Depends as much on the parent or the person doing the mentoring as it does the kid. My daughter at 7 years old killed her first buck standing with her remington model 7 in 260 resting on a tripod one shot thru the heart at 75 yards. She was ready on the shooting side of things as we shot targets...
sorta been tired of all the trophy/ camera talk when it comes to whitetails. In all honesty the past few years when it comes to whitetails it only seems fun when I take kids hunting. Western game well the adventure is still there for me.
Basil Hayden or buffalo trace
just about any dry red
german beers
the mid day go to lately has been fresh brewed green tea with chunks of ginger and lemon
My comments on this post previously are in regards to whitetails. I will also add that doe will duck way more often than mature bucks and they seem to duck farther down in their spring move to run on the shot.
Unfortunately sounds like your gonna have lots of bad meat. A good friend lost one once and the temp was in the low teens. I can't imagine eating meat that smells bad. Sorry to hear, it just happens sometimes.