Grandpa started me out hunting for the cats and dogs dinner at 5 years old. Squirrels and rabbits were considered varmints and dispatched accordingly. He gave me a few instructions, like never shoot towards the house, know where the bullet will go if you miss, keep it on safe till you are ready to shoot, little stuff like that and then turned me loose in the woods. This is the same man that taught me how to swim by pushing the dog in the water and telling me to do what the dog is doing as he threw me in after him. The critical lesson he taught though was respect, for others and myself. I think the respect lesson is the biggest thing missing these days.