[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 ....