ORIGINAL: Crowkilla
I am going to be taking my 7 year old niece squirrel hunting over the Christmas break. She has been begging to come along with me and I am really excited to take her on her first hunt, but I'm a little concerned that she may get bored if we're not just shooting the lights out. I know some of you guys have kids and take them hunting, so I was wondering if you have any suggestions on how to keep her attention and make it an experience she will want to try again. I'm thinking I am going to get her a pair of binoculars and let her do the "spotting" since she isn't old enough to hold a gun or shoot yet. I might also get her a squirrel call and let her bark on that. Okay, I appreciate any advice you have. Wish us luck.
Guys,
I just just got back in town and wanted to give you an update of mysquirrelhuntwith my 7 year old niece that I mentioned last week.
We went out on the morning of the 22nd. She got up and was ready to go at 4:30. We got out there and set up in a river bottom before first light. We sat and sat and, to my amazement, didn't see a single squirrel. We got up and statrted walking for a while. We saw coyote, deer, and raccoon tracks. We then came upon a depression in some brush and I explained to her that this was where a deer had been bedding, most likely a buck considering the terrain, cover, and the fact that it was alone. Sure enough, about 50 yds from the bed was a perfectly fresh scrape with the prints still in it. I explained its purpose and how it was made. She was mildly grossed out, but was amazed knowing she was standing where abuck had recently been. We walked on and I called in a pair of crows for her, but they didn't come in close enough for a shot. She was impressed with the calling howeverand grabbed one of my duck calls out ofthe truck. She carried it around quacking on it the rest of the day. Even though we didn't see anything, we had a wonderful time being together and learning about the natural world. The best part about it for me was knowing that she was seeing and experiencing all of these things for the first time - with me. Each step she tookwas one step further intoa newworld for her. She heard all kinds of birdscalling, whichpreviously were foreign languages; but now she can identify these birds and she knows these are meaningful sounds. Unfortunatley, she ended up getting sick, so we weren't able to go out again. But her mom has plans to come visit me in February and we made plans to go out again. Whenever they come to visit I always try to get her out for some trout fishing and she loves it. So I believe she will definitely come to love hunting.
Anyway, I apologize for the length of this, but thank you for letting me share this special experience with you.