If this is in the wrong spot, please feel free to move it. I intend for this to be a thoughtful post that can help families determine what may be the proper age to big game hunt. I have seen some posts with youth hunters that were so young it made me wonder. I saw a post on one of the Facebook sites that had a 5 year old that shot a buck. I have 4 kids and all hunt. When they were young(5 or 6) they weren't allowed to shoot yardbirds. My thought was that until they could grasp the concept of taking a life, they didn't need to take one. I'm not judging or making a recommendation, just my personal philosophy and I'm not sure at 5 years old you can understand the complexity of killing something. When my youngest was about 5, he came home grabbed his BB gun and went out back and shot a sparrow, even though it was against the rules. He cried because he didn't anticipate what it would feel like. We buried the bird and that night I asked him if he wanted to say a prayer for the bird's soul. He said yes and asked me what the "soul" was. I explained that that is the part of the bird that lives forever, he replied with "Not the part in the hole?" It was sweet and innocent and a little funny. He felt the gravity of what he had done as did I. I always feel the weight of taking a life and I just wanted to be sure he understood. He passed his hunter safety when he was 9 and shot a little buck in Colorado this year with some gracious help from this forum. I really appreciate this forum and just wanted to foster some thought about our youth hunters.