You learn to shoot by 8 or it's to late. I was born and raised in a time when you told kids not to do something, they didn't or else. Shot my first cottontail before I was 8 and every kid should know how to hunt.
What ever would they say today if Davy Crockett or Daniel Boone were to enter congress ......Wait maybe they did.
I started learning to shoot at 5, rule was I couldn’t hunt till I could hit a .22 cartridge box 10 out of 10 shots, at about 30 yards. Remington 514 single shot .22 rifle. My brother has it now. I started on squirrels and rabbits at age 8, almost 9. Entire family could shoot that way. Don’t let my grandfather hear you sboot 3 times and bring in 2 rabbits...bad idea...better be a dead snake out there somewhere too...
My grandparents always had at least a half dozen guns leaned up just inside their front door. Nobody said anything, you just knew you never touched any except your own gun. Nobody did. Whole family could shoot, and very rarely did anyone miss. We all learned to shoot the way I did. My grandmother could probably out shoot most “deer hunters” today...I’ve heard some of these yahoos shoot 7 times and never find a blood drop. We believed in one shot, period. Knew an old man who could light matches with his 30-06. I think my grandfather could too but never was sure. I know he never missed. Ever. Watched my father drill a nail through a fence post with a 38 colt one day at about 25 yards. Right handed, he was a southpaw. What they didn’t know was he was on the army pistol team, star shooter, required to shoot right handed. So they told him to try it right handed, knowing he was a leftie. That prank failed...
My job was to clean and oil everything after every trip into the woods. 12 ga winchester model 12, Remington 22, old Stevens 410 single shot I used, borrowed from my grandmother. I still clean and oil everything twice a year even if it never gets touched any other time.
Ditto for fishing reels. I have 2 Ambassadeur 5000 reels made in 73 and 74 I’ll string up and use right now. Used both in salt water for 15 years. Still look great, a little wear but nothing out of the ordinary for 40 year old reels. Work perfect too. Have them put up in zip loc bags. Cleaned and oiled first. Use a couple of newer Ambassadeurs, 4600 & 6500. Getting a 5000 C ready, not sure if it will work out though.