SouthernMDArchers

Long story short.............Nick my 16 year old son is driving me crazy)))). He is going out hunting about twice a week. He is sitting in stand sites he picked even though I told him they were no good. He has that " I am 16 and know it all thing going on".

After each and every hunt I get to sit and listen to him go on about how he is not seeing many deer or none at all. My question is...........How do I convince him without hurting his feeling to take some fatherly advice?

1. I have taken pictures of deer from my stand setups to show him how many deer I am seeing each hunt.

2. My older son who is 25 and in the marines has told him to "listen to dad lil bro, he knows what he is doing"

3. Should I just move his stands? I am trying to give him the freedom a young man deserves but the parent in me wants him to be successful. He has put a lot of pressure on himself to tag a buck. I have told him nothing is wrong with a doe for your first deer. I am trying to explain and teach him to enjoy all aspects of the hunt.

How about some advice here guys? Help me to help my boy)))) Besides he his driving me crazy)))

Dave

sr77

Shoot a few deer out of your stands and show him the light

Shane

Vabowman

Let him sit more and see nothing!!!!!!!!! He will come with tail tucked soon.... teens are always this way. He needs to try on his own and if he does succeed, shower him with praise!! be glad that he is hunting deer and not other destructive things.

Orion in IL

The light bulb doesn't click on for most boys (young men) until into their 20's.

Let him do what he wants for now, but continue to encourage him.

Buy him a subscription to D&DH magazine for Christmas.

How proud of himself will he be if he gets a deer, out of HIS stand, instead of his DAD's stand?

SouthernMDArchers

Shot more than a few out of my stand sets. He simply wants to do this his way. I got him to sit my primary stand once this year. He had a nice little buck just over 35 yards. To his credit he did not feel comfortable with the shot so did not take it.

Since then he has got it in his head that his stands will produce.

Dave

Siman08/OH

I would say keep dropping hints but let him learn.

txjourneyman

Ask him if you can trade stands for a day. Tell him you want to hunt his set up just to check it out and have him sit yours to "check it out" with shooting permission of course.

Tomkat08

Whip his ass!

Nah man, i would let him do it his way.
But to rub off on him, in off season take him scouting and show him how to find sign.
Then he will be making better stand placement .

Austin/WI

Maybe I have a different point of view on this (I read the OP then wrote this, no reading of others posts), but I'm only 20 and I say let him learn it the hard way. When he conceeds the fact that he doesn't know it all, he'll turn to you. And then you need to build him up the right way, showing him exactly what the spots you picked have in advantages over the stands he picked. That is the best way for him to learn, IMHO. Fail, be shown the right way, and then do it the right way. Like I said, I may have a different POV on this because I was in his shoes not too long ago myself. My father showed me what I needed to change, I learned, and now he comes to me for advice

burniegoeasily

You do it your way, let him keep doing it his way, and let your success set him straight.