First Hunt to Take with 5 Year Old?

[CalebClick]

I live in Central Ky and enjoy traveling west to hunt. That being said, my most recent trips have began and ended with my sons questions on when he can tag along. As I began to think about it, I started to brainstorm what type of additional out of state trips I could take him on that would be a lot more enjoyable for a 5 year old. Whether it be big game, small game, or fishing, just was surfing for ideas what states would provide an adventure that would be enjoyable for a 5 year old that loves the outdoors. Am I being too ambitious, because he certainly would be ok with a week of backcountry squirrel hunting in the mountains of Ky as well. I just enjoy traveling and seeing and experiencing new places so an out of state hunt with him would be much more meaningful! Just was curious if anyone else had dealt with this and what trips yielded the best experiences for the young crowd? Thanks in Advance!

 

[BTLowry]

Anything where he can squirm around and not be quiet

Squirrels, birds and fishing are the first 3 that come to mind

 

[Hnthrdr]

Fishing, birds, I think you could maybe get away with antelope

 

[sndmn11]

Doe pronghorn and he can glass up a BC horned for for you

 

[Ucsdryder]

I live in Central Ky and enjoy traveling west to hunt. That being said, my most recent trips have began and ended with my sons questions on when he can tag along. As I began to think about it, I started to brainstorm what type of additional out of state trips I could take him on that would be a lot more enjoyable for a 5 year old. Whether it be big game, small game, or fishing, just was surfing for ideas what states would provide an adventure that would be enjoyable for a 5 year old that loves the outdoors. Am I being too ambitious, because he certainly would be ok with a week of backcountry squirrel hunting in the mountains of Ky as well. I just enjoy traveling and seeing and experiencing new places so an out of state hunt with him would be much more meaningful! Just was curious if anyone else had dealt with this and what trips yielded the best experiences for the young crowd? Thanks in Advance!

Here’s my 1.5 year old. He was on 3 antelope hunts this year.

 

[Jack321]

I've been in the same boat the last several yrs and what I've learned is shorter trips and times is best. They struggle to get up early and being in education I can tell you that their attention span is the same as their age. So a 5 yr old only has 5 min before they gotta be doing something else. 6 yr old = 6 min, etc.

So just be prepared with things for them to do.

At 5 or 6 my kids would come for an afternoon hunt for a few hrs and then be done. Around Thanksgiving we'd do a family squirrel hunt on a family farm, walk around with camo and a squirrel call. We'd sit for a few min, call a little, look around, then walk 10 yds and repeat. Did that for a few hrs. Then go back to the house for milk and cookies. Couple times we got some squirrels, other times we didn't. I'd let em bring their Nerf guns and walk in the woods to be part of the hunt. At the end I'd let em shoot the 10/22.

I've also had em in a ground blind deer hunting with my dad and I for a late afternoon sit. Brought coloring books, snacks, heater and YouTube on silent. Didn't see anything but got some neat pics with 3 generations in a deer pop up.

My daughter and I and my brother did the same thing turkey hunting. Daughter rode the ATV, same thing, coloring books, crayons, push button turkey calls. Sate for a few hours. Watched a hen walk by the decoys.

With kids, don't over complicate it. Your focus shouldn't be on "getting game" but just their more enjoyment and comfort. And TAKE IT SLOW, remember their interests may not be your interests. Plant seeds and slowly build them up and build their interest in it. Cuz I've seen em get jaded with things and they may not appreciate it and just expect success and "easy" 100% of the time. Allow them to struggle a little, but be there to help. Allow them to find deer tracks or grass hoppers or just exploring rocks and hitting sticks against tree trunks. Let em be kids and experience the outdoors with their natural curiosity and if they're loud, don't get angry, just understand it's part of the process and gently correct them.

Hunting with kids is all about them, not you. Just remember that going into it.

I also recommend inviting but don't push. If the don't want to, that's OK. I have a family member who pushed it on his kids and now they want nothing to do with hunting. I invite my kids now to every hunting or shooting thing and sometimes they come, other times they don't. For the past 5 yrs it's been slowly building and now they're to the age that my daughter can now start hunting. We're thinking of going to S. Dakota in the summer and may take a day to shoot Prarie dogs for a day or an afternoon. Got em both little. 22s and BB guns they think cans with. Got em a youth 20ga cuz my daughter wants to try turkey hunting. My son went 5 for 5 with my 22-250 out at 400 yds on a silhouette target. They both shoot 6 inch pie plates at 100 yds.

But that didn't happen over night. It's been 1 or 2 things here and there. Slowly building them and letting em go with me squirrel, deer, waterfowl hunting (all short hunts) making it comfortable with food and other things. And when they get cold or wet or cranky, the hunt is over. And slowly they build interest and eventually have a full blown hunting partner!

Just my $0.02.

 

[MTPipeliner]

Like others mentioned, you don’t need to go far or chase exotic animals to have a good time with kids- a campout in the back yard can be an adventure.

My kids have been hunting with me since they were 2- they are 12 and 14 now and can hunt themselves but when they were little we went on a boys weekend every year, it took me 5-6 years of those hunts before I was even able to kill a doe with them because they were loud, impatient, got cold, etc.

A couple memorable trips- my oldest was about 3 and we were deer hunting, we walked up a hill and literally could still see the truck less than 200 yards away, he thought it was time for a snack break, had a snack, sat for a bit and headed back to the truck.

Another time hunting with both kids, youngest wasn’t feeling good, we’re sitting on a log and out of nowhere he pukes all over himself and his stuffed animal. As were walking back to the truck I’m mad, but my oldest was about 5-6 at the time says “even though he got sick this was a really fun trip”

Just get them out and let them have fun, it doesn’t matter if you get anything. Take lots of snacks and warm clothes.

 

[7mm-08]

Skip chuckar hunting in Hells Canyon for 10 or so.

 

[OKHunter84]

You just have to be patient and realize they might screw your hunt up. Both my boys have spooked shooter bucks at one point. I now try to take them in squirrel hunts or after I've already taken a buck. I really don't feel like whitetail is good for starting out young, but my Dad started taking me when I was 4. When asking him now how he did it, he just says it depends on the kid.

Dove hunting is a great one cause they don't have to be quiet, they can go get the birds which is a plus.

 

[brancher147]

You know your kid better than anyone else. Do something fun where they can move and doesn’t have to be quiet and it’s not too cold or too much walking. Also I would want a back up plan if plan A didn’t work.

I have been taking my son deer hunting in the mountains since he was 4 and he is 6 now. He would walk farther and sit longer when he was 4 than now. About 1 hour is all he can sit and he doesn’t like to walk more than a few hundred yards (but it’s usually pretty steep) but he is not super excited about hunting yet. He loves to fish. If I was going on a trip with him it would be fishing with hunting as a back up plan

 

[willtim]

Two person whitetail stand. Take plenty of "entertainment" with you. Plenty of snacks. When he says he's bored, tired, cold, etc then leave. You want him to have fun.

 

[Watrdawg]

I started mine out at 3-4 yrs old with Dove hunts. AT the time we couldn't start shooting until Noon. They would come out with us at 8am and I'd let them run around crazy all morning. We would cook breakfast in the field and when ready they'd get to eat. They'd get dirty, run around the fields, finds all sorts of stuff to get caught up in and play with the dogs. By the time Noon rolled around they were ready to go home. My wife would come out and pick them up. When they were older they would bring their BB Guns and also get to shoot my 28ga. By the time they were 9 or so they would be shooting with us.

So basically get them out there let them have fun. Give him a job during the hunt ie; helping with glassing for animals. The Antelope hunts sound like a great idea. If for some reason you have to abandon hunting for that day do so and definitely don't get upset with your Son. The hunt is secondary.

 

[Dakota_Rookie]

I started my 4 year old son out with doves over a hemp field. A ton of birds and shooting that kept him interested and we were done fast. He had fun helping dad be the “bird dog”. Had plenty of drinks and snacks. It was a great time.

We’re also heading out this weekend on a deer “hunt”. I know there’s a 99% chance we don’t get anything but it’ll be a chance for him to go sit with me, even if we only last half an hour. We’ll probably only walk a couple hundred yards from the truck on some random public land and sit up against a tree. He’ll have his little binoculars and snacks. When he says he’s done, we’ll be done and walk back to the truck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[butcherboy]

I've been in the same boat the last several yrs and what I've learned is shorter trips and times is best. They struggle to get up early and being in education I can tell you that their attention span is the same as their age. So a 5 yr old only has 5 min before they gotta be doing something else. 6 yr old = 6 min, etc.

So just be prepared with things for them to do.

At 5 or 6 my kids would come for an afternoon hunt for a few hrs and then be done. Around Thanksgiving we'd do a family squirrel hunt on a family farm, walk around with camo and a squirrel call. We'd sit for a few min, call a little, look around, then walk 10 yds and repeat. Did that for a few hrs. Then go back to the house for milk and cookies. Couple times we got some squirrels, other times we didn't. I'd let em bring their Nerf guns and walk in the woods to be part of the hunt. At the end I'd let em shoot the 10/22.

I've also had em in a ground blind deer hunting with my dad and I for a late afternoon sit. Brought coloring books, snacks, heater and YouTube on silent. Didn't see anything but got some neat pics with 3 generations in a deer pop up.

My daughter and I and my brother did the same thing turkey hunting. Daughter rode the ATV, same thing, coloring books, crayons, push button turkey calls. Sate for a few hours. Watched a hen walk by the decoys.

With kids, don't over complicate it. Your focus shouldn't be on "getting game" but just their more enjoyment and comfort. And TAKE IT SLOW, remember their interests may not be your interests. Plant seeds and slowly build them up and build their interest in it. Cuz I've seen em get jaded with things and they may not appreciate it and just expect success and "easy" 100% of the time. Allow them to struggle a little, but be there to help. Allow them to find deer tracks or grass hoppers or just exploring rocks and hitting sticks against tree trunks. Let em be kids and experience the outdoors with their natural curiosity and if they're loud, don't get angry, just understand it's part of the process and gently correct them.

Hunting with kids is all about them, not you. Just remember that going into it.

I also recommend inviting but don't push. If the don't want to, that's OK. I have a family member who pushed it on his kids and now they want nothing to do with hunting. I invite my kids now to every hunting or shooting thing and sometimes they come, other times they don't. For the past 5 yrs it's been slowly building and now they're to the age that my daughter can now start hunting. We're thinking of going to S. Dakota in the summer and may take a day to shoot Prarie dogs for a day or an afternoon. Got em both little. 22s and BB guns they think cans with. Got em a youth 20ga cuz my daughter wants to try turkey hunting. My son went 5 for 5 with my 22-250 out at 400 yds on a silhouette target. They both shoot 6 inch pie plates at 100 yds.

But that didn't happen over night. It's been 1 or 2 things here and there. Slowly building them and letting em go with me squirrel, deer, waterfowl hunting (all short hunts) making it comfortable with food and other things. And when they get cold or wet or cranky, the hunt is over. And slowly they build interest and eventually have a full blown hunting partner!

Just my $0.02.

Excellent post!

 

[cnelk]

If you really want to build the ‘fire’ with kids and hunting, take them as mentioned above but not every time.

They know it’s fun, and if you hold them back every now and then their desire to go will build more than ever.

 

[Slickhill]

My son has been going with me since he was 11 months old. Diaper in my back pocket and him on my shoulders. Dove hunts, turkey hunting, deer, pigs, whatever. Mostly just out at one of our places so not more than a mile from the truck and not generally in bad weather. If I carried him on my shoulders he didn’t get tired so was up to go wherever. I’d let him take a dinosaur toy or something to keep him occupied. We killed hundreds of doves, a couple bucks, a big Tom turkey, and a few dozen pigs together just me and him before he was 5. I never made like it was a big adventure, just something that we do, and he fell right into it.

Fishing is probably easier, be as loud as he wants and move around finding treasures on the shoreline. We used to catfish at night during the hot months a lot. Catch bait before sundown and set up the lantern and watch the surf rods until 1 or 2 in the morning. It was cool for him because he got to stay up late and he’d always end up crashing out in the lawn chair. As he got a little bigger we started spending more time in the boat trolling. A 6 year old rarely gets tired of driving a boat, even just on idle dragging plugs for walleye.

Now he’s 9, shot a couple of his own deer and is a fair hand with a 410 on doves. We’ll be out after them for youth deer and elk this weekend and he’s already geared up and making plans.

 

[EdP]

My grandson will be 5 next spring so I have been thinking along the same lines. I don't think you will get better advice than what Jack 321 posted.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Fishing and squirrel for me. Bigger game once he's 8 or so and approach it like @cnelk recommended.

You can burn kids out without even knowing it when you force them to your level of intensity. My girls didnt tell me until recently how cold they used to get on whitetails hunts back in their preteen and teen years. Your kids want to please you, and they don't want to look weak, so try to be overly observant and sensitive to *all* their needs- warmth, food, engagement, etc... Consistently ask them if they're comfortable and having fun, and make sure they know they can tell you the truth even if it's not what you want to here. It can be easy to make assumptions about how much fun they're having when your having fun.

 

[Glendon Mullins]

I am a huge proponent of taking your kids for small game where they can get "plenty of action" on their first hunts etc. The quickest way to make a kid hate hunting is to take them whitetail deer hunting, where they have to sit all day and be super quiet and super still and may not see a darn thing.

Squirrels provide plenty of action, I assume waterfowl does too? or maybe like others have mentioned some kind of grouse/pheasant type birds out west may keep em busy too

 

[Dos Perros]

I have had a ball with my kids floating and fishing. I think it's busier than bank fishing because the scenery constantly changes, sometimes there's little dangers (rapids). It's one of my favorite things to do.