age to start grandson

[dabeachman]

Any thoughts on how old to start my grandson. What bow to use?

[macbow]

What age is he?
I have a picture of my grandson shooting wearing only a pamper.
If he is interested in following you around then a small bow of any type. Longbows are easiest.
I started all my GK's off with little board bows.

[GWV]

Never too early!  Wait too long and something else will get there attention, not always good things either.

[BAK]

I'd start them on the bow as soon as they can manipulate it.  I wouldn't let them kill anything until their old enough to understand what taking a life means.

[sswv]

never too early.  take them hunting and you won't have to go hunting them.

[LBR]

When he shows interest.  My son wanted to shoot my bows when he was 2.  I started him out with a little plastic bow that shot "nerf" arrows.  He'd broken in within 2 weeks, but he learned the basics in that time.  Then a friend made a tiny self bow for him and I bought him some tiny aluminum shafts and it was on.  He shot in his first tournament a few weeks before he turned 3.

He's 19 now, and has more interest in girls and trucks than anything else, but he shot bows for many years and I figure he'll come back sooner or later.

[Jim Brennen]

I started my grandson at age 2 and half with a little 20 dollar bear bow from gander mountain, he is age 4 now and loves it.shoots with me all the time.

[reddogge]

Most of my grandchildren were a little older by the youngest one was 4 when I started him out on a 20#@24" Bear Little Bear. He's 9 now and maybe the best shot out of 3 boys and 2 girls. He's quite the aerial target shooter.

[KenH]

If the kid can stand up for 15 minutes at a time, he's old enough to start training with a stick and suction cup arrows.

[SteveInNJ]

I have a 4.5 year old. I got a small 9# recurve with arrows and she does great. I still help her, but she LOVES it. We take turns shooting. Besides, it beats the Disney suction cup model.

[Dave Worden]

I started mine at 3.  He was only good for two arrows, then on to something else.  He's 8 now and good for an hour and half to two hours of 3d shooting now.

[monterey]

And don't be discouraged in teaching them.  They handle the bow and arrow in the craziest ways you can imagine.  Every one of my grand kids when first starting out did at one time or another try to hold the string in the bow hand and draw the bow back with the string hand.      It can be hilarious. Your patience will be their teacher.

[SS Snuffer]

At 3 my grandson was shooting a Bear 1st Shot from 3 Rivers be sure to buy wood arrows. They learn by watching you shoot. Don't try to teach them, just let them watch and they will learn by them self.

[SteveInNJ]

Exactly right! Keep it fun above everything else. Like Dave said, sometimes they shoot two arrows and then start talking about gathering pine cones. It is just about exposure and FUN!!'

[Plumber]

3. start em young, git them before the video games do!!!IT will make a lasting impression.

[adkarcher]

Both my boys had bows by the time they were 1.  By 2 they shot a couple of times per week.  Sometimes only 3-4 arrows, other nites a couple of dozen.  Some nites the sandbox 'distracted' them and they never made it to the target. I just let them shoot when they wanted to.

[Drewster]

My granddaughter got interested in shooting when she came to visit when she was 3 so we got her a Black Rhino to shoot.  Now she's 6 and had started shooting my wife's self bow.  She's made great strides with her form and confidence and it sure is fun to watch the growth.  Let 'em shoot when the interest arises.

[MnFn]

My wife and I gave two of our grandsons bows for Christmas this year. One is six and one is seven.  It seemed about the right time to me.  Very low end in terms of power, and price for that matter, but they had a ball shooting together in my garage.
It was great to see how excited they were and how much they enjoyed it.

[McDave]

I have 8 grandchildren, from 3-7 years old. One, who is 7 now, has always wanted to shoot with me.  He was drawn to my buckets of arrows about as soon as he was able to walk, to the chagrin of his mother who was afraid he would poke his eye out, and drawn to my bows soon thereafter. I bought a 15# bow, for him and the other grandchildren to use, and he started "shooting" it when he was about 4. He was actually shooting arrows with the intent of hitting something by the time he was 5.  Whenever they come to visit, shooting arrows with grandpa is a must on the agenda, although his parents haven't encouraged him in that direction at home, preferring more group oriented sports like soccer.

I have a granddaughter, also 7, who shoots as good, or maybe a little better, than my grandson. When she shot her first arrows a year or so ago, with perfect form with minimal instruction from me, I thought, "wow, I really have a winner here!"  But her interest level is not as high as my grandson's, as she prefers indoor activities like crafts and asking millions of questions.

There may be some interest in the younger ones, but nothing evident yet. With anyone that age, their interest fluctuates and changes daily, if not by the minute, as they begin to explore life. I think my job is to just make the bows and arrows available to them when their interest turns in that direction.

[adkarcher]

I have found that when the boys are busy with Little League and what not, interest wanes some.  When not, they seem to like to shoot more.  My 6 year old surprised me the other day when he went out to shoot with me, must have shot 60 arrows. He then decided to go with me to NCTAR yesterday and probably shot 150 arrows over the 3 hours or so and had a blast.  Similar to McDave, I make sure there is equipment available and they shoot when they want to.