How old for first solo hunt?
12-25-2011, 07:43 AM
#31
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: MN
Posts: 1,260
My father let me sit by myself when I was 13. I shot a 6 pt, field dressed it, and drug it to the truck. He walked up in disbelief. He never had a problem letting me sit myself again. He wouldn't let me hunt by myself, but would let me sit myself.
Children are all different. Sme are very mature at 13 some act like there 2. Only you can decide whether they are ready. Maybe once in awhile is a good start.
Children are all different. Sme are very mature at 13 some act like there 2. Only you can decide whether they are ready. Maybe once in awhile is a good start.
12-25-2011, 08:07 AM
#32
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: central and east texas
Posts: 4,894
THX FER SHARIN WAR
I just wanna say...times were different back in the day...lots started young...lots had accidents...no way you should let your 12-13-14-15 year olds hunt by themselves. And two 14 year olds in the same stand alone is not ok either. Adult supervision. Adults have accidents all the time..i read 3 or 4 on this forum alone where people died this year. Imo if you have life insurance on yer kids(minors), and you put them with a gun alone, and they die...it should be pre-meditated murder!!!!
I just wanna say...times were different back in the day...lots started young...lots had accidents...no way you should let your 12-13-14-15 year olds hunt by themselves. And two 14 year olds in the same stand alone is not ok either. Adult supervision. Adults have accidents all the time..i read 3 or 4 on this forum alone where people died this year. Imo if you have life insurance on yer kids(minors), and you put them with a gun alone, and they die...it should be pre-meditated murder!!!!
Last edited by halfbakedi420; 12-25-2011 at 09:31 AM.
12-25-2011, 08:57 AM
#33
Fork Horn
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: NY
Posts: 366
Thank you for posting wareagle. As champlain posted "This post really says it all". This should be a manditory read for all parents. Kids may seem mature for there age, but they may make the wrong decision. Just think if he had shot another hunter! That would have messed up alot of lives. It's not worth letting them hunt alone too early. I also think laws are in place for a good reason.
12-25-2011, 04:34 PM
#34
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Virginia / West Virginia
Posts: 4,906
Lots of kids have experience and knowledge and even maturity at 8, 9, 10...still doesn't mean they are ready (or should be) hunting solo. Like I said, count your blessings.
12-25-2011, 04:36 PM
#35
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Virginia / West Virginia
Posts: 4,906
I'm not going to tell another parent what he should or shouldn't do with his son/daughter on their own land. But I will tell you what happened to me if you don't mind a quick story:
My oldest son was 11 when I started letting him hunt by himself with a bow, which felt much safer for both him and anyone else who might walk up. Keep in mind he started shooting when he was 5 and regularly out-shot most of the men in our club (not just another dad bragging, I swear..lol)... The next season I let him sit on stand by himself with his 243. All was well until the last day of the season. He was hunting in an area where several people had sworn they saw a mountain lion, here in Alabama in all places. I can attest to seeing some very large cat tracks but was not convinced that we had a mountain lion on this piece of property. But anyway, 30 minutes before dark I heard him shoot. My heart sank into my stomach. It was the first time he had shot a gun while hunting by himself and I only thought I was prepared for that moment. I waited nervously until he called me on the phone. He was crying and asked me to come to his stand right away. I have never ran that fast in my life. Come to find out he had seen what he thought was that cat and got scared and shot at it. My heart sank even lower. I yelled at him and threatened to beat the living crap out of him - how dare he shoot at something that he could not positively identify! We looked and looked around there area he fired. I was praying the whole time that we did not find blood because I would not bear the thought of what he might have shot. Well after carefully searching for over an hour, we didn't find anything and left. He cried all the way home and honestly so did I. My son was scared, not only at the perceived threat but because he realized what could have possibly gone wrong. I felt like crap because it was then that I realized that I had rushed him into a situation he was not ready for. It is our responsibilty as parents to make the right decisions and if there would have been an accident it would have been totally my fault. My son is very mature for his age and a very confident kid, but he was still just a kid... Needless to say the next season he was back in the stand with me and another year before he was back on his own. We both learned a valuable lesson that day. I just ask that parents please consider not just your child's physical abilities but his mental abilities as well. Sometimes it is hard as a Dad to honestly judge your child without prejudice. If you love him or her like I know you do, you owe it to them to seriously consider whether or not they are ready to hunt alone.
I apologize for the long post but I hope just one person will learn something from my story. Again I'm not going to tell anyone what they should or shouldn't do... Also if you know my child or ever meet him, please never bring this up to him. He is still embarrased about that incedent and would die if he knew I posted it on the internet... By the way my youngest son is about to turn 11 and is ever bit as responsible and safe as my oldest was, but the poor kid has to hunt with good ole Dad a lot longer than he would like. I refuse to make the same mistake twice!
Good luck and be safe!
CJ
My oldest son was 11 when I started letting him hunt by himself with a bow, which felt much safer for both him and anyone else who might walk up. Keep in mind he started shooting when he was 5 and regularly out-shot most of the men in our club (not just another dad bragging, I swear..lol)... The next season I let him sit on stand by himself with his 243. All was well until the last day of the season. He was hunting in an area where several people had sworn they saw a mountain lion, here in Alabama in all places. I can attest to seeing some very large cat tracks but was not convinced that we had a mountain lion on this piece of property. But anyway, 30 minutes before dark I heard him shoot. My heart sank into my stomach. It was the first time he had shot a gun while hunting by himself and I only thought I was prepared for that moment. I waited nervously until he called me on the phone. He was crying and asked me to come to his stand right away. I have never ran that fast in my life. Come to find out he had seen what he thought was that cat and got scared and shot at it. My heart sank even lower. I yelled at him and threatened to beat the living crap out of him - how dare he shoot at something that he could not positively identify! We looked and looked around there area he fired. I was praying the whole time that we did not find blood because I would not bear the thought of what he might have shot. Well after carefully searching for over an hour, we didn't find anything and left. He cried all the way home and honestly so did I. My son was scared, not only at the perceived threat but because he realized what could have possibly gone wrong. I felt like crap because it was then that I realized that I had rushed him into a situation he was not ready for. It is our responsibilty as parents to make the right decisions and if there would have been an accident it would have been totally my fault. My son is very mature for his age and a very confident kid, but he was still just a kid... Needless to say the next season he was back in the stand with me and another year before he was back on his own. We both learned a valuable lesson that day. I just ask that parents please consider not just your child's physical abilities but his mental abilities as well. Sometimes it is hard as a Dad to honestly judge your child without prejudice. If you love him or her like I know you do, you owe it to them to seriously consider whether or not they are ready to hunt alone.
I apologize for the long post but I hope just one person will learn something from my story. Again I'm not going to tell anyone what they should or shouldn't do... Also if you know my child or ever meet him, please never bring this up to him. He is still embarrased about that incedent and would die if he knew I posted it on the internet... By the way my youngest son is about to turn 11 and is ever bit as responsible and safe as my oldest was, but the poor kid has to hunt with good ole Dad a lot longer than he would like. I refuse to make the same mistake twice!
Good luck and be safe!
CJ
12-26-2011, 05:12 AM
#37
Typical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 970
You know, I was 13 when I began solo deer hunting. When I was 12, I had a tree stand on my parents property that I put out corn to bait squirrels in. I would spend many morning and afternoons on the weekends going out to that stand by myself and bringing back my prey.
Granted, there is a difference between short periods of small game hunting, and the way my family goes deer hunting. We walk into the woods and sit all day. I was a fidgety little kid who needed more time to calm down to handle the patient sitting of stand hunting.
Every individual child needs to have their parents assess their skills to make the final decision. Personally I think laws that state 16, or 17, are overreaching. In the end, we don't want to see people get hurt, but we need to let people make their own choices as a society and to have them deal with any consequences.
I know so many people like my brother and myself who began solo deer hunting at 12 or 13 and have never had any issues. Then again, most of the people around here hunt in groups where they provide a support network for the other members of their party. To say that someone has to sit right next to them seems silly to me.
Let parents parent, and if the Wisconsin tradition holds true, then no issues should occur.
Granted, there is a difference between short periods of small game hunting, and the way my family goes deer hunting. We walk into the woods and sit all day. I was a fidgety little kid who needed more time to calm down to handle the patient sitting of stand hunting.
Every individual child needs to have their parents assess their skills to make the final decision. Personally I think laws that state 16, or 17, are overreaching. In the end, we don't want to see people get hurt, but we need to let people make their own choices as a society and to have them deal with any consequences.
I know so many people like my brother and myself who began solo deer hunting at 12 or 13 and have never had any issues. Then again, most of the people around here hunt in groups where they provide a support network for the other members of their party. To say that someone has to sit right next to them seems silly to me.
Let parents parent, and if the Wisconsin tradition holds true, then no issues should occur.
12-26-2011, 06:58 AM
#38
Spike
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Virginia
Posts: 25
im 16 now, but i was 13 when i started sitting by myself..the first 2 times, i sat by myself, we chose a spot where we had stands set up on oppisite sides of ridges, i sat on one side my uncle set of the other, so really we were only like 100 yards away, but couldnt see each other or risk shootin each other...now im 16, i drive to were ever i wanna hunt whether is a friends land, or my own land, i pick where im gonna sit. im just like all the rest of the adults
