It will take some practice and getting use to, but I dont think its nothing he cant handle. Although the first time I shot one at age 22 I was totally shocked and caught off guard. That dang gun kicked the snot out of me. After going through a box of ammo its alright.

Happy hunting to you and your son.

I think its wonderful to start a kid to the sport of hunting. My dad never did take me hunting, but when my son reaches six I'll have me a new hunting buddy, and ill hand him down my 30-06 and just get me another

Rich,
It will take some getting used to for him. I started out at 14 with a 30-06 and I don't remember it being to bad.
Just make sure that you spend as much time as possible at the range getting him used to the rifle.
When he shoots at an animal to shoot at he won't even notice the recoil.
Good luck

I would invest in a second hand 30/30 at first, or try and borrow one. He may be able to handle a 30-06 as some certainly have. On the other hand he may develop an accuracy crippling flinch which will be very hard to overcome after the fact.

In Canada you can get a used 30/30 for about $200, I would suspect that in the US you can get one new for that, and used one quite a bit less.

Remington makes a 125 gr sp. load that is light kicking. Last year they made a reduced recoil load of the 06. It's very important that you don't beat the boy up or he will be skeert of the gun and practice bad habbits Good luck.

I agree with remington. One of the great things about the .30-06 is that there are more factory loads available for it than just about any other cartridge out there. Shop around some and I'm sure you can find something with a bullet and powder load both on the low end. That should still be just fine for deer (as long as he isn't trying 300 yard shots) and won't punish him at all.

My first rifle was a Remington Model 721 in 3006 - at age 12. So I guess you know my answer.

I will have to go with saskie here, a 30/30 would be the best choice for a beginner.
I shot my first deer at age 9 with a 30.06 but that was a quick pick up and shoot trick and not something that I actually shot before that. My shoulder was pretty sore but I didn't notice the recoil during the shooting, which I emptied the 5 shots in the rifle and hit the deer with 3 of those.

Well, may I suggest you take him out to the bush/range and let him try it(standing shot first). A word of CAUTION HERE: If he gets snapped by a scope
because of "eye releif" not only can it cut him badly, but may turn him off from hunting/shooting for good.
And you may just find that his overwelming desire to hunt/shoot with "old Dad" supersceeds a little recoil
And don't scare the hell out of him beforehand but constantly talking "recoil"

"if everything goes wrong,blame the wife!"

Thanks guy..

I took him out today to shoot a shotgun to get used to guns.

He said he enjoyed it

Im gonna take him to the range tommorow.

Post back and let us know how the lad did at the range