RaggedHunter
WKR
Man this is a great thread. Tons of great advice on here. I am about a month away from having 3 boys, 3 and under myself. The thought of being outnumbered is weighing heavy on my wife and I.
So much of what has been said in this thread resonates with my own experiences. I am still learning the ropes and rolling with the punches myself. One thing that I have noticed to piggy back off what someone said about each kid being different and having different needs. This is true, but also as kids grow, their individual needs change and what was working for that kid may not be working now. What a kid needs at 1 is much different than what they need at 2 and 3 and so on.
Hunts will certainly look a bit different now than they did before you had kids. I try and take my kids along for fishing and stuff like grouse, squirrels, and turkeys. They love being in the hills. I cannot wait to start taking them on bigger hunts, but for now my biggest priority is making sure they have fun, aren't miserable and making it something they look forward to doing. We pack lots of snacks, dig up lots of worms under cow pies, all the stuff that a 3 year old things are fun. Sometimes we spend more time digging worms and untangling lines than we do actually fishing , but man when you get to watch him reel one in and see how excited he is, it's better than the biggest fish you ever caught. My 3 year old also loves to take his bow in the woods "hunting" which primarily consists of looking for arrows... He also loves hunting grasshoppers with his Red Ryder, and to be honest he has bagged a couple that would probably make net book.
The first year or so is tough, you are limited on what all you can do. But once they are a bit older, In my experience, it is easiest way to watch the kids if you are doing fun engaging things with them. If they are cooped up around the house, those are the most trying times. But if you are outside, doing things they find fun, they listen better, and are flat out easier to handle.
This past spring I took my oldest turkey hunting. We got one, took it home and cut it up in little strips, breaded them and made little turkey fingers, he got to help with all the steps. For a kid that can be a bit of a picky eater, he absolutely crushed that meal. He ate 4 big helpings of turkey fingers that night. He asked me the next day if we could go shoot another turkey and eat that for dinner again tonight. He was baffled when I told him we could not shoot another turkey and had to wait till next season.
My wife is incredible, and knows that hunting fills my cup. So she takes on the full burden of both the kids to allow me to get out for a day or two on some big game hunts. It's certainly different now, not being able to backpack in and get lost for multiple days at a time. It has forced me to learn some new country closer to home and approach things a bit differently than I used to. This has not been all bad though, as I was fortunate to kill my best buck this past weekend. I had been telling my 3 year old about the big buck I had found, showing him pictures of the buck and hyping it up. When I called my wife to tell her I got him, she had me on speaker phone and I could hear my son in the background cheering, "YES! my dad got the big buck!" man, that got me. My wife said he ran to his room and got his camo on for when I got home so he could get his picture taken with the buck. There is nothing better than making memories with your kids, and seeing them get excited. Include them any way you can.
But just as much as hunting fills my cup, my wife knows this and she steps up to give me that opportunity. It's just as important to know what fills her cup and return the favor. It takes a conscious effort to maintain your relationship with your wife. Remember you are a team, tackle things as a team, lean on each other, and don't work against each other.
You're going to make mistakes. The biggest thing for me has been learning to recognize these mistakes, own them and work on correcting them.
So much of what has been said in this thread resonates with my own experiences. I am still learning the ropes and rolling with the punches myself. One thing that I have noticed to piggy back off what someone said about each kid being different and having different needs. This is true, but also as kids grow, their individual needs change and what was working for that kid may not be working now. What a kid needs at 1 is much different than what they need at 2 and 3 and so on.
Hunts will certainly look a bit different now than they did before you had kids. I try and take my kids along for fishing and stuff like grouse, squirrels, and turkeys. They love being in the hills. I cannot wait to start taking them on bigger hunts, but for now my biggest priority is making sure they have fun, aren't miserable and making it something they look forward to doing. We pack lots of snacks, dig up lots of worms under cow pies, all the stuff that a 3 year old things are fun. Sometimes we spend more time digging worms and untangling lines than we do actually fishing , but man when you get to watch him reel one in and see how excited he is, it's better than the biggest fish you ever caught. My 3 year old also loves to take his bow in the woods "hunting" which primarily consists of looking for arrows... He also loves hunting grasshoppers with his Red Ryder, and to be honest he has bagged a couple that would probably make net book.
The first year or so is tough, you are limited on what all you can do. But once they are a bit older, In my experience, it is easiest way to watch the kids if you are doing fun engaging things with them. If they are cooped up around the house, those are the most trying times. But if you are outside, doing things they find fun, they listen better, and are flat out easier to handle.
This past spring I took my oldest turkey hunting. We got one, took it home and cut it up in little strips, breaded them and made little turkey fingers, he got to help with all the steps. For a kid that can be a bit of a picky eater, he absolutely crushed that meal. He ate 4 big helpings of turkey fingers that night. He asked me the next day if we could go shoot another turkey and eat that for dinner again tonight. He was baffled when I told him we could not shoot another turkey and had to wait till next season.
My wife is incredible, and knows that hunting fills my cup. So she takes on the full burden of both the kids to allow me to get out for a day or two on some big game hunts. It's certainly different now, not being able to backpack in and get lost for multiple days at a time. It has forced me to learn some new country closer to home and approach things a bit differently than I used to. This has not been all bad though, as I was fortunate to kill my best buck this past weekend. I had been telling my 3 year old about the big buck I had found, showing him pictures of the buck and hyping it up. When I called my wife to tell her I got him, she had me on speaker phone and I could hear my son in the background cheering, "YES! my dad got the big buck!" man, that got me. My wife said he ran to his room and got his camo on for when I got home so he could get his picture taken with the buck. There is nothing better than making memories with your kids, and seeing them get excited. Include them any way you can.
But just as much as hunting fills my cup, my wife knows this and she steps up to give me that opportunity. It's just as important to know what fills her cup and return the favor. It takes a conscious effort to maintain your relationship with your wife. Remember you are a team, tackle things as a team, lean on each other, and don't work against each other.
You're going to make mistakes. The biggest thing for me has been learning to recognize these mistakes, own them and work on correcting them.
