any tips for taking a child for the first time?
 

im 23 yrs old and my girlfriends little boy is 5. weve been together for 2 yrs now and he is interested in everything i do. I team rope, he wants to as well, so he warms up my horse. He wants to hunt so i want to take him. i just wonder what i should do to entertain him when there is nothing going on? as all 5 yr olds ive been around are, he has the attention span of a fruit fly. hes always asking questions which is awesome and i hope he has fun. any tips for making this worth his while? dont want him to be bored and not want to go hunting again. that would kill me cuz hunting is my life outside of family!

Miriam will be two in October. We won't take her hunting for the reasons you mention. But we do take her scouting for deer sign. She loves it and when she gets tired, daddy puts her in his baby carrier pack and carries her. She knows that she can't do everything we do but has to learn. She goes to the range with us and admires the holes we make in the targets, but she knows she isn't old enough to shoot yet.

:sheep: May The Sheep Be With You

If you are sitting I suggest a ground blind. Make it a short hunt. Two hours is about all he'll be able to take. A food plot or an oak ridge is always good this time of year. At least in the woods you are likely to see birds and squirrels if nothing else. Be sure you point out every moving thing you see. Getting a shot at an animal really gets them going.

haha good call, so should i include him in everything except the stand to build his enthusiasm until he has the attention span? he loves watching them and seeing the pics, and of coarse riding the four wheelers.

If he wants to carry a shotgun or something,let him without bullets or shells.You can teach them safety real quick.I'd make the hunts short then go walk around and show him things in the woods.It's a lot of work to keep them interested.

My uncle took me when I was 6 years old.
He let me carry a bb gun.
He had a 22, he would shoot a squirrel, and have me point at it like I shot it.
It was cool.

At least he wants to go.
What ever you do wear ear plugs, or over the ear protection, and be carefull.
Espeasly his ears.

I agree with the ground blind suggestion. Bring snacks and drinks. Bring something to keep him occupied-coloring books,toys,video game etc. You have to make it fun. keep it short. If he wants to go at any time( even if its 10min. after you get there) You need to go. Making him stay longer than he wants is a sure fire way to turn him off to hunting. Have fun with it and enjoy these times cuz they dont last long!! GL

I have a 7 year old son that I take hunting for the last 2 years. I got a two man blind that way he can move around and not scare anything off. He has the fever just like his daddy thats for sure. I make sure I also point anything and everything out to him and explain it in every detail. Taking him scouting is the best way to get him into it. Let him think on his own. Point something out and ask what he thinks about it. I ask my boy all the time whats going on out in the woods and if he notices anything. Even if I see something I'll ask him and hope for him to point it out and make him think he's the man. Its awesome.

this all sounds awesome. i appreciate your help. i never thought i would be in this situation but i love it! thank yall so much for the help!

Huh? Could you Speak up i can't hear you:) You really need to protech his ears. I wish I would have when I was younger but now at 27 I really have a hard time hearing someone just 3 feet away.

Whenever I take a young kid hunting I try to do these 3 things.

1.Be patient
2.Normally I take them squirrel hunting instead of deer hunting, much greater chance of getting a shot.
3. Have fun !!!!!

remember,
This hunt is going to be about him not you. So if he's noisy, dont get annoyed, If he wants to leave, do it.
Like others have said:
- Use a pop up ground blind if possible
- Talk about all the things you see in the woods
- Bring snacks
- Plan on a short day
- Bring hearing protection for him
- Be patient with him

Things I learned taking my kids when they were young:
- attention span of a fruit fly, seems about right :-)
- bring snacks
- bring books and read to him
- when it's cold, don't go
- when it's "buggy" don't go
- keep in mind his legs are VERY much shorter than yours, going over things will be hard (trees, rocks, branches, streams).
- his legs are also short for walking distances, he will get tired faster than you.

Hunt out of a ground blind, do what everyone else suggested keeping it short and to keep him occupied and when that fails a Nintendo DS will entertain a kid for hours which will keep him quiet and focused on something other than his butt falling asleep or being bored. My friends daughter has been shooting deer since she was 5 and I think she is up to 5 deer already at the age of 7. She is already holding out on small buck and waiting for the bigger ones. I think she will be impossible to please when she gets older and it will lose it's fun for her.
Another huge help is make sure the kid see's deer when they are out with you, something that is becoming extremely difficult to do here in Pa. Food plots on unpressured private land are the way to go for a youngster just getting into hunting. Sitting in the cold and not seeing anything isn't something that makes a kid want to do it again.

Hunt evenings. The setting sun is a visual time keeper for the kids as to when the hunt is over. The rising sun will make a hunt seem as though it has no end in sight which can be bad if activity is non existant.

I would be careful about this. Check to make sure it's legal before you do it. It's not in Iowa. You don't want his first hunting experience ending with you getting a big ticket from the DNR.

Mike

My daughter who just turned 7 years old went last year for the first time. I like to tape my hunts, so i made sure she was positioned high enough to see the animals and had a clear view of the camera if she could not see the feeder. Also ear muffs are a must, and bring a gameboy or something or even an ipod. I did all of the above and it was wonderful. Oh and she also had her own binoculars.

Good luck

Jeff

yall are awesome, ill post a report to let yall know how it went, sometime in november im thinking it will happen. wait till it cools down a little bit but before it gets too cold. thank yall so much for the help. ill get what yall suggested and see how it goes! i wish everyone a great season with your families and friends as well!

i make them sit still a little bit but then let them play some they get bored to easy want them to enjoy the woods they love play with and throwing sticks.
i make sure no hunters are around when im with them,knowing i would ruin your hunt.

earplugs are a must but you need to know that they are going to yell at you instead of whispering and just keep that in mind my daughter is 7 shes been with me since five but only on either duck or turkey hunts, it gets her pumped and there is action or at least interaction so she doesnt get bored. this year ill take her on deer stand in a large tree cabin we have on our land but other than that or sitting on the ground none of my stands will accomodate her. Luckely in maine she cant actually hunt till 10 so i got three more seasons to figure that out. she loves it though and has no problems with the gory parts either.

Do exactly what he is saying^^^^^^^^^^^^Great advice!

ground blind for sure. also if you are a long hunter take something to keep him busy when he gets bored. I will be taking my son this year for the first time. he is six


we went scouting and took the pop-up ground blind and saw some deer too. but he did get bored after about twenty mins of no activity. I will be taking his nintendo ds for when he gets bored.

just an update. were preparing, he got a nintendo ds this wk for his bday and ive got the rest of the stuff already. im excited for this season. thanks to all of yall. we should be ready when the time comes.