Elk hunting with teens

[nnmarcher]

I am taking a 13 year old on his first elk hunt this November and I'm looking for some tips.

I have a Rokslide Special set up for him to hunt with and we will spend time practicing leading up to the hunt. It will be easy getting him time on the bench at the range, but I have no experience practicing field positions. Is it worth purchasing shooting sticks like the bogpod or primos trigger sticks and practicing with those? I want to give him plenty of opportunities to practice, but our time together is limited to a couple hours per week. I have no problem limiting him to 100-200 yard shots if that's all we can get proficient at.

We are hunting a fun unit and will have a good time. If you have any general advice for taking out teens, I am all ears!

 

[TaperPin]

When there’s little time to practice I’ve had good luck limiting shooting to the very simple choice of prone or even shooting off the bench over a pack.

Unfortunately sitting unsupported creates huge groups until the young shooter has a little muscle memory, especially if the stock is too long and/or heavy for them. If shots have to be made sitting, a simple tall bipod that you can help them with when the time comes can work well, but groups will still be pretty large - 150 may be the max.

I’ve not had good luck with shooting sticks - it seemed they complicate things enough that some kids can get confused with the mechanics of holding the forend and resting on sticks that are probably not in the right location. Letting go of the forend and dipping the barrel in the dirt becomes a real risk.

The tall Harris also works quite well in a high prone kind of way - it shoots over sagebrush well enough and kids like the stability and seem to take to it quite well. For antelope or mule deer this is the primary thing we’ll practice with. In short time I’ve had a couple of kids who could keep shots on a 10” paper plate clear to 400 yards, but couldn’t do much past 100 sitting.

All kids are different - it’s hard to generalize what will work. Larger more athletic kids have a big advantage and need the bipod less, but even little girls can do well with the tall bipod prone.