My son is seven years old and wants to get a bow like dad. He is just now being allowed to take animals with a gun. He took his first two deer this year with his gun. (Pictures in Photo and in Deer hunting forum.) How old do you think he should be before I allow him his first bow, and what does he need to be able to pull back to legally hunt with a bow?

The earlier the better as far as gettinh him his first bow and learning to shoot. No need to rush him into bow hunting though, until you are confident in his abilities.
40 lbs is the legal minimum draw weight.

Hey Meathunter.
My son is a total nut like his dad about deer hunting. Looks like you have the same thing. I've already been through this so maybe I can help. My son is now 11 and he shot his first deer with a bow when he was 10 with a bow that pulled 40 lbs. He could barely get it back and most the time I had to help him pull it "a little" if he was sitting. He hit that deer perfect at 10 yards but it got very little penetration and we never would have found the yearling but we could see it run for a long ways and we did find it. This year he's pulling 45 and he shot a doe this year and he spined her and she didn't run off. He shoots often and he loves the woods. Wait until they start "trying" to shoot turkeys. I think he was 1 for 20 this fall, haha.
He plays sports and we have a good life but the best memories are made in the woods.

I will tell him. He's also shot a opossum, porcupine and missed a B&C rat at 10 yards with his bow. He's going to try and get him a gobbler this spring with his bow. The youth season for spring turkeys starts on March 22. Take em out and shoot em up.

Get him shooting a bow, one of my best friend's killed his first deer with a bow, he was 9 years old. He has bow hunted ever since then and has killed a 140 + the last 2 years in a row. Get him to practice a lot and then go after rabbits and armadillos and stuff like that. Whenever he is strong enough to use a legal bow get him on some deer. Hogs or turkey are good ones to shoot first with a bow.

My son started shooting at about 6 and started bowhunting at 11. He is now into recurves and even shot a duck Christmas morning with his recurve.

If he is left handed I have the bow I started with its a Hoyt ZR200 MT sport it goes up to 40 lbs and has adjustable drawlengths. I killed my first deer with it and it would come with a quiver, sights, and a release. PM me if your interested.
Good luck,

Kevin

my kids sarted at 5 with bear recurve and then moved them to small compounds, start them early

My dad got me into shooting bows when i was about 7, i didnt take a deer with a bow until i was 14, and by that time i had taken numerous with a gun, im 18 now and there is no going back. Noe bow hunting is the only way to go for me, there is no bigger rush then being 12 yards from a deer!