- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
How much freedom did you have with guns/bows as a child?
Posted on 7/13/18 at 6:02 am
Posted on 7/13/18 at 6:02 am
I was listening to an old episode of the MeatEater podcast and Rinella was saying that he and his brothers were allowed to wander around on their bikes with .22s. This was in the 70s/80s. It got me thinking how much has changed when I was a kid in the 90s. We also had golden eagle brave compound bows and some youth recurve bows. We would shoot the arrows straight up in to the air and then run under the carport and wait to see how long they took to come down. Thinking back on it idk how we made it out of childhood.
My brother and I were around 7 or 8 when my dad gave us free reign with our crossman pump pellet guns. We lived in a neighborhood in Thibodaux that was one road with houses on each side and then a lot of cane fields and woods around that. It wasn't exactly rural. My brother and I had a buddy up the road who was allowed free reign with his pellet gun as well. We would kill the hell out of dove. We build this little chariot and taught our beagle to pull it up and down the street. We would keep a pellet pistol in it to shoot snipe out of the ditches. It never seemed to be a big deal with anybody around there. I remember my brother and I had shot 10 or 15 dove and got caught by the game warden. He took us home and our dad whooped us in front of him. It went no further than that. We were still allowed to wander around with pellet guns.
My nephews live on about 20 acres in a rural area. They are 11 and 12. It takes an act of congress to get their parents to let them shoot. They can only shoot their pellet guns at cans and if they are supervised. They are pretty responsible kids, way better behaved than I was. I'm trying to get the older one a deer and you can tell he isn't really comfortable shooting. I just have him shooting a bolt action .22 right now until he gets more comfortable with it. I guess he just hasn't handled guns enough to really feel secure with them. He isn't unsafe, just awkward. I was carrying a pellet gun up the road with him to shoot an armadillo at their neighbors house and somebody called the cops.
It's crazy to me how much the attitude towards kids with guns has changed in just my lifetime. I'm only 30.
My brother and I were around 7 or 8 when my dad gave us free reign with our crossman pump pellet guns. We lived in a neighborhood in Thibodaux that was one road with houses on each side and then a lot of cane fields and woods around that. It wasn't exactly rural. My brother and I had a buddy up the road who was allowed free reign with his pellet gun as well. We would kill the hell out of dove. We build this little chariot and taught our beagle to pull it up and down the street. We would keep a pellet pistol in it to shoot snipe out of the ditches. It never seemed to be a big deal with anybody around there. I remember my brother and I had shot 10 or 15 dove and got caught by the game warden. He took us home and our dad whooped us in front of him. It went no further than that. We were still allowed to wander around with pellet guns.
My nephews live on about 20 acres in a rural area. They are 11 and 12. It takes an act of congress to get their parents to let them shoot. They can only shoot their pellet guns at cans and if they are supervised. They are pretty responsible kids, way better behaved than I was. I'm trying to get the older one a deer and you can tell he isn't really comfortable shooting. I just have him shooting a bolt action .22 right now until he gets more comfortable with it. I guess he just hasn't handled guns enough to really feel secure with them. He isn't unsafe, just awkward. I was carrying a pellet gun up the road with him to shoot an armadillo at their neighbors house and somebody called the cops.
It's crazy to me how much the attitude towards kids with guns has changed in just my lifetime. I'm only 30.
This post was edited on 7/13/18 at 6:08 am
20
Posted on 7/13/18 at 6:17 am to celltech1981
I grew up in the 90’s, had access to plenty of guns as we hunted a lot and my dad and paw paw were gun fanatics. I learned early what a gun was capable of, safety, etc so i always had respect for them even as a young child. Paw Paw had about 40 acres so I’d shoot up bricks of .22 until i was sick of shooting. I remember picking up a .410 shotgun around 8 years old and forgot to check to see if it was loaded, and got popped on the head 
I’ll always remember that
I’ll always remember that This post was edited on 7/13/18 at 6:19 am
Posted on 7/13/18 at 6:20 am to celltech1981
When I turned 7 my dad bought a house and 28 acres in Satsuma. I had a Benjamin Pump pellet gun. I would do my homework then hit the woods with it. I basically lived in those woods for about 4 years. Then we moved to a house on the water and I had free reign with my 22 and 20 gauge to squirrel hunt in the swamps in Maurepas. Thinking back now, at 11 I was driving a boat (14' bateau w/ 25 merc) hunting and fishing almost every day. I miss those days.
Posted on 7/13/18 at 6:33 am to PolyPusher86
quote:
.410 shotgun
I must have killed thousands of squirrels with a .410. I still have the one I used as a kid
Posted on 7/13/18 at 6:40 am to celltech1981
my 8 yr old has had free reign with a pump pellet gun for a while now. Real guns he must be supervised. He has had a compound bow since he was 5 and can shoot it whenever he wants.
When I was a kid, we lived with my grandparents during the summers and several bb/pellet guns were beside the back door. anyone walking by was obligated to shoot the birds out of the blueberries and grapes or squirrels out of the pecans. I was 5 when they moved into that house and cant remember it not being that way. I had free reign of all types of pellet guns at home too, but I was probably 12 before I was allowed to get a shotgun or 22 out without asking permission. I'm 35 now.
When I was a kid, we lived with my grandparents during the summers and several bb/pellet guns were beside the back door. anyone walking by was obligated to shoot the birds out of the blueberries and grapes or squirrels out of the pecans. I was 5 when they moved into that house and cant remember it not being that way. I had free reign of all types of pellet guns at home too, but I was probably 12 before I was allowed to get a shotgun or 22 out without asking permission. I'm 35 now.
Posted on 7/13/18 at 6:52 am to celltech1981
Total as long as I did not waste ammunition.
Posted on 7/13/18 at 7:00 am to AlxTgr
My brother, couple of friends, and myself would grab our 20guages and ride our bikes through the neighborhood to the wood nearly every day after school. In the summer we were in the woods from sun up to sundown some days. We were probably 12 or 13.
Posted on 7/13/18 at 7:10 am to celltech1981
I grew up in East BR in the early 80’s; my group of friends and I had free run with B.B. guns on our bikes, and later pellet guns, from 1st grade on.
Posted on 7/13/18 at 7:29 am to celltech1981
I got a compound bow when I was 8 and had free reign in the woods behind grandparents house
my cousin got a crossbow soon after
he turned out to be gay
my cousin got a crossbow soon after
he turned out to be gay
Posted on 7/13/18 at 7:36 am to Ron Cheramie
quote:
my cousin got a crossbow soon after
he turned out to be gay
^^^
Posted on 7/13/18 at 7:44 am to Ron Cheramie
Posted on 7/13/18 at 7:53 am to celltech1981
Long as father knew where gun was he was ok
Kept shotgun on gun rack in my bronco all the time even to school
The good old days 70-80
We never thought of shooting anyone
Kept shotgun on gun rack in my bronco all the time even to school
The good old days 70-80
We never thought of shooting anyone
Posted on 7/13/18 at 7:57 am to celltech1981
quote:
I'm only 30.
Damn, and you're almost blind? That sucks
Posted on 7/13/18 at 7:59 am to celltech1981
My mom raised us from the age of 10 on. She was born and raised in NOLA in the 50’s-60’s. Surprisingly, she allowed us free reign. We moved to a relatively rural setting, with acres and acres of undeveloped forest and pastures. I bartered for a crack barrel 410 when I was 13 and that thing went everywhere with me. I’d sling it on my back when were bike riding. Everyone in my little group had guns. We’d camp out in the woods for the entire weekend, all of us loaded for bear, and my mom was cool with it. This was late ‘80’s early ‘90’s though. I’ve taught, and will teach, my kids how to handle guns. I encourage them to shoot, clean, and safely handle guns so they’re not afraid and are more aware.
The only “training” I had was what little Boy Scouts taught us. It’s a miracle we made it out of the teen years too
The only “training” I had was what little Boy Scouts taught us. It’s a miracle we made it out of the teen years too
Posted on 7/13/18 at 8:02 am to jorconalx
eyes don't focus when shooting with bow sights. I can shoot instinctive but i don't feel comfortable shooting a deer like that when a crossbow is an option. my optometrist is a hunter and he recommended i make the switch. I can't shoot iron sights either.
This post was edited on 7/13/18 at 8:03 am
Posted on 7/13/18 at 8:03 am to JOJO Hammer
quote:
My brother, couple of friends, and myself would grab our 20guages and ride our bikes through the neighborhood to the wood nearly every day after school. In the summer we were in the woods from sun up to sundown some days. We were probably 12 or 13.
This describes me, and most kids I knew, from 12 till we could drive. Damn shame it’s not like that now.
Posted on 7/13/18 at 8:05 am to celltech1981
I grew up in the 60's. Parents owned/lived on 200 acres in the middle of swamp and hardwood bottomland with large bayou running thru it. At 7 years old I could go all over swamp day or night with Benjamin pump pellet gun-smoking whatever I saw. Parents never said anything about me getting lost, snake bit or nothing. Running my own trap line at probably 8 years old. Parents gave me the freedom to hunt and fish all I wanted to and I still enjoy that same freedom to this day in the same swamp. I was blessed and still am!!!
Posted on 7/13/18 at 8:15 am to celltech1981
Born in ‘89, grew up in EBR on Kenilworth. We had a double lot with a large backyard and my parents had no problems with me popping targets with the pellet gun probably around 10-12 years old. The neighbors didn’t seem to give a shite either because the cops were never called and we’d be popping targets out there for hours.
We also used to go around the neighborhood to airsoft wars with guns strapped on us. It’s actually surprising the cops weren’t called since most of those guns didn’t have orange tips. Those battles were really fun though, especially the kid that had the tall treehouse, aka the sniper’s nest.
As for real firearms, I didn’t know my dad’s safe combination until I was 18. But if I ever went on a hunting trip he had no problem opening it for me and letting me borrow one.
EDIT: Now that I think about it, back in the high school days we would occasionally go to the big fields between Pecue and Siegan with shotguns. There was a small pond back there that occasionally had ducks in it. We also spent an entire afternoon shooting at birds and clay pigeons back there, right in the middle of Baton Rouge. This was in the mid 2000s and we were never bothered. There’s a neighborhood there now but it’s kind of amazing to me now that I think about it.
We also used to go around the neighborhood to airsoft wars with guns strapped on us. It’s actually surprising the cops weren’t called since most of those guns didn’t have orange tips. Those battles were really fun though, especially the kid that had the tall treehouse, aka the sniper’s nest.
As for real firearms, I didn’t know my dad’s safe combination until I was 18. But if I ever went on a hunting trip he had no problem opening it for me and letting me borrow one.
EDIT: Now that I think about it, back in the high school days we would occasionally go to the big fields between Pecue and Siegan with shotguns. There was a small pond back there that occasionally had ducks in it. We also spent an entire afternoon shooting at birds and clay pigeons back there, right in the middle of Baton Rouge. This was in the mid 2000s and we were never bothered. There’s a neighborhood there now but it’s kind of amazing to me now that I think about it.
This post was edited on 7/13/18 at 8:29 am
Posted on 7/13/18 at 8:18 am to bapple
We brought ours to school, showed our friends,kept them in unlocked trucks, and squirrel hunted after school down the street.
Posted on 7/13/18 at 8:22 am to celltech1981
Talking about the freedom with guns. I had 2 cousins that lived in the city during the 60's. During the winter they would bring there shotguns to school on the bus and put in there lockers until school was out. They then would put them on the school bus I rode to come home with me on the weekend. Nobody never said anything about that. We was in our early teens. In high school I kept a gun in my pickup in the gun rack at school. Life was good and simple then!!
Page 1 of 3
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News