One for the gun guys

[svandamme]

eeh , 50 yards, shooting at a 211 pound bear, 8 years old

i'm not convinced that this is great education
i learned to shoot at 7-8 as well , with a .22 remington semi-automatic
all great fun, but by the age of 11 , i was shooting everything that moved

kids don't have that thing called self awareness, and respect for nature and it's surroundings... luckely i learned that later on, when my horse set me straight on a few things , when i probably beeing a jerk , and it kicked me in the mouth...can't say for sure , as i lost about one week worth of memory , and gained a broken jaw...

but for one thing , i've learned to respect animals since, i'm no treehugger, and i don't get squeemish , i still skin and gut dead critters if they're for eating... but 8 year olds shouldn't be shooting bears, or any other animal for that matter...

and even aside from killing animals, 8 year olds with high powered rifles ... doesn't make sense if you think about Columbine ....

[Rick V]

I say good for her. Gun safty and education should start at an early age. Some younger children have a tuned ability to handle weapons of a larger caliber. Just ask my now 16 year old daughter, She has been giving me a good run with my own .45acp for some time now. She also disasembles and cleans it when we return form the range. She isn't too bad with the over and under at the trap range. If she wasn't such a bleeding heart she would be in the woods hunting with her older brother.

[onewhippedpuppy]

If you familiarize and educate your kids about guns, it at least removes the novelty factor. Still no substitute for locking them up, but at least they'll learn respect for weapons.

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

Originally posted by procon
Ms. Sierra Stiles, age 8, was credited with the first bear kill in Maryland in the limited October hunting season, downing a 211-pounder from 50 yards away with her .243-caliber rifle. (She had won one of the lottery-awarded permits and then aced the safety test.) Washington Post, 10-25-05

I dont know, man. The last thing Id be doing with my 8 year old daughter is having her shoot a bear. Congratulations though. that is impressive.

Im all for gun safety and gun ownership, but it just seems odd to me. I assume she is well educated and knows her rifle well?

[svandamme]

you don't have to shoot bears to familiarize them with weaponry
and 8 years is still very young for high powered rifles... what's wrong with a friggin BB gun ?

kids do not have the faculties , to cover all the angles of what a gun can do....i know i didn't at that age, if you think about how far a .22 remington long rifle can deliver a bullet... sure , stopping power is low , but it will take an eye out easely if somebody is in the wrong place at the wrong time...

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

Originally posted by svandamme
you don't have to shoot bears to familiarize them with weaponry
and 8 years is still very young for high powered rifles... what's wrong with a friggin BB gun ?

kids do not have the faculties , to cover all the angles of what a gun can do....i know i didn't at that age, if you think about how far a .22 remington long rifle can deliver a bullet... sure , stopping power is low , but it will take an eye out easely if somebody is in the wrong place at the wrong time...

well said, I learned to shoot at a young age as well, but to stare down a bear at 8 with a high powered rifle? seems too much of a risk.

BTW, my cousin lost his eye from a .22 round. He made out very well from the lawsuit

[ChrisBennet]

Originally posted by onewhippedpuppy
If you familiarize and educate your kids about guns, it at least removes the novelty factor. Still no substitute for locking them up, but at least they'll learn respect for weapons.

The kids or the guns? (Locking them up.)
Sorry, couldn't resist.
-Chris

[Jeff Higgins]

I'm not so sure about the veracity of this story. I know too many hunters that buy tags for their wives and children; wives and children that never leave camp and somehow their tags get filled. With a lottery draw for these tags, I wouldn't be surprised if every known relative of some of these "sportsmen" put in for the lottery. Maybe she was actually even there, but I bet daddy or an uncle really shot it.

Both of my boys killed their first big game animals at age 12. In retrospect, maybe that was a bit young. Both were just a bit remorsefull after the big moment. It's a tough emotion to deal with, taking the life of a living, breathing animal. Even if you are going to eat it. I've been hunting for roughly 30 years and have killed more animals than I care to remember and it can still, to this day, give me great pause when I do so. It can be very hard for an adult; eight might be pushing it a bit.

[pbs911]

I'm all for guns, but not hunting.

[svandamme]

@ jeff
my sentiments exactly

some folks just kill with no feelings , my dad was one of those
he hated cats, dogs where tools, his horse had to do what he told it or he friggin went nuts, rabbits were lunch, kids were annoying , and women even more if they didn't do what he told them , or if they complained about him cheating...

a cat is great fun , a dog is a loyal animal, most horses are more noble then man, rabbits are cute , kids ,well , yeah , they are annoying , and women , you don't cheat on them , and you don't hit them, period

either way , my dad never thought twice about killing nothing
i do, i would if i wanted to eat one, but it's not a sport, there is no honour in killing an animal with a big gun

the only sports hunting , in my opinion , is with a knife, or maybe a bow&arrow... give the animal a sporting chance

the 8 year old kill , just goes to show , it's not difficult ( if at all the article is real and not a hoax, or dad using the kids name to rack up a kill himself...)

@ procon

nope , no bears around here
and if there were , i don't see the point in killing such an animal
unless it was causing problems, and even then , it's not up to a hunter to fix such proble, but up to a forrest ranger...

let's face it , i cannot eat a whole bear

[on-ramp]

child abuse

[id10t]

Take you kid huntin now, and you won't have to hunt for 'em later.

s/hunting/[fishing|shooting|bowling|etc]/g

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

[/B][/QUOTE]

"Yup, i kilt it, then im gonna skin it and eat it"

no offense intended

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally posted by ChrisBennet
The kids or the guns? (Locking them up.)
Sorry, couldn't resist.
-Chris

With this being a public forum, I probably shouldn't say.

[fastpat]

Originally posted by svandamme


and even aside from killing animals, 8 year olds with high powered rifles ... doesn't make sense if you think about Columbine ....

The perps of Columbine, and all the other teenaged school shooters, were a product of parents that allowed physicians to put them on stiff doses of Luvox or other drugs similar to Prozac; a side effect of which is suicidal and homicidal ideation.

The point is, don't drug teenaged boys.

[Jeff Higgins]

Another kid with a dead animal... This is my then 12 year old; five years ago outside of Rawlins, Wyoming, with his first big game kill. Prairie goat taken at just under 200 yards with a Model 70 Featherweight in 6.5x55 shooting a 120 grain Sierra from his own handload. We had stalked this thing for over eight hours, crawling around in the sage brush. Quality father-son time all the way.

[nostatic]

my 9 year old got upset watching "battle suckling pig" on Iron Chef the other night.

He'll take out guys at 100 yards with his sniper rifle on battlefield2 all day long, but when it comes to living animals, he would never think of shooting one...

[nostatic]

one that can do that while also planting C4, playing runescape on a second computer, and watching tv at the same time

[Don Plumley]

Yup, I've seen him do it - it's amazing...

[Joeaksa]

Glad to see you educating the kids about weapons. I grew up with them and knew right from wrong from an early age.