Having thought about this a bit...
I can tell you that my father wouldn't let me hunt big game (deer) until I could actually carry my own gun for the whole hunt and hold it solid on my own for an offhand shot if needed. Until then, I just had to wait... until I was 14 and until then I had to be (and was) satisfied shooting squirrels with a small 22. And I can tell you that shooting a 22 was great fun, and great practice.
It amazes me that more and more folks are putting younger and younger kids on bipods and tripods to "hunt" larger and larger game... shooting farther and longer distances.
Not sure where this lands in the scheme of things, and to each his own, but it is a serious question: At what point are we pandering to please the kid and handing them an experience on a platter to serve our own needy egos when we do this?
Isn't part of life's lesson and maturity sometimes not getting immediate/fast gratification? Doesn't it mean anything anymore to have to earn it and grow into it? Is it no longer ok when a child has to simply having to wait a couple years? Do these things even still matter anymore or count toward making the achievement of a goal all the more special?
JL
I can tell you that my father wouldn't let me hunt big game (deer) until I could actually carry my own gun for the whole hunt and hold it solid on my own for an offhand shot if needed. Until then, I just had to wait... until I was 14 and until then I had to be (and was) satisfied shooting squirrels with a small 22. And I can tell you that shooting a 22 was great fun, and great practice.
It amazes me that more and more folks are putting younger and younger kids on bipods and tripods to "hunt" larger and larger game... shooting farther and longer distances.
Not sure where this lands in the scheme of things, and to each his own, but it is a serious question: At what point are we pandering to please the kid and handing them an experience on a platter to serve our own needy egos when we do this?
Isn't part of life's lesson and maturity sometimes not getting immediate/fast gratification? Doesn't it mean anything anymore to have to earn it and grow into it? Is it no longer ok when a child has to simply having to wait a couple years? Do these things even still matter anymore or count toward making the achievement of a goal all the more special?
JL