Kids age

[YFKI1983]

How old were your kids when you first took them hunting? I remember being 7 or 8 the first time I went with my dad.

 

My son is almost 5 and is obsessed. He's been in the woods a bunch but never out with me. He's dying to go but I don't think he truly understands what it is yet.

 

Should I try to take him out a couple of hours or too young? I am pretty sure I wouldn't shoot anything with him there. He's seen deer I've brought home but still not sure he knows what happens.

 

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[Skillet]

I'd bring him. Absolutely.

My son was 4 or 5 when we started squirrel hunting together.

Wouldn't trade those times now.

[Zag]

22 minutes ago, YFKI1983 said:

 

How old were your kids when you first took them hunting? I remember being 7 or 8 the first time I went with my dad.

 

My son is almost 5 and is obsessed. He's been in the woods a bunch but never out with me. He's dying to go but I don't think he truly understands what it is yet.

 

Should I try to take him out a couple of hours or too young? I am pretty sure I wouldn't shoot anything with him there. He's seen deer I've brought home but still not sure he knows what happens.

 

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My son was probably 5 or 6. Hunted only out of a blind. He couldn’t last 45 minutes each time.

[doebuck1234]

No kids myself but I started at 5 years old.would be walking through the cut corn field with family setting up decoys and laying in my goose blind learning how to call geese in..still have my original single shot .22 my uncle shortened up so it would fit me for learning gun safety,target shooting and squirrels

[Moho81]

My daughter was 5 her first time out with me. Snacks, books, tablet, sleeping bag whatever it took to keep her comfortable and happy for an hour or so. She was so intrigued about hunting from the first time I brought a deer home to butcher she sat in the garage with me as I skinned and quartered it. She’s now 12 and finally was able to hunt herself this past weekend.

You won’t see deer with a 5 year old in the stand but it also won’t matter to you. I highly encourage anyone to take there young child out with them.


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[mlammerhirt]

My oldest who is 8 spent his first time in a tree stand with me when he was 3.5
The kid is absolutely hooked to this day, and now his younger brother is as well. He has been with me for an opening day turkey kill, and opening day buck kill. He loves going to our leases and riding the atv, setting up blinds and just having fun. I told him this year we are going to start to develop patience. We are trying to pass on small does and bucks....looking to shoot a mature deer instead. Get them out their as early as you can.....the memories last forever and the opportunities to harvest wild game will come with them by your side.

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[Enigma]

40 minutes ago, mlammerhirt said:

My oldest who is 8 spent his first time in a tree stand with me when he was 3.5
The kid is absolutely hooked to this day, and now his younger brother is as well. He has been with me for an opening day turkey kill, and opening day buck kill. He loves going to our leases and riding the atv, setting up blinds and just having fun. I told him this year we are going to start to develop patience. We are trying to pass on small does and bucks....looking to shoot a mature deer instead. Get them out their as early as you can.....the memories last forever and the opportunities to harvest wild game will come with them by your side.

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Best hunting hat ever! 

[Enigma]

3 hours ago, YFKI1983 said:

 

How old were your kids when you first took them hunting? I remember being 7 or 8 the first time I went with my dad.

 

My son is almost 5 and is obsessed. He's been in the woods a bunch but never out with me. He's dying to go but I don't think he truly understands what it is yet.

 

Should I try to take him out a couple of hours or too young? I am pretty sure I wouldn't shoot anything with him there. He's seen deer I've brought home but still not sure he knows what happens.

Just take him for a walk in the woods, maybe a short sit with some snacks and a chat and call it good. Quality time is the best.

I took my oldest for a one time deer hunting hedge row sit when he was 5. Showed him the grunt call and told him to try and be still and have at it. Sounded like a deer party for 30min lol. Lo and behold a he calls up a small buck that I dutifully shot. He wasn't impressed but it's still my best hunting memory 15 yrs later. 

Edited October 12, 2022 by Enigma

[mlammerhirt]

My two boys walk around the house with grunt tubes and rattling antlers.....they work on calling each other in front different parts of the house.....some nights my wife and I just shake our heads and laugh.

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[Kmartinson]

Coming out heavy at 6yrs old! They do it all with me. Lots of snacks and short sits, turkeys in a blind work great!

[dbHunterNY]

pick and choose your battles. need lots of snacks, won't be very quiet or sit, and they get cold fast. I started taking my daughter at 2 yrs old and now my son out. to start, it's mild weather though to check trail cams and scout from a distance sitting in a tractor or truck. now at 8 yrs old my daughter can be with me in a blind hunting. still gets cold quick though. evening hunts too so you're not trying to get them up and out before daylight. 

[Judoka95]

I started taking my son out when he was 6 or 7 to help clear trails and set up stands before the season. I learned the same lesson about snacks and the cold after our first cold morning. Now my daughter (7yrs) is dying to go out. She came out last weekend to clear a new trail and it's all I have heard about this week. 

They are no different than any of us. They have their gear all laid out and a plan on how the whole thing is going to go down. It's like taking a kid fishing, don't plan on getting any fishing done yourself just enjoy the time with them. If you get a something it is a bonus.

And don't forget the hot chocolate.

[J.B.]

This past monday i took my daughter out for the second year in a row. She is 5. We sit in a ground blind and watch the squirrels. She loves getting out in the woods. I never plan on seeing anything, she walks like a heard of elephants through the leaves. That's not the point of the trip though. 

[YFKI1983]

I'm going to try to get him out on Saturday afternoon. I'm sure it won't be more than 30 mins. I'll paint his face so he feels like the guys he sees on TV: )

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[Jeremy K]

I'm not taking either of my kids with me unless they ask . What ever age that ends up being is when they can come.

[mlammerhirt]

I'm going to try to get him out on Saturday afternoon. I'm sure it won't be more than 30 mins. I'll paint his face so he feels like the guys he sees on TV: )

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They love the face paint! That's half the trip.

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[mlammerhirt]

pick and choose your battles. need lots of snacks, won't be very quiet or sit, and they get cold fast. I started taking my daughter at 2 yrs old and now my son out. to start, it's mild weather though to check trail cams and scout from a distance sitting in a tractor or truck. now at 8 yrs old my daughter can be with me in a blind hunting. still gets cold quick though. evening hunts too so you're not trying to get them up and out before daylight. 

Come on Dad invest in a buddy heater......they are an absolute life saver. We have been down to long sleeve shirts inside a blind on a 25 degree day!

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[turkeyfeathers]

I started taking my now 20 year old daughter as a toddler scouting turkeys in April . Every year I'd buy her new camo boots and camo clothing only to be worn acouple times then new stuff the following year. Sodfather and Moho got the hand me downs each year lol.  For their girls not actually for them. I'd let her hit the slate call at the opportune time bird on roost should gobble again. Smile ear to ear when he did. 

Snacks as mentioned even at 20 is a given

[moog5050]

Natalie started at 5.  She would sit a good hour before she wanted to go look for the deer.  Lol

[Bolt action]

I took my son with me on scouting runs and trail cam / stand maintenance trips starting around 4. He's been along for squirrel hunts and bunny hunts a few times. He's 8 now. This summer we went "hunting" a few times. Really we were scouting from a blind. I was teaching him to be still and quiet, etc. I brought him out with me back during the early antlerless season and he was pumped! Keep them warm, fed, and with something to do, and they'll have a blast. Like others have said, shooting something becomes secondary.

[Moho81]

2 hours ago, turkeyfeathers said:

 

Snacks as mentioned even at 20 is a given

Snacks at 41 is a given LOL 

[Moho81]

10 hours ago, mlammerhirt said:

My two boys walk around the house with grunt tubes and rattling antlers.....they work on calling each other in front different parts of the house.....some nights my wife and I just shake our heads and laugh.

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I mean that's freeking awesome! 

[Team Hoyt]

My son was 3.5 when he went out last year. He loved and we even stayed 2 hours. I was shocked but glad. Enjoyed every moment of it 

[mlammerhirt]

I mean that's freeking awesome! 

This scene gets better when their buddy(who is from a hunting family) comes over and two of them are hunters with nerf guns and the third has to be the deer. Out of know where one of them will go darting across the lawn with their hands up like antlers and Boom....he gets dropped on a dead sprint. Their imagination is unreal.

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[Swamp_bucks]

Oldest daughter was 8 or 9, youngest daughter was 7 and not since,  son will be another year or 2.