I will be looking for a youth 20 gauge auto or pump with lil recoil. Does anyone have one that they can let me know about. I will be buying one for Xmas this year.

subscribed. I'm in the same boat. Every experienced shooter I talk to is telling me to teach him on a pump gun but the montefeltro youth is cool as hell!!

I started my boy off with a rem. 870 pump could only ever get one shot off!! Got him a auto and was a lot better for them!!

He already shoots a ruger 10/22 and my ar so I'm a little afraid he will just drain three at a duck and not appreciate the importance of his first shot! I'd make him shoot a single shot if the safety system was better!!! Man would he be pissed

...then only load 1 into an autoloader until he becomes proficient with it. Went through the same dilemma with my son. Everyone was telling me to get a pump gun. Found a never used in the box youth model 1187 that had been turned back into a dealer because they wanted a pump gun. Got it on the cheaps and have not looked back. Will be a single shot until he knows how to make the first one count.

I've got a youth 20 rem 870 that we never us he shoots s 1187

I agree w/ a better gun and only 1 shell. The best shooting I did as a kid was done w/ a single shot in an autoloader for same reason and @ 6 or 7 my dad had me shooting the Browning A5 light 12. I really didn't want to shot more than 1 time. Even now that thing kicks like a dang mule. When they are ready they got a good gun they can shoot for a long time and it won't pound there ass like a pump.

I don't know about saving shells. My boys could pump out 3 shells in their 870s pretty damn quick. I figure let them have their fun. Shooting the gun is as big part of it than killing, especially for kids IMO. I still like to burn a few myself.

the tristar youth 20 is a nice gun. a little heavy for the size compaired to the charles daily. the charles daily guns look ok but break down alot and parts are not easy to find. the tristar seems to be much more solid. my brother got one for my neice. so far its been a very dependable.

at 6 yr old i started with a 20 gage crack barrel then at 7 a 1100 12 gage thats how ma dad started me

Not meaning to brag... But I'm 22 years old and I'm just as good or better of a wing shooter than most guys with 20 years on me. I can pretty much accredit that to my father teaching me to make that first shot count by way of only allowing me 1 shell as a young 'un.

I took a differant approach with my kids!! With a pump they would get one shot never was big enough to pump it well on the shoulder!! With any kid you need to make it fun for them and as a kid if their not shooting their not having fun!! So the auto came into play!! Rule was if a flock I'd duck came in I wanted the gun empty !! They both are grown now and don't do bad in the blind!!

You can credit that 1 shell all you want but the fact is it has no bearing on you current shooting skills. If it was fun for you then so be it. My money says you were cussing the fact that you were only given one shell and you missed many opportunitites not having that second or third shot and possibly multiple kills because of it. You cant get those times back and the cost of a couple boxes of shells and smiles on their faces was worth every penny spent. The important part is you get them out there with you every chance you get. No matter if its with a BB gun. I bought my kids 870s and taught them how to shoot them responsibly. They practiced and we never looked back. If the gun fits the kid and you have taught them well there is no reason for a single shot.

I've got no kids but I brought all my brothers duck hunting and they used a lil 20 winchester auto my dad had. I never held back on the shells with them but what I did do was give them first crack at all birds or let them shoot at birds we were passing on so they wouldn't get bored.

They will tell you they had some magic in that lil 20 because they would tear the birds up with that gun. I remember one flock of widgeon that came in on my brother and I. We cut a large percentage of that flock and he was flipping out when it was over and the birds were flopping all over.Wth one shell he would have participated but not like that.

Their skills came from me taking them often to shoot skeet,plain and simple. Time spent on the range pays off. There is nothing worse than someone bringing out a kid with no gun time and expecting them to perform.

We still rotate first shot unless its a kid or new hunter and then I play backup. After that its on and I don't believe I get to shoot any less by doing it. I have hunted with many guys over the years that did not take their kids when they were young and some that didn't take the kids till the kids were old enough to fend for themselves. My 2 sons have been hunting and fishing with me since the time they could walk. By the time they were about 10 they were hanging with the adults shooting. But I always stress that when you take young kids hunting or fishing you are taking THEM hunting and fishing. I took a back seat until they were holding hteir own. And I got just as much satisfaction by them being successful as I would have if I had killed or caught myself. My son did most of the calling and took first shot most of last year when we hunted together. I was proud watching him come into his own as a hunter. The kill has not been as imprtant to me as it once was the last couple years. I guess I'm not as mad at the ducks as I once was.

give them all the shells they can shoot. thats bs to give a kid one shot. get tham into the game before you try to make them go pro. i never understood starting a kid on a single shot 410. this is probally the hardest gun to kill a bird with. one shot, very little shot, and most are full choke. ide bet there are very few adult good shooters here that can kill a bird with it. give them the greatest oppertunity to be successful. that one shot is not the way. my sons had the best time shooting in the beginning. then really lit up once they got the hang of it and started hitting. they need the 3 shots to find the leed. one shot they forget from one bird to the next what is going on.

if its about money when hunting for you then you need to quit and go buy food. this is about getting them into the outdoors for a life style for life.

When it comes to my kids hunting shells or money does not matter. I like them to have fun !! They are older now and it's hard to get them to come any more their hunting other stuff!! Lol hopefully they will come back to their roots!! Lol !! as for as a crack barrel single shot shot gun I think they are the most dangerous gun out their!! Anytime you have to pull the trigger To uncork it that is asking for trouble !! I dont allow them in my boat or blinds!!

When people take kids out to shoot for the 1st time that is the time for the 1 shell. That is skeet time in the fall, not in the blind. Only other time is if your taking kids that your not familiar w/. I totally agree that nobody should go hunting w/out KNOWING there weapon no matter what the age. An older person can shoot your ass as quick as a 8 yr old kid. Have guide buddies in several states that have horror stories of grown men w/ new 3.5" mags that ask em "Hey capn, can you help me w/ this?" W/ what the guide asked? "How do you put these BULLETS in here?" WTF
Dogs being shot, guides being shot picking up ducks and guns going off in boat or blind.
There is no sense in this stuff what so-ever! Teach your kids and make it fun. They will love it like we do. Always safety first!

Im just glad I aint buying shells for myself and 2 boys anymore. That along with waders, clothes and boots they outgrew every other month. But I'd do it all over again. We had some great times.

Hold on Ronnie that means when I come hunting with you I have to bring my own shells, that ain't worth a phuk!

I am 23 and i still shoot my youth model 20 gauge. I am deadly with that thing and alot of times when I am hunting in the swamp it's all I need. It just doesn't reach as far as my 12. It is also a hell of alot cheaper to shoot

Kids hooked on hunting and fishing make for a society that won't put up w/ our socialist government taking our guns. Kids that love to hunt, realize guns are good things. Video games can be played and our guns gone. Take kids and I agree w/ above, I love the outdoors but I don't have to get up at 4am to birdwatch. I want to shoot. Just like to see them fall, but they definitely dont always do that.

I was started on a winchester 20 ga. pump, at the age of 7. My old man was tight, and would only give me 10 shells every hunt. How I loaded them was my business. He would say "The limit of birds is three. Ain't a single reason why you should need more than ten shells to kill three ducks."
This ten shells per hunt rule stayed in place untill I was 14 and was buying my own shells.

remember the gun aint for you its for your boy, take that kid out and let him throw some up, let him tell you what he likes.

Shot for years in competition level and I cant tell you how many times I seen a kid trying to shoot the gun daddy picked that didnt fit him worth a fork.

as far a pump goes I shot a modded benelli nova for 4 years in highschool division and I have 3 state rings to show for it. They use to mess with me when I went up to shoot and holler "corn sucker!" but they didnt talk much after I would bust every one.........its all the shooter.

I started shooting the crack barrel 20 when I was 5... just shot it around the yard at birds and squirrles and dove hunted with it.

Didnt start duck hunting till I was about 10 and I used a remington 1100 12ga... I was about twice the size of kids my age though.


I'd take him to fit all the different guns. Youth model 870 would prolly be best bet

When I was still in the cradle I used to shoot my mobile with a Benjamin pellet gun. The only problem I had was pumping it back up.

870 youth, was my first gun when I was like 8. I only got maybe 2 years out of it, before I started shooting the 1100 20. But considering that youth gun is maybe 300 bucks, its not a bad buy. Mine is at my parents place still and my little brother shoots some clays with it here and there, great gun to lug around the woods. Bottom line, buy the 870 youth, so what if you only get a couple years out of it, its something you can pass on down to the next kid or grandkid, thats what i'm going to do with mine some day.

when i was little my dad gave me his old ithaca 20 gauge i loved that thing then my grandmaw gave me her old remington 1100 and i really didnt like it it was really heavy but last christmas my dad bought me a benilli supernova and its a duck killin machine!