patrol for gophers. Then graduated to joining dad in the field for pheasant hunts. Somewhere around your son’s age or maybe 10-11 dad let me shoot a shotgun for the first time, 12ga semi-auto, no pad. Put the gun to my shoulder, aimed, squeezed the trigger, and the next thing I know I’m pointed 90 degrees to the right.

Chapter 2, at 14 I saved all my lawn moving money to buy a deer rifle. As a nerd I researched the best caliber for deer(not for a skinny kid). Ordered up a .270 and fitted it with scope. Had been shooting shotguns for 2 years and first time with a rifle over a .22. Yep, pulled the trigger and creased my eyebrow with the scope.

Moral of the story, if I had to do it again I would have started with smaller calibers/gauges to get accustomed to the noise and kick. Earmuffs might be a good idea too. My winter project is to get back into shooting for fun and get rid of my flinch.

IMHO 9 is to young to shoot hard kicking turkey loads. Youth model guns are lighter and may fit better but turkey loads hurt adult shooters. Is the gun a semi auto, single shot, pump? The gun probably smacked his nose and cheek as well as shoulder and he will flinch like crazy if you could convince him to try again. It’s time to just start over let him shoot the .22 and air rifle and hope he develops the burning desire to hunt and overcomes his fear of the recoil and pain of the shot. It’s great to get youth involved in hunting but I think people are pushing the limits of what they physically and mentally can handle. The old rules of 12 years old let the child grow to a physical size where a youth model gun was designed for created them wanting to go. I took my kids as observers when they were younger but they were not ready at 9 for shooting shotguns with full power turkey or waterfowl loads out of 20 or 12 ga. They did shoot a 28 and 410 at clays. Each kid is different and only the parent can decide if the child is ready. Don’t pressure and good luck.

Mwal

A couple of thoughts. As others have mentioned, first don’t panic. 9 is pretty young and he’ll come back to it, but be ready to EASE into it and stay away from the shoulder-mauling heavy magnum turkey loads for a while. There’s every chance he’ll want to try again, so don’t give in to visions that your Hunting Father of the Century award is in jeopardy if you don’t get him back in the saddle tomorrow. If it takes a year, it takes a year.

Trying again depends a lot on personality, but with my two boys, the harder I try to talk them into something they don’t want to do, the more they dig their heels in. But if it suddenly becomes their idea… They got this trait from their mother, BTW, but that’s another story. Basically, I think it goes a whole lot better when they WANT to try it again.

I’m not keen on the .410 idea and pumps kick as hard as a single shot or a double because there’s nothing to absorb recoil except the shoulder.

What I’d suggest instead is finding a gas-operated 20 gauge like a Beretta, Remington 1100, etc WITH a good pad on the stock. The key is that it has to be gas operated, NOT recoil operated like a Benelli. The gas operation of the auto action sucks up so much of the recoil that with lighter loads, it’s hard to say there is any at all. Personally, I have a Beretta A391 in 20 gauge and it kicks so little that it’s astonishing. By comparison, my light 20 gauge double is very pleasant to carry, but it kicks like a mule.

Then, lay your hands on several boxes of light target loads. By “light” I’m not talking about small shot size, I’m talking about light powder charges. There are several brands out there, they aren’t always easy to find at Walmart, so when you find them, buy several boxes.

Lastly, I’d say don’t overdo it. When he comes back to shooting, shoot a little and STOP! Whatever you do, don’t let him shoot until his shoulder is sore/bruised or you’ll be right back to square one. Just enough to get him to see that it doesn’t hurt AND that it’s actually FUN and then stop. Stop when it’s still fun and then it becomes something that he wants to do again and that’s all he’ll think about.

Grouse

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Is the 20 ga an autoloader? They aren’t as punishing. I agree with many of the comments, don’t push him too much and peer support/preasure can be helpful now and in the future. Keep in mind that when he goes to school,…what happened over teh weekend on the video games, skate park, and social media is what most kids talk about. If I had it to do all over again,….I’d search out other dads with a similar aged sons in your school and agree to help each by being “friends” if only for the sake of the kids. Plan to do some things together. Want you want is for them to seek each other out and talk about the “cool” outdoor things that they did to each other (like we do on this site) instead of the other things that most city kids do. Be prepared to accept that he may not actually like it and support his interests whatever they end up being.

I would say to try to get him excited about it, show him some duck hunting videos or pheasant hunting videos. When I hunt and I shoot I don’t feel the kick at all, my adrenaline is pumping too hard and i don’t notice the kick. Try to get him trap shooting with a light low recoil load and see if that helps. It’s fun and he would get more excited if he was taken duck hunting or pheasant hunting! Anything to get him behind a shotgun! Good luck!!!

I have a great nephew, age 10, that is also big for his age. It’s hard to look at him and remember he’s only 10. What we discovered in mentoring him this past fall was that while he’s the biggest kid in his class, he’s still 10. He’s tall and looks thick but his muscles are still developing to his body size and at that age, he still doesn’t like things that poke him pretty good.

I bought a Rossi Trifecta because they’re decent in recoil padding and teaching each shot has to count because you won’t get another. Also, he’s left handed with most things. Well, the recoil was still to his disliking and the .243 accuracy just wasn’t coming in for us and it may have been the scope but when we discovered his natural inclination was to shoot right handed, I shouted “Hallelujah!” because I have a Mossberg ATR100 with a shorter length of pull than I like and it’s a pretty good shooter, as well as equipped with a soft cell recoil pad. We weren’t able to get him any practice time with the Mossberg but in the deer stand he said it felt comfortable and he got a shot opening morning but missed. Next day he put down a nubbin’ buck and got a taste of “I didn’t feel a thing!” He’s hooked now!

What we learned was……. he’s 10. He got past the issues but being big for his age didn’t mean much. Recoil was still an issue and .22 was a lot more fun! As stated, every child is different but if he still likes hunting and talking about hunting, there’s a very good chance that he’ll come into his own at some point and it’ll all be awesome when he does. Just hang in there, be patient, and just be a dad. There comes a time in every boy’s life where fear starts to take a back seat to desire.

You could possibly try shooting off a lead sled device also if this wasn’t mentioned above?