I was reading this and thought I would add in my son's as well (I assume it is OK with bmac?)
Anyway, like many in this thread, I do not hunt, but want my kids to be exposed to many things so they can develop themselves and what interests them. I do like guns (anything mechanical really) and shooting, just get a sick feeling when I have to shoot something and take it's life, so when I have a choice, I don't.
Anyway, I have several close freinds, one in particular, that fill this void very well for my kids, not truly an uncle, but almost more so in many ways.
Dean is 10 and has been out the last 3 or 4 years with Jim hunting, Last year he was allowed to hunt but missed. This year we worked on accuracy, got him some managed recoil rounds by remington so he would not flinch when the time came, and they went out on Jim's land. Dean and I took the hunter safety class this year together.
They were hoping for a nice buck for his first, but had the opportunity come up on this doe. She went about 130 and it was a frontal shot at 75 yards, they were stalking on the ground. Jim said he was slightly hesitant to let him loose at that range, with that small of a target but it seemed right. Dean steadied against a tree and drilled her centermast. Dropped like a rock.
Deans finger is on the entry, and the back of the neck is gone.
I just consider us very lucky to have responsible freinds that can expose my kids to intrests and things that I cannot.