Kids shooting

[Chester Thompson]

After looking at all of the pictures that Guru posted about his son I made me think about what else I can do with my son with his shooting. My son Cortlyn is 5 1/2, turns 6 in Dec. So what should I be wanting for a 6 year old to be doing? I hope that this question makes sense, but at 6 is still at the point of just shooting arrows to shoot arrows, or should he be working on form? I want it to be fun for him, and not something that he does not want to do. This summer he has shoot with me in the 95 degree Houston heat and humidity.
I know that his current bow is to short for him to get a proper draw on, so how heavy is to heavy and how long of a bow should I get for him? He has actually pulled back a Martin Stick that I have that is 45@28" and done ok. So does anybody have a kids bow that is just collecting dust that they might be willing to part with let's talk.

Thanks,
Chester

[KOOK68]

My son is 5, turns 6 in May. It has been hard to get him interested in shooting with me because of the extreme heat. Always fun for kids, is shooting big, bright balloons.

[BigBucksnTrucks]

Chester-You're 5.5 year old son can pull a 45# bow?  That's one strong kid....were you by any chance the previous Gov of Cali? lol

[Chester Thompson]

Originally posted by BigBucksnTrucks:
Chester-You're 5.5 year old son can pull a 45# bow?  That's one strong kid....were you by any chance the previous Gov of Cali? lol

Nope not me, yes he can pull it back to 10"-15" I am not sure where. Should I get his draw measured or not worry about it at this point? He is having a lot of fun shooting so I guess that is all that should matter.

[NBK]

My daughter Kate is 9 and has been shooting since she was 2 1/2.  She shoots a Maddog longbow thats 25#@24".  She can shoot it all day, (which she sometimes does!), and it lends itself to good form.  I stressed the "fun" part until it kinda blossomed on its own, and only then when she would show some frustration at where the arrows went did I give instruction which consisted of "Get your elbow all the way back, hold your anchor and keep that bow arm up!"  
I'll will second KOOK68 in that a bag of cheap balloons spread throughout the lawn is a ton of fun for both of you.

[BigBucksnTrucks]

Chester-  My kids recently started shooting...they are a little older-11 and 12, but Like the others said the best thing is to make sure it is fun for them.  Kids easily lose interest in things that become difficult or no fun any more. If he can get a full draw...far enough to anchor and shoot with fairly well form I wouldn't worry about it much more than that.  Let him shoot and have fun and his natural abilities will grow.  I like the idea kook68 has about baloons...heck I may even try that!

[reddogge]

I started all of my grandkids out on a 20#@24" Little Bear. The youngest started shooting at 4. You basically have to keep the arrow on the string for them and show them how to stand parallel to target, where to anchor, how to grip string. I taught basic form with bow in hand and not drawing but putting their arm out straight and their right hand where it should be at anchor. Work on follow through with left arm.

They pick it up very quickly and you con't need any complicated aiming discussions outside of "Great shot, next aim lower. Great shot, next time aim higher."

Here is Donald at 4, his first shooting experience.

 


Here is picture of the youngest at 5, his second shooting experience.

   

And again at 7 after 3 years under his belt. Same Little Bear bow.
   

Like I say, they learn real fast.

[KOOK68]

My sons biggest problem/frustration is keeping the arrow on the shelf. About the only instruction I give is to cant the bow. Let them shoot, let them have fun. Just like everything in life, they'll either love it or hate it. No sense in forcing them to do something they're not interested in.

[Chester Thompson]

He's been shooting since he was 3 so he has the basic, I was just wanting to make sure that I did not push to much and make him not want to shoot. Thanks!

The bow that he has currently is to short for him to get a good anchor any more, so I need to get him a longer bow.

[Ray Lyon]

Make it safe and make it fun.  My girls have just turned 11 and 13 and they love shooting. The older may even bow hunt this fall.  

Here's my safety/fitting tips:

1 Make sure the bow is in good condition.

2 Make sure the nocks fit snug on the string (kids tend to make loose nocks fall off the string with finger pressure and you don't want a dry fire).

3  Use aluminum arrows (1816 work great) or fiberglass arrows.  Wood is cheap, but kids are hard on arrows and you don't want a fracture shaft breaking on them while shooting.

4 Make the arrows bright or fun colors. Seeing the arrow in flight and hitting the target is part of the fun. If you put together your own arrows, let your kids help too.

5 Get them armguards and shooting gloves (or use the rubber no glove attachment on the string) that fit.
 
6 Just like with adults DON'T OVERBOW THEM. It's better to be too light than too heavy.

7 Kids love popping balloons.  Use them for targets on a foam backstop.  If using 3D targets, place them in front of a dirt bank or foam backstop so that they aren't searching for arrows all the time.

8 It's a must that one person pulls arrows at a time and the other waits way out of the way or they take turns pulling arrows.  Don't loose an eye because they're stacked on top of each other and yanking arrows without regards to who's behind them.

9  Get them a quiver to hold arrows in and carry it back and forth to the target.  It protects them from tripping with arrows clenched in their hand.

10 As far as helping them shoot or working on form with them, the only thing I did was stand next to them and help them hold their bow hand steady while they shoot a few times so they get the feel of following through.  More times than not they'd want to see the arrow flight and they'd drop their bow arm in the act of shooting.  After that, let them have fun shooting arrows.

Good luck.  Watching kids smile and have fun shooting arrows is one of the great joys of being a parent.

[reddogge]

One of the most fun days I had with the three grandsons was to go to a local field archery course in the early spring when no one was using it. They had great backstops on the generous bales and lots of ravines, valleys to shoot over. I let them fling arrows all morning with abandon. They'd empty the quivers on every target.

[McGeeM]

My son is 5 turns 6 in Oct. he shoots with me every once in awhile, he usually shoots about 6 arrows teens is distracted by other things. He struggles with the arrow falling off the shelf as well. I don't push him to shoot, but if he sakes to shoot I stop everything and go shoot. I took him to 2 bow shoots 1 he loved and the other he didn't. I do make a very big deal when he hits targets and we always take pics when he does.

[PaulRoberts]

Fun is #1, at that age, and will be for some time yet. No rush.

[Green Mountain Boy]

My daughter is 6 and has been shooting since she was four.  She takes form seriously (from her time at an indoor range with an instructor) but I try to focus on the fun.  She loves to shoot balloons in the basement and stumps in the woods.  My biggest challenge with her is keeping her interested with all the other things she likes to do.  I try to let her natural interest be my guide as she falls in and out of wanting to shoot.  It also seems like when I'm going out every night to shoot she gets more and more into it.

[Drewster]

Ray, that's a good top ten list for working with kids.  I'll have to keep a copy.  Thanks for sharing.

[Bladepeek]

For what it's worth, I think kids bows are so cheap on the used bow market, I would get a 5 or 6 year-old a light enough bow that he can draw it to anchor. A year or two later he will want a heavier bow and I'll bet you can swap even cash wise. Another couple of years and he may be ready for an actual hunting weight bow. Again, cash outlay would be minimum.

I have a tough enough time hitting when I anchor properly. I can't imagine trying to hit anything with a bow I can only draw 10". Granted, that 10" is a lot closer to anchor for a 5 year-old than for me, but it still sounds like a short draw.

[PaulRoberts]

Agree with Bladepeek. Supplying him with a bow that fits will help when he begins to really want to hit things. Kids bows are inexpensive; I've found bows for neighborhood kids on an auction site and often people will let them go cheap when they know its going to another kid.

Short light bows are also easy to make. My own son received his first bow at 20 months of age. That bow was made in a matter of hours from a canyon maple shoot, It's 36" long and draws just a few lbs at the ~12" he drew then.

The trick to performance is in the arrows; Easy to make from appropriate sized dowels. Fletching doesn't have to be fancy and can be done by hand with quick-tacking contact cement -"Velcro Adhesive" I like best.

My son's first arrows used 3/16" doweling with .22 casings for blunts. For "sharps" to be shot at soft targets I just sharpened the end of the dowel. His first set was lovingly made, with walnut oil finish, grouse tail feather fletching, and fluorescent red nylon wraps at the self-nocks. He promptly shot them all off into the woods!   :(      The next set were simply capped with fluorescent orange spray paint and left as raw wood.          

His next bow was a 44" long flatbow to be drawn 18" and made from a straight grained maple board and it is a serious shooter with its 3/16" arrows. I needed real weighted points for these as he was really shooting by then. I had to make them with a concrete nail head popped down into a short piece of 3/16" brass tubing. With this set up he could shoot flat out to 20yards, shooting side by side with me. And those little arrows really stick into that foam!

His current bow, at age 10, is a 54" hickory flat bow coupled with 1/4" arrows for up to 24" draw.

His next bow will be an adult bow, with 5/16" arrows. He's still got another year or so with that 54"er though.

Essentially, he's had bows and arrows that fit him right along, and that operate at peak performance for his size. I've made bows as small as 8" long that will sink a comparably tiny arrow deep enough into foam to scare you. I'd never leave one in the woods bc I'm afraid of what the squirrels might do if they ever got a hold of one.          

[Bladepeek]

"I'd never leave one in the woods bc I'm afraid of what the squirrels might do if they ever got a hold of one.     "

Now that's funny!
I had one dropping acorns on my head, but when they start shooting back, that's too much for me.

[Phrogdrvr]

My daughter is 11 and really shoots well.  She started out at an indoor range with an olympic-style coach.  she is now learning the fine art of instinctive shooting in our back yard- doing quite well with it I might add.  She is pulling a 30# Stemmler recurve (nicely restored by Mike Shaw) back to full anchor.  I have her trying different shooting positions such as kneeling, or behind the big tree, just to get her ready for hunting.  I'm really proud of her and how she shoots.
Tom