I don't have the property to set up a "jungle lane" but I could place some clays on the berm at the club. Any suggestions Brobee?
There are likely a zillion different great ways to introduce kids to the shooting sports, I can only offer some perspective on what has worked/not worked for me and for sure there will be those who disagree.
As a setting for family gun time, especially in the early stages, I have found gun ranges/clubs about the worst environment possible. By necessity, they are strict-rule environments with many constraints which can turn a great outing into a total disaster in a heartbeat. Often, there are lots of "helpful" people who, while well-intentioned, quite frankly are not helpful at all. If I were to ever go back to a gun range with my kids, I would want to do so during off-hours and with some other adults that can run interference.
I lump most of the skeet and trap clubs around my neck of the woods into this category, but the exception to this is the sporting clay range where I've been able to go in non-peak hours and do things like set up the jungle lane or position my kids outside the shooting stands in a spot where hitting a specific clay is absolutely the easiest possible.
I've also worked hard to culture and maintain relationships with local landowners who are receptive to the idea of shooting/hunting on their land. While I have my own property which I also use a lot for kid-gun time, I frequently bring my kids along on landowner relation missions so they can also learn what it takes to gain/maintain access to someone else's place and what it means to respect their land. Additionally, you would be amazed at how many doors get opened when you have your kids with you and they participate in "the pitch".
Being alone with the child in this setting - a large rural landscape behind a closed gate - provides a tonne of flexibility. All you then need to worry about is the kid....not a bunch of other people's safety (both from the perspective of danger FROM your kid, and danger TO your kid), their perceptions of what is right/wrong, a zillion hawk like eyes waiting for that first mistake which is guaranteed to happen, and a strict rule regime that is difficult for a child to grasp all at once.
Some will argue that unless the child can get all those rules at once that they are not ready...fair enough but I disagree. It's MY job to make sure I'm safe and the kid is safe; there are tonnes of ways to do this incrementally and I want to also ensure my kid has the best-most-positive experience possible. An example of balancing safety while nurturing this type of less structured environment - notice I control all the ammunition and, in the early stages, issue it one round at a time and only when she is set up on target and ready to go. This way, I have the opportunity to have a pretty relaxed atmosphere while we walk around and when I occasionally get swept I know it's with an empty gun. I can gently stop her (without all the yelling that would happen at a range), point out her mistake, and in a super-relaxed fashion we can happily figure out ways to increase her handling awareness and overall safety. My youngest is not yet far enough along this curve that I would ever feel comfortable with her with carrying her own ammunition or a loaded gun, however with only 18 months more experience my oldest is 99% of the way there, and I'm now comfortable enough that she has successfully and safely brought along friends from school for some of her squirrel hunting adventures.
Especially with a shotgun, matching the fit/weight/recoil level of the gun to the child's size is paramount, and this has been difficult for me as I tend to rationalize why guns I've already got are suitable. Then, after it is too late, I realize the error of my ways and seek out a more appropriate gun. It is super-easy to go too-big-too-fast, and this applies to the round-count as well. I've had some outings where my girls go 5 or 10 rounds then feel like they are done...I am prepared to cheerfully accept this.
My kids can also be competitive with each other, so I try, especially in the early stages, to provide more solo outings with each child by comparison to group outings.
Lastly, we try to shoot the least amount of paper possible. Balloons, clays, snowballs, steel plates, old shell casings, even cow patties...the instant feedback of this type of targetry seems to hold their attention much better than punching holes in paper. I also set the bar (target size, range) to something where they can feel like superheroes after accomplishing solid hits. Very gradually do I dial up the difficulty.
Anyway, those are some of my observations of what has worked with my girls, both of which still ask dad if we can go on a gun-toting-video-adventure. Good luck to you - my experience has been that shooting with my kids this way is a million times more rewarding than my previous shooting life without them.
Hey Brobee, how did that shotgun cycle? I read some reviews saying some didn't cycle shells well.
The gun certainly prefers ammo loaded in the Winchester AA hulls which it runs 100%, although stiffly. Challenger .410 shells, while a bit more fidgety, she can chamber 95% of the time. Federal shells seem to cause her grief. It is definitely stiff for her to cycle, but I am hopeful this will loosen up over time (seems to be easier after the first 50 rounds) and we have found a good workaround by using both hands on the slide as the gun is braced against her thigh.
All this though is most certainly offset by the excellent fit of the gun for a kid her size. While her sister's 20 gauge is much smoother to operate, it is simply too big/heavy for her. Despite having to pump it with both hands, she likes coolness factor of the pump gun. Bottom line, it fits awesome and has the best recoil characteristics for her current 4 foot height and 60lb weight.
Cheers,
Jason
