This year my 10 year old decided he wanted to deer hunt. He?s set in a stand with me a couple times but never showed much interest till now. Well, I got a flesh eating bacteria in my right leg and had to have it amputated just below my knee the end of August.

My BIL has a lease and has been graciously taking him. He killed his first deer (doe) with a 300blkout rifle sun morning. That set him on fire. And for Christmas he wants, ?a hunting pistol like you use dad!? Well that tickled me. So I got the ball rolling on a CVA 6.5 Creedmoor. When he told his uncle about it uncle says, ?I don?t let people hunt with a pistol up here, I don?t trust them.?

He got his first self defense pistol 2 years ago and he?s in his 60?s has no idea what a specialty pistol is or what can even be done with one. How should I go about addressing this? I?m hoping that once he sees the gun and realizes it?s basically a short rifle that he?ll come around.

1: buy your own land to hunt on where you make the rules
2: don't hunt on the uncle's place and continue to hunt with BIL
3: follow the rules your uncle set and be happy to have a place to hunt with your kid

You can't expect everyone to have the same views. I know people that don't allow bow hunting and I know people that ONLY allow bow hunting. When in Rome....

I guess it?s a little confusing but BIL and uncle is the same person.

take your uncle out target shooting and demonstrate what your hunting handgun is capable of doing.

Amputate one of his legs, maybe he would choose a handgun over a rifle.........just kidding!

Dick

I like the way you think six!

What BIZZMO said. And when you do it make sure your son is with you so Uncle BIL can see how much the kid enjoys it and wants to do it.

He may soften over time once he sees it's a viable option and that your son enjoys it. If he doesn't, you've lost nothing and can search for a place you and the boy can go even with the physical limitations.

Good luck.

John

This!

E-883,

Sorry to hear about your leg - that?s definitely a life changer. As for your question: I?d suggest introducing your BIL to this website. There is more than enough evidence with the members here. I started my son out hunting with a handgun when he was 10 years old. I didn?t want to start him out on big game, because as everyone knows, handgun hunting is much harder than rifle hunting (he started rifle hunting at 6 years old). Kill his first deer at 7 years old with a H&R 243 rifle...



...and several more thur the age of 10, which included: 8 deer; 2 hogs; 1 ram; and a bobcat.

I bought him a ruger charger for Christmas when he was 10 and told him that was his new squirrel hunting gun. I wanted him to learn all the tricks and techniques of handgun hunting will squirrel hunting. Squirrel hunting, or any other small game, can teach you ALOT about hunting and shooting. The small target makes you concentrate on the fundamentals of marksmanship and many, many shooting position you can encounter and use while hunting. I told him once he could kill squirrels with a handgun on a regular bases, I?d step him up to deer hunting. He kill his first squirrel on his first hunt with his new charger...


..and many more...





Once he was very proficient squirrel hunting with a .22 handgun, I set up a 30/30 win contender barrel for him to deer hunt. Although, to most adults, a 30/30 win doesn?t have much recoil, to a tiny 10 year old it can give them bad habits quickly. So, I sent my barrel to magnaport and had them do their 4 port rifle porting on it and I worked up some 125 gr loads over starting loads of varget. This combo gave plenty of performance out of a package with the felt recoil of a 22 mag revolver. That summer he done lots of practice with the 30/30 win and was shooting MOA groups at 50 yards way before hunting season arrived. My plan was to have him hunting in thick areas where shots would be 50 yards or less. That first season he got his first and second deer with a handgun...





After that first year of hunting he wanted to try revolver hunting, so I set up my ruger Bisley Hunter 44 mag to accommodate a small 11 year old. Mounted a 2x scope on it and loaded some 44 special equivalent loads with a 240 gr hollow point and kept the same 50 yard shot opportunity concept and it worked out great. That year he got his first, and second deer with a revolver...





...and now he?s hooked and hasn?t hunted with a rifle since...

















I think the key to success for a young handgun hunter is to set them up with the least amount of recoil as possible, but still be able to preform on deer at short range. I would suggest putting a good break on that 6.5 CM and down load it to minimum performance. It doesn?t take much to kill whitetail and shot placement is way more important than power. The worst thing than you can do with a child is get them scared of the gun they?re shooting. They will develop a flinch and loose confidence which will result in a bad shot.

I hope you can change your BIL mind - good luck.

Emballmer883, I wish you luck with your recovery from the amputation. I wonder if you could setup a prosthetic with self contained shooting sticks or built in gun rest.

Lack of trust could be related to unfamiliarity with the capabilities of hunting pistols, wanting to avoid the spray and pray shooters, or not wanting folks out in the field with something that is arguably easier to shot yourself with. I think that arranging some range time would go a long ways towards educating your uncle.

Damn.

Great post KRal. That's exactly how it should work.

I suggest you ask your BIL to read Kral's EXCELLENT post. This is the best direction and photo essay I have seen, not only for starting a youngster but anyone wanting to give handgun hunting a try. Who knows, maybe he'll decide to go down that road with your son.

I know several adults that should see this post. It's more than just owning a handgun!!!

Great job Kim. Thanks for posting.

Dan

Education is the answer.

Thanks, gents.

Craig is right on the spot - education. It?s not that people are stupid, just ignorant of the subject. Lot of people have only view handguns in the Hollywood light or liberal media.

KRal
Great post and story. Think we could talk you into submitting that as an article on getting kids into handgun hunting? I don't want to hijack the OPs thread, but it was inspirational to read. My 4 year old son joined myself and father in the deer stand for a few hours at the end of the season and got to watch a few deer out in the field but no shots were fired. Because we deer hunt in a shotgun only zone, it is difficult to get younger kids shooting until they are big enough for a 20g unless we go the pistol route. I was thinking that when the time comes, I would get him setup for success with a 30-30 contender and some soft handloads and a good bench to shoot off. I like the idea of porting it to reduce recoil even farther. I was even wondering about sanding down an old wood pistol grip to help with the ergonomics. Again, thanks for the post.

Thanks guys, my thoughts pretty much were right in line with everyone?s. I do wish he wouldn?t discourage my son.

You are sooooo lucky he is interested. Excellent job and congrats! I would like for my son to have had the interest but it did not happen. A couple with rifle is all i could get out of him. Lol. HE is what?s important, not what I want in the end. Real proud of him anyway. He will do much better in this world than i have.

Id tell uncle BIL.......ill just find somewhere else to take my son then. Really wish you could help me out.

Maybe uncle BIL will see the light......and the error of his ways.

I have been a member of our local Sportsman's Club for almost 40 years. Between Mark Hampton and myself we have enlightened more than a few rifle shooters on what a handgun can do while shooting at the range.
I have been working with my brothers 15.875" MGM 30-30 AI Contender Barrel. It is set up with a 4 Gill muzzle brake. Recoil is not an issue at all.
Another good option would be a 357 Maximum, again with a muzzle brake. I have a Contender barrel and a CVA Scout in that chambering. Both have 3 Gill muzzle brakes.
The CVA Scout in 6.5 CM should be threaded from the factory. Check on a muzzle brake with the correct thread for it. You would need a gunsmith to time a Gilled Brake. A good radial should be pretty much screw on. I would research radial brake's before going that route, and make sure one will really cut the recoil. The grips on a scout are not a strong point, so a good brake is a must to enjoy shooting it.
I have had only two radial brakes. One works very well (260 Rem Encore). My first on a 375 JDJ Contender barrel I was not impressed with. Between my brother and I we have Eight Gilled Muzzle Brakes on Contender, Encore, and Scout handgun barrels. All work very well.

Bob R

I put a Little Bastard Muzzle Brake on my CVA Scout in 6.5 CM and recoil is a none issue. The LB simply screws on and no gunsmith needed.

Where can you buy one?

Where can you buy a LB brake?

Definitely try to educate him about the capabilities of hunting handguns. Show him this site and some of the pictures of deer taken with specialty pistols.