The chosen one
Right gun essential for young or novice hunters
Third installment in the Beginner Hunting Series.
Choosing a rifle for a young or novice hunter can determine success or failure in the field, but it can also alter the trajectory of a hunter’s career.
Emily Franks, 22, of Little Rock is an accomplished hunter who has hunted plains game in Africa in addition to hunting Arkansas whitetails. At age 16, she also supervised the rifle department at Camp Waldemar, an all-girls summer camp in Hunt, Texas, where she taught as many as 300 girls of all ages to safely handle firearms.
Franks learned to hunt with a rifle chambered in .223 Rem.
“That was a fantastic gun to learn on,” Franks said. “It doesn’t kick much. It’s forgiving. It’s a great gun to get comfortable with.”
In middle school, Franks graduated to a Browning X-Bolt in .270 Win. By then, she had the experience to manage the bigger, more powerful rifle.
“I didn’t have an issue with a standard size stock,” Franks said. “The standard size fit me well. Stock fit wasn’t something I had to deal with.”
A proper rifle should fit the shooter. It should be light and short for small frames and short arms. It should align the shooter’s eye with the scope while positioning the head to provide sufficient eye relief. It should not force the shooter to stretch across the stock in order to see through a scope or through sights.
Thankfully, gun manufacturers are attuned to the youth segment of the hunting market, and their selection of youth-appropriate rifles is better than ever. Most companies offer scaled down versions of their flagship rifles that are suitable for small-framed adults as well as children. Most compact rifles are available in .243 Win., 7mm-08 Rem., 308 Win., and of course, 6.5 Creedmoor.
Before buying a gun for a young hunter, a parent or grandparent must be sure that their protege properly handles a rifle.
Bill Haynes is the facility director for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s public shooting range at Mayflower. He has been a longrange civilian marksmanship instructor and long-range marksmanship instructor for state and local law enforcement agencies for 19 years. Haynes is also the father of three teenage daughters, all accomplished shooters and hunters.
“From age 10 and up, my daughters have been able to ring steel at 500 yards without
any help from me, and now they can hit targets at 1,000 yards,” Haynes said. “I started them young with .223 or 5.56 single-shot youth model rifles, and they deer hunt with .270s.”
Youth model rifles are often marketed as “compact” rifles. Their defining characteristics are 20-inch or shorter barrels, short shoulder stocks and simple engineering.
“They are viable hunting rifles in their ability to put down game,” Haynes said. “For a child with little or no experience, I recommend a break-action single shot in a small centerfire caliber.”
For beginners, Haynes recommends teaching a young hunter the basics with a .22-caliber rimfire rifle. Its mild report and lack of recoil allows an inexperienced shooter to become comfortable handling firearms.
Having established the
fundamentals with a basic break-action rifle, it’s now time to gift a young hunter with a more advanced hunting rifle. The selection is dazzling, but the AR-style semi-automatic rifle is superb. Its short barrel is lighter than a standard sporter barrel, and it is easier to move in the cramped confines of box stands or pop-up blinds. Its stock is adjustable to fit every body size. With the stock compressed to its shortest setting, it is highly compact and center balanced.
Many AR-style rifles come equipped with precise aperture sights. Haynes recommends aperture sights for novice shooters because they are easy to use and to master, and they eliminate the possibility of a scope/forehead collision. The dreaded “scope kiss” can intimidate a shooter and habituate flinching.
Once a shooter masters open sights, he or she can advance to telescopic sights with greater confidence.
For hunting from pop-up blinds where shots will usually be less than 75 yards, a compact lever-action rifle like a Henry Big Boy chambered in 357 Rem. Mag., 44 Rem. Mag. or 45 Colt is an outstanding choice for youths.
Ultimately, a hunter wants a more versatile rifle. The next step in the progression is a bolt-action rifle chambered for a larger caliber cartridge.
“Let them play a part in the decision,” Haynes said. “Before you buy them a rifle, let them have their own idea of what they like and what they dislike. If they’ve had a problem shooting this gun or that gun, find out if it’s a fit problem, a recoil problem or a weight problem.
“Buy from a dedicated outdoor store where the people are knowledgeable. They deal with this every day, and they’re experienced in fitting a child with a proper rifle.”
Styling matters. Many companies offer packages intended to appeal to girls, for example, that include pink stocks.
“My girls always thought the pink guns were silly, but it’s like any other fashion,” Haynes said. “If it flatters the wearer, wear it. If it makes them a little more excited about using the firearm, then buy it.”
A compact rifle might last a hunter a lifetime, or it might be transitional. As a hunter becomes more proficient, his expectations might require a more advanced rifle as he ages.
“It’s best to start small and develop interest and passion, and then advance to a more expensive and more accurate rifle to carry that passion forward,” Haynes said.