Hunting with young kids

[DannyO]

Hi all,

Being a relatively new father and being obsessed with hunting this topic is one of great interest to me. I’d like to hear folks experiences on hunting with their young children.

my own experience is I have taken my 18 month old daughter on several mountain hikes, trail cam & scouting trips. It sure is different when taking her along but equally enjoyable.


hope to hear from you guys!

Danny O

[Blacktail1]

Kids just want to be with you , if you think it’s fun they think it’s fun . Keep in mind your success isn’t going to be a priority. When my kids were small we did lots of road hunting stopping to throw rocks in the water look at this and that snd tryed my best to stop snd roast a hotdog to break things up. I absolutely love hunting with my kids it’s the best thing you could ask for.

[Surrey Boy]

I did some small game bowhunting outings with my daughter. She helped turn grouse and rabbits into meat.

As she gets older (3) she demands more action and less silence, so this may be my last year hunting for a time, and since we live 400 yards from the ocean, we'll stick to fishing.

[john.b]

I’m interested in this as well. I have my first coming in a few months and want to get him out hunting at a young age

[DannyO]

Kids just want to be with you , if you think it’s fun they think it’s fun . Keep in mind your success isn’t going to be a priority. When my kids were small we did lots of road hunting stopping to throw rocks in the water look at this and that snd tryed my best to stop snd roast a hotdog to break things up. I absolutely love hunting with my kids it’s the best thing you could ask for.

ive heard this from many people and I think its a great mindset, thanks for sharing.

[firebird]

Take them when they are little so they’ll take you when your old. They’ll slow you down now and you’ll be frustrated but when your old you’ll slow them down and they’ll be frustrated. But you’ll be hunting together for your lifetime

[cmac]

Bring lots of snacks, I found my daughters were little Thier interest level dropped when the snacks ran out. Keep it fun and they will want to keep coming.

[westcoaster]

Bring them along!

People I knew were wringing their hands all worried the kids would be scarred for life at seeing blood when a big game animal was shot....

They were more curious than anything...

If you or someone you are with is all shrill at the sight of blood, so will your kids because they don't know any better "monkey see, monkey do..."

If you take the time and show them, they will learn and be far better for the grounded knowledge....

Edit:
The kids are now grown into young adults and still have an interest in hunting....

[longrifle]

Adding to what others have already mentioned, I found that you have to adjust your hunting 'strategy' to account for shorter attention spans when the kids are younger. We have had both my son and daughter out with us since they were infants and when they each turned five I started taking them into calling sets for moose etc...At that point in their lives I could get approximately 45 minutes of sitting quietly waiting for our quarry to appear (with one snack!!) out of them, after that the fidgeting began! lol

At around eight they both got interested in taking longer hikes and calling/sitting and glassing etc for longer periods of time...Again, snacks are key. At the age of ten my son was into climbing mountains chasing moose! My son is going to be thirteen this fall and my daughter is now ten, and completed the CORE exam earlier this spring. She can't wait for this fall, which is an awesome thing! Snacks have now turned into full meals, kids eat like wolves, I guess I did too!

This journey with them has been one of the greatest that I have ever been on. I lost my hunting partner back in 2015 when my dad wandered on to the happy hunting grounds. I officially gained a new partner in 2018 when my boy got his first license and this fall I will have two hunting partners, ya can't beat that!


'rifle

[HarryToolips]

Kids just want to be with you , if you think it’s fun they think it’s fun . Keep in mind your success isn’t going to be a priority. When my kids were small we did lots of road hunting stopping to throw rocks in the water look at this and that snd tryed my best to stop snd roast a hotdog to break things up. I absolutely love hunting with my kids it’s the best thing you could ask for.

Yup, any day hunting with kids where you can just keep them entertained most of the day is a success...