When did you start?

[rickyrick]

I couldn't eat a cicada, lol! But I had a couple of pet cicadas in the summers. Didn't get into hunting till much older.

Adding to my post from earlier, my first real rifle that I bought on my own was a stainless steel and wood mini14, didn't know what it was, but it was the prettiest used rifle on the rack. 2009 I bought another mini14, I always regretted selling the first.

 

[MRCL]

I was shooting air rifles pre-teen, but my first real shot I performed at the ripe old age of 22 in the military. Since, you know, mandatory service in Switzerland and all. Wasn't really into shooting guns outside of the service, though, mainly because as an air force member (Rapier anti aircraft unit) not much focus was put towards rifle handling. I received proper instructions on how to even pull the trigger correctly three years after basic traning at the yearly mandatory 300m shooting. Even more years later, last year to be exact, I moved from Zurich to Schaffhausen into the house I grew up in, and with my fiancée. Actually she is the one that is responsivle for my newfound hobby and interest as she asked me to shoot my service rifle. As I know the president of the local shooting club in my village since I was a todder I said sure and went along to their annual end of season shoot which is open to the public. Fiancée liked it, I like it, one thing lead to another and a year later we could supply a small army and are members of several shooting clubs.



Gesendet von meinem SM-G900F mit Tapatalk

 

[Tony Z]

I was about 6 or 7, late 1950's, dad gave me a Stevens Favorite, but being the nib I was, he filed the firing pin down to keep me from "experimenting". Lugged that thing everywhere and wasn't shortly after that he let me shoot his .270 off a bench rest. I was hooked!

 

[godale]

had to wait till 21 when i was on my own. death of a aunt and john lennon ruined any chances of a bb gun in my house

 

[reteach]

First, thanks for the replies.
Second, without actually counting answers, I get the impression that there's a pattern to the answers. It seems that:
1. The older we are, the earlier in age we began. Those of us who are in our 50's, 60's and up, generally speaking, seem to have started earlier.
2. The more rural we were, the earlier we began. Those who grew up in urban settings just don't have the opportunities the rural kids have.

 

[rickyrick]

I think it's important that kids shoot something besides paper that way they understand the power of a gun. Hunting helps, but it doesn't have to be hunting; could be a water jug, melon or some other impromptu reactive target.

 

[SIGSHR]

Boy Scout Camp, Summer of 1963. I was 13. Didn't come from an anti-gun family, rather they were just ungun.

 

[Hawg]

When I was three with a Browning semi auto .22 but dad held it, I just pulled the trigger. I was five when I could hold it up and actually reach the trigger and on that occasion he gave me a Daisy Cub BB gun to shoot whenever I wanted but I had to have somebody else cock it until I figured out if I put the muzzle on the ground I could use both hands on it. I got my first .22 revolver for my 10th birthday and my first 12 gauge shotgun a year later and my first high powered rifle the year after that.

 

[Crankylove]

My dad had me shooting as far back as I can remember. Have a few pictures of me and him at his parent place, doing some target shooting when I was 2-3 years old.

Started loading ammo on my own at 10-12, started buying my own guns when I turned 18 (already had a couple I'd been gifted).

 

[SC4006]

I started shooting about the year 2001, I was 7. (Yeah, I'm pretty young compared to most of you ) I had shot a friend's bb gun and wanted one for myself, so my parents got me one. They only allowed me to shoot it with supervision until they thought I was responsible enough.

Didn't shoot my first actual firearm until age 14. It was a Marlin model 60 .22LR owned by the same friend that introduced me to bb guns.

I received my first real firearm at 16. It was a christmas gift from my parents, a Marlin model 25N .22LR. I still have it today, and even though I have many more guns now, it remains my most used gun.

 

[Hal]

When?
December 24th, 1965.

What?
Sheridan Blue Streak 20 caliber pump pellet gun.

I still have it.

 

[shootniron]

I started further back than I can remember...a long time ago, anyway.

 

[5whiskey]

I can't remember exactly how old I was, but it was pretty young. It was with a single shot bb gun passed down by my brother. I remember I shot the window out of a car that broken down and sitting in the back yard. I know that car was gone in 1990 so I was younger than 10. I was first trusted to take out a marlin model 60 and a single shot shotgun alone when I was about 13 or 14. From 15 on I had free reign over any long gun in the house.

Ah the joys of growing up on a farm in the middle of nowhere. I started my daughters out at 7 years old on a bb gun. They're 12 and 10 now, and both quite proficient with a rifle or pistol.

 

[xcc_rider]

My dad was anti-gun. Didnt believe you needed one but kept a 22 rifle in the closet for "self defense". Mom and dad split when I was 13 and at around 14 or 15 (I don't know if it was a gift or if I bought it) I acquired a single shot BB pistol. I learned quickly about ricochets and how much my neighbors window cost...

 

[brasscollector]

First time I shot anything was a 16ga single-shot, I must have been 10 or 11. Dad told me to lean into it so I leaned over until I thought I was going to just about tip over forward. Pulled the trigger and it stood me back up straight, I was hooked. From then on there wasn't a safe critter on the farm. Grandpa purchased a nice german pellet rifle for me to use, mounted a pencil scope on it. I felt like a sniper with that, no bird was safe. I remember plenty of times grandpa giving me a round tin of .177 pellets and I'd only return to the house when it was empty.

 

[gunnre]

Fifty years ago this x-mas eve. At the fine age of five received a fine Daisy and my first horse from Santa Claus.
Those were the days......

 

[Evan Thomas]

A Daisy and your first horse, on the same Christmas? That would be a hard act to follow -- what the heck did they give you when you were six??

 

[4D5]

Cap guns when I was but a tadpole.
BB guns most of pre-teen years.
Shot first real gun, Remington 514 single shot bolt action rifle, when I was 12.
I still remember dad buying it in 1962, standing on the seller's porch. Paid the sum of $15.

Me and my brother hounded dad almost daily to go shoot the rifle.
Heck, me and my brother at the age of 9 & 12 even bought the ammo, 52 cents a box of 50 at Turners hardware. Those were the days!

.

 

[AzShooter]

There was an age limit in Jersey to be able to get a hunting license. I think it was 8. That's when I started shooting with my Berretta Single Shot Shotgun in '59.

Jersey had strict gun control even then. I didn't get into centerfire until I was 24 and had moved to a friendly state, Arizona.

 

[Longhorn1986]

"Boy Scout Camp, Summer of 1963. I was 13. Didn't come from an anti-gun family, rather they were just ungun."

This, except for me it was 1975.