Hunter (11) and Ryan (8) both passed their hunter ed last month so we finally got to head out on our first hunt. We took a trip east of the mountains to a spot I always find grouse. Unfortunately there were a number of bow hunters out there stirring things up, so we didn't have the place to ourselves. Luckily we were still able to locate one nice blue grouse, Hunter's shot was on the money, and he showed no hesitation.


We ended up seeing 4 nice mule deer bucks, 16 turkeys, 25 elk, and a squirrel. Ryan asked if he could shoot the squirrel, but he had to settle for some paper targets with his Crickett .22.

It cost me a tank and a half of gas and some part of my exhaust system, but it was well worth it.

Jebus !!! that single shot is exactly 400 times cooler than the one I had at his age. Good job, Blue grouse in mushroom soup cooked for 10 hours in a crock pot !!

Nice job Hunter! Did your dad tell you I picked up that blowgun for you? Time to discover your inner pygmy.

Mmmmm! Pan seared grouse breast with a huckleberry and elk demi glace reduction. Throw in a few early season chanterelles and you got the goods man. Congradulations,-TBJ

Congratulations - Great to see you have some success with them!

B-Run, my boys are both pretty small for their age, and when we tried the standard and youth 20g and .410's they were too long for the boys in length of pull. That's when I saw the NEF "Tamer". As-is it was too short, but we added a recoil pad and brought it right to where it needed to be. For $120, it was perfect. I always laughed at these little funky shotguns until I saw Hunter connect yesterday.

The Crickett .22 was even a better fit for both boys, and at 2.5 lbs, it doesn't tire them out.

Nice job Andy!

thats a way kool kid gun as B Run said way kooler than the one I had 40 years ago.