Starting a kid hunting
04-19-2008, 10:26 PM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 253
Starting a kid hunting
Didnt know where to post this so I did it here....
Anyways, I have a 3 month old baby and I know itll be awhile till she can hunt but how do you go about gettin them into it...
Like take em with you when there old enough to walk or what....
Thanks for the help....
Anyways, I have a 3 month old baby and I know itll be awhile till she can hunt but how do you go about gettin them into it...
Like take em with you when there old enough to walk or what....
Thanks for the help....
04-20-2008, 08:02 AM
#3
Fork Horn
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location:
Posts: 260
RE: Starting a kid hunting
I started off letting my kids watch hunting shows with me. Then, I told each of them that when they were 5 I would take them hunting. For each of their first hunts I took them to a game ranch to hunt Corsican Sheep. That way they got to experience a harvest, I have taken my 7 year old and my 5 year old to the spot where I hunt most of the time and they have both sat in the blind when nothing came out. My five year old could care less if he hunts again, but my 7 year old daughter loves to go and also likes to watch hunting shows. That leaves me my three year old to take out in the future. She already asks me everyday if we are going to go shoot any piggies.
Jake
Jake
04-20-2008, 08:29 AM
#4
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location:
Posts: 417
RE: Starting a kid hunting
Probably the best advice that could be given, is when you do take them afield and they start loosing intrest while hunting, stop hunting. Whether you are deer hunting or tukey hunting, etc., if they are ready to go home or do something else then stop. If you force them to stay in the woods and they are not enjoying it, they'll remember that the next time you want them to go and choose to stay home! It has to be fun for them when they are young. I started taking my son with me turkey hunting when he was 4, but he didn't hunt until he was 6. Killed his 1st deer at 7! What a feeling!
04-20-2008, 09:26 AM
#5
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Burleson TX USA
Posts: 6,455
RE: Starting a kid hunting
Probably the best advice that could be given, is when you do take them afield and they start loosing intrest while hunting, stop hunting. Whether you are deer hunting or tukey hunting, etc., if they are ready to go home or do something else then stop. If you force them to stay in the woods and they are not enjoying it, they'll remember that the next time you want them to go and choose to stay home! It has to be fun for them when they are young.
Just remember a childs attention span is not the same as yours and as long as you make it fun then they will want to keep going with you.
Try doing a spot and stalk on pigs with them that way they will always be doing something and not just sitting in a blind where boredom will quickly set in and we all know what kids are like when they are bored
04-20-2008, 04:23 PM
#6
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Southern Illinois
Posts: 199
RE: Starting a kid hunting
Both of these are good advice. I have three kids who all hunt with me and they range from 20 to 12 (at least they were kids when we started). I started them all by taking them with me and making the hunt an educational field trip. I tried to keep things fun and interesting. I didn't push them when they got tired or cold or hot. Honestly, on hunts with them along, it was more about developing their interest and excitement than it was about actually killing something. About the time they turned 10, I had them shooting .22's and light load 20 gauges in preparation for the fall seasons. By the time hunting season started, they could shoot good enough to hunt. Too keep my focus on them, which I felt was very important, I decided to not carry a gun when I took them hunting. This took everything off my mind except helping them learn to be safe with their gun, and build the skills needed to be successful at what they were hunting. This worked really well for me and my kids.
ORIGINAL: Ausie-guy
Ditto on that.
Just remember a childs attention span is not the same as yours and as long as you make it fun then they will want to keep going with you.
Try doing a spot and stalk on pigs with them that way they will always be doing something and not just sitting in a blind where boredom will quickly set in and we all know what kids are like when they are bored
Probably the best advice that could be given, is when you do take them afield and they start loosing intrest while hunting, stop hunting. Whether you are deer hunting or tukey hunting, etc., if they are ready to go home or do something else then stop. If you force them to stay in the woods and they are not enjoying it, they'll remember that the next time you want them to go and choose to stay home! It has to be fun for them when they are young.
Just remember a childs attention span is not the same as yours and as long as you make it fun then they will want to keep going with you.
Try doing a spot and stalk on pigs with them that way they will always be doing something and not just sitting in a blind where boredom will quickly set in and we all know what kids are like when they are bored
05-12-2008, 07:41 AM
#8
Fork Horn
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 122
RE: Starting a kid hunting
a lot of good advice here. Best hunts you'll ever have will be with your kids. Just make sure when you take them, its not your hunt it is thier hunt. Even if you don't see anything just make it fun for them and don't preasure them to hunt harder or longer than they want to. When the mess things up, and they will, be patient and teach them not scold them.
Until they are old enough, when you want to hunt, leave them at home. After working with the kids dad deserves his hunt too.
Until they are old enough, when you want to hunt, leave them at home. After working with the kids dad deserves his hunt too.
05-12-2008, 01:18 PM
#9
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: land of the Lilliputians, In the state of insanity
Posts: 26,274
RE: Starting a kid hunting
First, congrats on a lovely little one.
I think its all in due time, relative to the kid. My youngest daughter is ready to hunt, or I should say go with me. She is more patient than my oldest, and will set for hours with no problem. My oldest might not ever be ready. She can not set still for a single min.. Much less for hours. My youngest is 9 and my oldest is 11. I also feel it is important to expose the kids to animals and cleaning them at as young of an age as you feel is appropriate for the individual. Agian, my youngest was helping me clean and process animals since she was little. My oldest was too weak stomached and to much of a busy body to help much in the processing of animal. As far as them shooting. They are only using 22s right now and very light bows. I think it will be another year or two before I can get them shooting some thing big enough to take down big game.Not sure when Ill be able to get themon a 243 or 30-30 .
I think its all in due time, relative to the kid. My youngest daughter is ready to hunt, or I should say go with me. She is more patient than my oldest, and will set for hours with no problem. My oldest might not ever be ready. She can not set still for a single min.. Much less for hours. My youngest is 9 and my oldest is 11. I also feel it is important to expose the kids to animals and cleaning them at as young of an age as you feel is appropriate for the individual. Agian, my youngest was helping me clean and process animals since she was little. My oldest was too weak stomached and to much of a busy body to help much in the processing of animal. As far as them shooting. They are only using 22s right now and very light bows. I think it will be another year or two before I can get them shooting some thing big enough to take down big game.Not sure when Ill be able to get themon a 243 or 30-30 .
05-12-2008, 03:40 PM
#10
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Texas
Posts: 179
RE: Starting a kid hunting
My first hunt was when i was 5 years old i really liked it and enjoyed it but i wasnt hooked until recently. This year (im 14 now) i went on a hunt for canadian geese and i loved it so much. Now i watch hunting shows and go to the range almost every weekend to practice my shooting. I've only officially been on 2 hunts but i know hunting will be in my life forever.