hey guys im sure that was a wonderful expierience whenever my father taught me to hunt all i did was take the hunters course the course was wonderful they let u shoot guns and all the other things u need to know for hunting i am now 15 and an avid deer hunter this is just to tell u that u dont need to pay all that money to go to a preserve whenever u can just go to ur local hunters safety course do do the same thing

I hate to disagree but , by taking a kid on a preserve hunt your giving them thereal hunting experience that they just can't give you at a hunter safety course.Don't get me wrong, everyone needs to go through a hunter safety course but you also need a safe environment to practice what you learn in the field.It can be expensive,but well worth it.Even after someone has taken the hunter safety course,their education as a hunter is really just beggining and should continue throughout your hunting career.Hopefully I'll never stop learning new things each time I go to the woods.As I said before this is just my opinion,I hope you clearly understand my position.

860 Scully is absolutely right unfortunately the lessons are often forgotten.

I had a stepdad that didn't hunt and I started pre hunter safty. My own son went thru hunter safty and while I don't think it's a bad idea, it can't do what really need's to be done. It's kinda like getting your driver's license. You can answer a few questions, take a test and drive around the block, you pass!

My grandfather and a couple uncle's taught me to shoot and to hunt. But not until after I'd gone two year's deer hunting. What's missing for many, not all of course, is growing up around gun's. Your supposed to lock them up now. I never have and never will. Children have a natural couriousity about thing's, including gun's. Best to teach them from the earilist age to handle them properly, how they work and what happen's when you pull the trigger. To many parent's avoid that anymore prefering to let them learn in hunter safty.

At one time this country was known as a nation of riflemen. From what I see it isn't anymore. Not to say there aren't a lot of fine shooter's out there, there are.
But go out where people shoot, especially the abandoned gravel pit. Watch whats going on. Target's on a cardboard box are set "over there". Most shoot pattern's, not group's. Shooting technique is unknown. Rifle cartridges are selected based on what someone else is shooting.

Watch the question's in forum's. Often people are asking questions about cartridges that are hard to believe. But I think many are serious, just have no background to pull from. Then what they get is many people's suggestions based on their favorite cartridge, on what recoil they can handle and shooting at ranges that are obscene for someone asking a question. As example, on another site a guy asked if his 7mm Rem Mag with a 150 gr bullet was good for deer and what damage would it do. First answer was "hell yea, with 160gr TSX bullets it's good to 600 yds and will give small holes in and out." Not the exact word's but I hope you get the idea.

Shooting preserves? I can't imagine what might be wrong with them. Sure as hell better than the way I started. If your kid's like guns, do whatever you can to start them young. Teach them to be responsible and to kill humanely and cleanly.

Guess I'm kinda off track here. Sorry!