I started my son at 9 with a Mossberg 20 ga pump, but he couldn't get through a box of shells before his shoulder hurt too much. So I sold that one and got him a Turkish 20 ga Auto at Academy. First dove hunt at 10 and the stock came loose, and I didn't have a socket long enough to tighten the stock screw. So I told him his only option was my backup Beretta 12 Ga that belonged to my father, and he started knocking them down like crazy, relatively speaking! my dad was 5' 10" or so and it fit because my son was tall for his age. He ended up shooting that shotgun through High School Sporting Clays team including State Championship in San Antonio a couple of years. He didn't win State or anything but he is still shooting that old Beretta 302 and now he took it to A&M and it was my favorite shotgun!

The moral of the story is the semi auto is much easier on kids than a single shot or pump with fixed breach due to gas auto!

I started with a remington 1100 in 12ga back in the early 80s so I can appreciate the benefits of a semi, I was small for my age so my dad's 12 pump was a bit too much. So with that in mind I bit the bullet and got my son a Browning Silver Micro Midas in 20 ga when he was 9; you can buy the regular sized stock at a a discount and replace as he grows. I figured I'd spend once instead of getting a starter gun and then another one when he is older.

Also found some low recoil ammo and it shoots like a BB gun, they aren't strong enough to cycle the semi but it also ensures the gun can only fire one shot even if you load a few more in the magazine. Of course that shouldn't be relied upon as the only safety measure.

28 ga.

I killed a lot of dove in 3 or 4 years with a NEF single shot .410

i was dove hunting at 8 years old. But that with with a youth single shot .410 as I mentioned above.

I would look for one of the older model Mossberg bolt action shotguns, in 20ga. I recently picked one up for 80$ at a flea market. there great to learn on, and the wood stock adds some weight for recoil management.