Tips for finding the right gun or bow for beginning hunters
By Matt Frey, The Star News
The youngster or youngsters in the family have shown an interest in hunting and they’re reaching that exciting point where you think they can handle a firearm or bow and fully be part of the hunting experience.
Then you ask yourself, do we have weapons they can effectively shoot?
Investing in firearms, archery equipment or crossbows can be costly, but using the wrong weapon also might not be the best way to start an aspiring hunter, creating a fear of the firearm or some unfortunate misses out in the field.
According to Allan Koffler, owner of AK Outdoors in Medford, there certainly are things to look for when trying to outfit that young hunter in the 9-, 10-, 12-year old range who probably isn’t ready to use what mom and dad uses, but will soon grow into that.
When it’s November and most hunters in Wisconsin have their sights set on white-tailed deer, Koffler said the most common rifles adults look to for their young hunters are 7 mm-08 and .243 calibers.
“Those are the classic bread and butter,” Koffler said. “But ones that I think are very overlooked are a caliber called 300 Blackout and 6.5 Grendel. Those are great calibers. There’s also a new one they just came out with called the .350 Legend. That’s what I personally own and have my kids hunt with as well. Very minimal recoil but heavy business end on the other side. It does a very nice job.”
When it comes to big-game rifles, most hunters remember their first experiences with a gun’s recoil and it’s a real concern when it comes to working with the youngest of hunters.
“Most kids are for lack of a better term, recoil sensitive,” Koffler said. “They can’t withstand the magnum calibers like a full-grown adult can. That’s one thing I generally urge adults to do. A lot of people will say they have a 300 Winchester Magnum or a .30-06, I’m just going to let my nephew hunt with it. I would say don’t. Just because if they’re just starting off with hunting and new calibers the last thing you want to do is hit them with something that hits with a lot of recoil and makes them gun shy. They also won’t be as accurate as they normally would because they’re just going to flinch because they’re anticipating recoil.”
Before trying to find a big-game rifle, it’s always helpful to start young hunters with light weaponry, such as air guns and 22s.
“I actually have a lot of people that have their kids that start off on 22s just to get proper form, firearm safety,” Koffler said. “It teaches them how to operate bolts, how to load a magazine, how to do everything they need to do.”
Koffler said 7 mm-08 firearms and .243s are very common and easy to find while you may have to look more toward specialty gun shops to find the other calibers he mentioned.
Ruger American and Mossberg Patriot are two of the brands he feels are quality firearms for starters for the price. One nice thing about youth firearms, if properly maintained, is that they should last many years if you think you want to hang on to them and pass them on to the next generation of young hunters in the family. Or, if you want to resell them, people are always looking for used guns if they don’t want to pay full price for a gun that won’t be used very long.
“I have numerous people that have firearms that was their grandpa’s firearm,” Koffler said. “These guns have been around in the family for 50, 60, 70 or even 100-plus years that are perfectly functional. As long as you take good care of it, it’s something that’s going to last for life.”
Most hunting rifles now will come with bolt actions.
“There are a few semi-automatic manufacturers out there,” Koffler said. “Semi-autos are inherently not as accurate as bolt action and they cost more, so you’re paying more money for something that’s less accurate. I like bolt action but some people like the ease of semi-auto where a second follow-up shot is a lot easier. You can stay on target a lot better. If you miss on the first shot, you’re probably going to miss on the second, third and fourth. So me personally, I’m not as concerned with those followup shots because the first one is the one that matters most.”
If the hunting quarry is small game or has feathers, 12 and 20 gauge easily are the most popular shotgun gauges, but the smaller 410s are popular with a lot of hunters and can be a great way to break kids into hunting with shotguns.
“They do make quite a few (shotguns) in youth models as well,” Koffler said. “Generally with youth I try to recommend the 20 gauge. It’s a great alternative to start them off. It’s something with moderate recoil. If they are on the more recoil sensitive side or smaller frame, a 410 is a great way to start. I started all my kids off when it came to shotguns with a 410. It’s something with very minimal recoil.”
Koffler said a neat thing with 410s is the development of tungsten shot which is strong enough to take down turkeys.
Using shotgun slugs for deer hunting is something parents may want to avoid with young hunters.
“I try to discourage youth from starting off with slugs just because there’s a lot of recoil,” Koffler said. “It’s enough that even I don’t enjoy shooting them as much.”
Koffler’s experience with selling firearms in his store is that kids generally grow out of youth firearm models by their mid- to late-teens.
“People don’t always upgrade the caliber but they may outgrow the firearm,” he said. “If they have a youth model, what’s called length to pull, which is basically from the trigger mechanism to the back of the stock, are shorter for youth. Obviously when a kid turns 15-16 they grow like a weed and they may inherently outgrow the firearm, not the caliber. I’ll generally see right around the age of 15 to 18 multiple kids will come on in to get their next gun that will carry them forever or until they want to upgrade to a different one.”
The crossbow explosion of the last 1015 years has also given young hunters more options than they had in the past if they want to take part in the archery/ crossbow seasons for deer.
“I personally recommend starting off with a crossbow when they’re first starting to hunt,” Koffler said. “It gets out their first-years jitters with a deer. I remember my first time I started hunting, a deer comes on in, I’m shaking, I’m excited. I’m all over the board. With a crossbow, it’s a lot more precise. You’re probably still getting the shakes, but it’s not corresponding with the bow in hand.”
Koffler said there aren’t a ton of crossbows made with just youth hunters in mind, but Wicked Ridge makes some solid, budget-friendly models and Ten Point and Raven are good ones too, though Raven prices can start a bit high.
Koffler recommends looking for models that have a decocking feature.
“With most crossbows, you have to shoot in order to discharge the arrow and release it,” Koffler said. “With the decock feature you can just push a button and manually bring it back down and uncock it. It saves a lot on the string, wear on the crossbow. That’s usually what I recommend. But it always depends on value and where a person stands on how much they would like to spend.”
For those who are wanting to shoot compound bows, there is a 30-pound minimum draw weight in Wisconsin for hunting deer. Koffler said the technology with bows continues to get better all the time and draw weights and draw lengths are adjustable on many models.
“I would easily say a 30-pound bow now can outperform what a 40-pound bow could do when I was a kid,” Koffler said. “Now with compound bows they make multiple different bows that can go all the way down to a 15-inch draw all the way up to a 30-inch draw. It’ll fit nearly any kid to adult. You can almost buy one compound bow and it will grow with you for the rest of your life.
“I generally recommend for kids ages of 13 and under there’s a bow that I sell called the Mission Hammer, which has a little bit shorter axle to axle so it fits them a little bit better,” he added. “But then, once they get through the teen years, I generally recommend going to what’s called the Mission Switch and that’s essentially the bow that will last them completely the rest of their life. Economically, it’s a nicely-priced point bow that can go from 15-70 pounds.”
