Have Your Ever Hired a Babysitter So You Could Hunting?

[JFK]

Taking care of yourself, your mental health by doing things you enjoy IS taking care of your
kids. Parenting involves lots of sacrifice but you don’t need to be a martyr. It sounds like you already get lots of quality time with them. A day or half day here and there isn’t going to hurt anything or anyone.

 

[IdahoBeav]

Your kids will either hunt or not. You can bring them, and if they have a bad experience or it doesn't work for their personality they won't hunt with you as adults.

This^

I think a lot of guys push hunting on their kids too much, and youth tags for trophy class animals have not helped. Some people don't hunt, and that is completely fine. It's something that the child should loudly express interest in without need of persuasion.

 

[Kurts86]

Thanks for the replies.

I have messed around with taking the kids along at least for scouting. Hunting I haven’t and I won’t for a while. I once went scouting with a 3 year old on my back in an Osprey and a 9 month old in a baby bjorne on my chest. Quite frankly it was a lot easier with 1 kid than 2 to keep doing things because the older ends up walking and limits where you can go.

I’ve backed off a little after I nearly froze my son’s hands off on a scouting trip when he refused to wear gloves. It’s not fun to have a screaming child in the middle of the woods when you just took half an hour wading below the ordinary high water mark to access a piece of public. None of my hunting particularly conducive to taking the kids like walking to a preset blind on private. I already worry I pushed my son too hard too early due to one day.

I feel like what I’m dealing with is a bit less traditional that what I saw growing up. I always had 3 grandparents within 2 miles to help out my parents and while both worked neither was working 80 hours in a week. We actually just moved to be 2 hours away from family instead of halfway across the country. Previously we were multiple states away with 2 kids and no family nearby to help. I’ve probably done more than double the diaper changes of my wife when it wasn’t uncommon to have a husband that never changed a diaper a generation ago. It’s currently hard to find time to get out of the house to get a haircut, let alone a hunting trip.

I’ve gone into this whole family situation quite consciously knowing it wasn’t going to be “normal” but that doesn’t make it easy. We are also in a place where financially it wouldn’t be in any way reckless to hire a babysitter. Quite honestly lots of people with my wife and my career have nanny’s either part or full time. I don’t feel like getting out for a few hours I’m missing my kids grow up, rather it’s more about a little sanity.

The biggest headache is finding a good or consistent babysitter, especially post Covid when the lower end of labor has changed drastically.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

If you hire a baby sitter, make sure you hire one that is a hot chick.

 

[william schmaltz]

We budget to fly each grandma up once a year to watch kids for a week. It works out well. And honestly probably costs less than most people on Rokslide spend on new gear/rifles/optics a year.

Unfortunately most of the type of hunting we do is just not even feasible for kids under about 10. Having a kid weathered in for days in a tent with literally no way to get out and no entertainment isn’t the best way to get them excited about hunting. We’re close, my 6 year old wants to come moose hunting next year. We do a lot of “hunting”, which is bringing binos and Mtn house on standard day hikes. Kids love that.

 

[Wrench]

This^

I think a lot of guys push hunting on their kids too much, and youth tags for trophy class animals have not helped. Some people don't hunt, and that is completely fine. It's something that the child should loudly express interest in without need of persuasion.

My son pulled an Idaho youth tag at 11 and even though he killed an elk he wasn't "into" it.

I probably screwed up because I was leaning on him after having a half a dozen elk in the scope and him not pulling the trigger. He didn't ask to hunt again for 2 years. This year at 14, something clicked and suddenly he's willing to do anything to hunt with me. I put him on a deer and he wasted no time. He missed a short window that most of us wouldn't have got screwed down in time and beat himself up over it. I think he's hooked. He's actually my step son but he's my only real chance at a boy and I treat him as I would my own...and sometimes push a bit too hard.

We're both learning. Regardless, I am lucky to live the life I have and I simply hope when my kids are my age, they can say the same.

 

[Wrench]

Ps, if you bring your infant daughter home with blood stains on her snow suit.....be prepared for mom to freak out a bit.

 

[KurtR]

I have not but I see nothing wrong with doing it. Its ok to get one to go out for the night why not to go hunting.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Naw. They're pretty durable.

View attachment 636612View attachment 636613

Pick of the little in behind the rifle is priceless, that is a serious look on her face hahaha

 

[SDHNTR]

Did it regularly when my kids were younger! Made getting hall passes, especially on out of state hunts, soooo much easier!

 

[MTPipeliner]

We’ve done it so that both my wife and I could go at the same time. I’ve taken my boys with me at least one weekend since they were 2, those years when they were young I didn’t get far from the truck and we didn’t see that much game, but every year we still a boys weekend that started with those hunts when they were small.

Agree that each parent needs time to do what they enjoy.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I am in a very similar boat as you OP, wife does the real bread winning, I still have a career, but am full time childcare, Mr. Mom a lot of the time. Only difference is I used to get out and about 80-120 days a year pre kiddos with big game and upland/duck and predator and scouting now I’m down to 1 elk hunt, and 1 muley hunt a year, usually just 3-4 days Oh and wayyyy too much time on hunting forums . I sprinkle in maybe a predator day here and there if I can but my time has been cut to 1/10th of usual. Bit of a change haha it sucks but kids are awesome! I use family to help out my wife when I’m gone, I plan on taking my almost 2 year old daughter on my back a bunch this next archery season, I imagine I will be just hiking more than hunting but sometimes that’s okay, she already knows all about bulls and bucks and knows bugles and mews.

Life adjustment is an understatement, my mom told me children are the sandpaper that rubs the selfishness off you, I really understand it now.

I think my kid hopefully future kids will get a fun upbringing and introduced to things that are seemingly becoming rare. Plan ahead and include your kids in your plans, buy suppressors if you haven’t! Change your mindset when you are with your kiddo to keep them engaged and having fun, I have buddies that all went through what I’m going through, now a lot of them have kids that are hunting too, buddies 15 yr old can almost out hike him and killed a nice bull this year

 

[chasewild]

We budget to fly each grandma up once a year to watch kids for a week. It works out well. And honestly probably costs less than most people on Rokslide spend on new gear/rifles/optics a year.

Unfortunately most of the type of hunting we do is just not even feasible for kids under about 10. Having a kid weathered in for days in a tent with literally no way to get out and no entertainment isn’t the best way to get them excited about hunting. We’re close, my 6 year old wants to come moose hunting next year. We do a lot of “hunting”, which is bringing binos and Mtn house on standard day hikes. Kids love that.

We're on the same program.

 

[AG8]

This^

I think a lot of guys push hunting on their kids too much, and youth tags for trophy class animals have not helped. Some people don't hunt, and that is completely fine. It's something that the child should loudly express interest in without need of persuasion.

Agreed. Spot on.

 

[Austink47]

We got a babysitter for the opening day of pheasant season this year. I am all about getting my daughter out in the field but she can’t get around in the tall grass and I did not want here to hear me cussing at the dog. It is a difficult balance but I need time to be me in order to be fully engaged as a parent. Same thing with taking time to work out. It is okay to spend a little less time with your kids if it makes the time you do spend with them better.

 

[roadrunner]

I'll add, if your wife likes to go, get a babysitter or take them with you. If not, don't take advantage of her vacation days to babysit while you go, unless she wants to.

The final decision is what the two of you discuss and not what a bunch of hunting forum heros do/did...

 

[Duh]

Ps, if you bring your infant daughter home with blood stains on her snow suit.....be prepared for mom to freak out a bit.

My wife encourages that haha.

 

[KenLee]

Yes many times to stay with my elderly Mama with Alzheimers while I went hunting.

 

[Dewy]

We had twins first and then another girl two years later. I was a firefighter, retired now, and my wife worked on the days I was off. Leaving the firehouse after a busy 24hr shift and taking care of two, three month old infants, John Wayne style was a tremendous adjustment for me. When hunting season came around we often hired a babysitter or had my mom come over to watch them for a few hours.
Can’t say that I didn’t have conflicting feelings about it at the time but it caused no harm to my kiddos.
Thinking about it more I also took the twins to the gym every day, where the daycare at the gym would watch them for two hours while I worked out and showered. Hunting was for mental health while the gym was for physical health.

 

[TWHrunner]

Kids turned my dreams of being a mountain man in all my spare time to only those trips that they could do with me together. That meant an elk hunt became a grouse hunt. Forget about a sheep hunt. And when they were really, really young, the closest I got to a hunt was a “fishing from a dock” hunt. Which was fishing, not hunting. But that was all we could handle. But with time, a grouse hunt became a deer hunt. Next year, the youngest will go elk hunting. Like someone else said, it’s not forever, but hunting is a tradition that I have to offer them. And isn’t that what it’s all about…THEM.