When to start a youngster on his first safari?

Planning ahead a few years, But thinking about when to take my grandson on a safari,when they are about 10 years old. Depending on size, maturity and hunting desire.
Going after members of the Tiny Ten , impala, etc. Something that a small bore can handle well, Probably South africa for ease of travel and cost.
I picture a rifle in the 243, 6.5 maybe 308 class. I will build him a rifle well before hand.
Throwing this out for ideas and others experiances.

I started hunting (as an observer) before age 7 with my grandfather. I was hunting whitetail with him by 10 with a 6.5x55SE. Not much difference between this and the T10 or smaller PG animals.

I will admit that I was highly motivated to hunt as a youth. I recognized that time in the outdoors was important to my grandfather and it was a way for me to spend quality time with him. It instilled a passion for hunting, fishing and conservation that has been with me ever since.

If your grandson is motivated in the same way, I’d say he only lacks some exposure and experience. Time I know you are more than willing to invest.

Best of luck with this and let us know how it goes.

Crazy that you bring this up. Last night around the fire my wife and I were celebrating a victory with our youngest son and daughter on the phone. They are excited for our safari and we were all dreaming of going to Namibia as a family and introducing the grandson to African hunting.

I know that I’m in the minority opinion on this, and often perceived as a killjoy ,but I believe that a young hunter should learn to hunt before he’s introduced to big game. He should learn to hunt squirrels and rabbits, shoot dove and ducks and upland birds. Show me a kid that can go down into a hardwood bottom and come out with a mess of cat squirrels or a brace of ducks and I’ll show you a kid that will be a hell of a deer and elk hunter if he wishes. I think the worst thing a guy can do is start his kid hunting deer. Perhaps I feel that way cause that’s how my dad and grandad taught me to hunt. I think it’s served me well. Maybe I’m just being the grumpy ol’ man.

I started my son and daughter hunting whitetail deer with a .243 when they were both 8 years old. I started both of them when they were 6 shooting BB guns and air rifles to get used to shooting with little to no recoil or loud noise and slowly worked them up to a .22 then to the .243. My son is currently 14 and daughter is 11. Africa may be a graduation gift for each of them.

Took my kids last year at 9 and 10 years old. Both had taken other animals in the states prior to going to Africa. They took 7 animals between the two of them.

62flint said:

Planning ahead a few years, But thinking about when to take my grandson on a safari,when they are about 10 years old. Depending on size, maturity and hunting desire.
Going after members of the Tiny Ten , impala, etc. Something that a small bore can handle well, Probably South africa for ease of travel and cost.
I picture a rifle in the 243, 6.5 maybe 308 class. I will build him a rifle well before hand.
Throwing this out for ideas and others experiances.

Click to expand...

I took my son when he was 10. He did not want to leave. He is doing odds and ends and saving birthday and Christmas to go back next year for a kudu. He had been deer and bird hunting since he was 7. He shot everything with my 7x57.

I'm in the same boat. I talked to a PH about it recently, and he said ages 6 and up. I have a 5-year old son, and I'm thinking around age 8 (we've already started practicing).

I think it’s a function of how much interest the kids show, and for big game, how capable they are with appropriate caliber weapon for the game they are after. I took my daughter along on a bison hunt in Delta Junction when she was 8yo and she had a ball, despite the -14 degree temps. Even with days upon days of near misses, she remained exited until we tagged out. Next year, took her at age 9 to the Alaskan arctic outside Kotzebue for moose. While she didn’t get a moose, she helped part out several caribou and had a great time…the sow grizzly charge with two huge cubs excepted.

Age 10 she drew a coveted dall sheep tag and backpacked, with the help of me and another friend, through over 60 miles of mountainous terrain by the time we got her sheep to a place we could get picked up. She had an absolute blast.

Sadly, it wasn’t until this year, at age 13, that I finally got her to Africa and she again had an absolute blast. She was also an outright killer, taking 7 different species all but two were immediate drops, and the two that stayed upright only went short distances before expiring.

I think suppressors are a game changer for kids. She started with a suppressed 6.5 creedmoore when she was 9 and what she used on her sheep at age 10. This trip last month we rented a suppressed 308 which proved perfect for her needs. The last day she also tried out a suppressed 375H&H for future reference as she has aspirations of Buffalo in the future after ragging along on the days I hunted my two bulls. The suppressor really knocked the recoil down where even at 5’ she easily handled it.

AND…having her along has made for the best hunting trips ever.

She loved Africa so much as it was admittedly so much more lavish and cushy compared to her prior hunts.

So for Africa specifically I say tak them as soon as you can and often thereafter. Then again what do I know. To some, I bet I appear as a bad parent letting her skip the last two weeks of school for this trip.

I took my son to SA when he was 13...He had no big game hunting experience outside of basic hunter education and shooting at the range....

He hunted a blesbok, blue wildebeest, and springbok with a .243...

It was a trip that we will never forget...

I highly recommend it....

As soon as they can handle the flights and medical needs (shots) are considered. There is a big difference between potential exposure to bad diseases in different locations in Africa. If they are too young to accurately shoot it’s okay to tag along. If they are old enough to get on a school bus and sit in a classroom all day they have earned the right to hunt the world. Accurately shooting will be based upon how much practice they get, so that piece is really on us adults. Kids can accurately shoot a small caliber by 4 or 5 with the correct training.

62flint said:

Throwing this out for ideas and others experiances.

Click to expand...

The spark of hunting, caught up with me when I was of preschool age. From my grandfather. And it was always in me.

Having said that, I took my son hunting with me when he was 12 or maybe earlier.
I took him to Africa, when he was 14. He took a warthog with 223. By the age if 18, he made hunting exam,
I thought this was it!
But, by the time he enrolled to college just after that, he lost all his interest to hunting. He is all over in his exams,

We will see later, in his forthcoming years, if the interest to hunt will come back to him.
I really have no idea, and I see no rules. I did whatever was possible.

A friend of mine in his retirement, took hunting exam, and went hunting first time in his life at mid sixties. It was his life long dream.

it is either in you, or you dont have it at all. It can come, and it can go, and it can come again.

I took my son when he was 5. He shot a warthog and springbok which were his first 2 animals ever hunted. He was shooting the guides .223. Both 1 shot kills. Seeing him hunt with his grandfather for their first times in Africa are great memories I will always keep.

There is nothing wrong starting a son/daughter out at 6 or 7 years if they are motivated. There are many different varieties of small PG animals that require only a .22/.223 to kill. Just go up from there.

6-14 it has been a blast so far

started with rabbits and coyotes when he was 6, last year took him to Zimbabwe 14 years ols

Having your son as a Hunting buddy, PRICELESS

My Grandson, Jaxon, was 8, turning 9, for his first Africa hunt. He had shot a lot of gophers at home in Kamloops BC before that. He might have been a bit too young for Africa but he was well encompassed by his by all of us so it worked out fine. The boy on the right is his friend Kehan who is the son of the PH. Jaxon has hunted three times in Africa now.

62flint said:

Planning ahead a few years, But thinking about when to take my grandson on a safari,when they are about 10 years old. Depending on size, maturity and hunting desire.
Going after members of the Tiny Ten , impala, etc. Something that a small bore can handle well, Probably South africa for ease of travel and cost.
I picture a rifle in the 243, 6.5 maybe 308 class. I will build him a rifle well before hand.
Throwing this out for ideas and others experiances.

Click to expand...

Go for it! My son killed his first deer when he was 12 with a 22-250 here in Texas. By 14 in S. Africa he was proudly using a 300WM, all day long. He has a 6.5CRM he has killed plenty of deer, a few Axis and hogs and coyotes with too. Whatever caliber (recoil in particular) they can shoot effectively.

My son took to hunting like a fish to water. I totally agree with statements about having your son as a hunting partner is priceless, no pun intended since your wallet will notice the X2 price when you are looking at hunts, lol. All worth it. I have taken him to Europe and Africa to hunt and we are headed to Argentina in Dec. We are headed to hunt black bear in Idaho in a week in fact. I figure, show them the world, while hunting if at all possible. They will treasure it forever. Cheers

Mine can’t wait to go back. Though they are just as excited about potentially drawing deer tags this year. They both had hunter safety and I think that was a really good move. I gave them the opportunity and they ran with it. I had the best time watching them hunt. I will say lots of time spent with a .22lr before hand and then some time with the 7-08rem made for great shots. None of the animals my kids took went more than 50 yards and most dropped on the spot with broken shoulders. Spending the time on real target practice was key. I set up steel gongs and made them shoot off sticks here at home for months before we went. Suppressors are a game changer for kids as well. Mine shot everything in Africa with either a suppressed .308 win or a suppressed 6.5 creedmoor. I’ll be honest the creedmoor dropped some critters with more authority than I anticipated. I think with today’s bullet technology you can use a bit smaller cartridge with less recoil for the youngsters and be good to go for the smaller to medium size plains game.

As a father of a three-year-old I really enjoy seeing this thread and look forward to similar adventures with my son!