Kid on an Extended Hunt

[Backcountry_Preacher]

Does anyone have experience bringing their kid on an extended backpack style hunt?

I’m wanting to bring my 7 year old boy on this year’s elk hunt. I normally go for +/- 10 days.

It’d be quite the challenge for him but I feel confident he can do it. I’m curious if anyone else has tried and how it worked out for them.

 

[Yoder]

I would just take him out for a weekend ahead of time to see how he does. Camp out and hike all day and see if he can keep up. Then you'll know.

 

[Backcountry_Preacher]

I would just take him out for a weekend ahead of time to see how he does. Camp out and hike all day and see if he can keep up. Then you'll know.

We’ve done lots of trips like that and he does fine. I’m more worried that after 5 days, he’ll get bored or get home sick. I don’t live in a western state, so it could really foul things up.

 

[Scoot]

I took my 17 year old son on a backpack hunt. It was great but that's a thats a different deal than what you're asking. My son loves the outdoors and to hunt but I'm not sure he'd have been ready for the kind of backpack hunts I've typically done. I might have been able to scale back enough to make it work but definitely not sure.

Obviously, it'll depend on the individual kid a lot. It might be a great way to have a blast with him but it might be a good way to wreck it for a kid too. If you're willing to bail if he's struggling and maybe not push as hard as usual (that may not apply to you- I don't know how hard you usually push) it could work. Whatever you do I hope it works out great.

 

[jhm2023]

Comfort is key. Make sure the kiddo has comfortable boots and decent gear. Keep him warm, dry, fed and don't push him like you would without a kid. My now 8 year old daughter has been doing extended hunts since she was 2 and it has lowered success rates a bit, but the memories are worth it.

 

[missjordan]

We’ve done lots of trips like that and he does fine. I’m more worried that after 5 days, he’ll get bored or get home sick. I don’t live in a western state, so it could really foul things up.

We took our 3 year old last year not on a backpack style hunt but in our camper & wall tent. And about that 5th or 6th day he was over it. We probably will do more shorter trips this year and just take it a day at a time


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[ProStaffSteve]

I think thats way too young... leave him at home. Send him photos and call rgularily. You want to start a fire, not extinguish one.

 

[crich]

We’ve done lots of trips like that and he does fine. I’m more worried that after 5 days, he’ll get bored or get home sick. I don’t live in a western state, so it could really foul things up.

At that age its about the experience and making it fun. If he wants to punch out after 5 days then drive into town and spend the extra time sight seeing. Youre building a hunting partner Id hate to shy him away early because he was pushed too hard.

Im not implying thats what youd do but speaking to the "foul things up" part. In my mind, him having a shitty time and not wanting to go hunting again with dad would be the "foul things up part"

 

[Decker9]

My daughter has been backpacking in the mountains for sheep and goat with me since age 7 (packing her to goat cameras since a baby). The first couple trips were quad in with a wall tent and hike a bit, pretty easy stuff. Age 9, she joined me (and grandpa and step mom) on the hardest hike in sheep hunt of my 15+ seasons, she was a champ, literally blew my mind. The confidence that hunt put into that girl still shows to this day.

She took last year off (age 10), but will be flying in with us this year for 12 days of sheep hunting. If she has a handle on her Grendel by then, she'll be the shooter.

It’s not easy, keeping them occupied warm and happy all the time, waiting for them when you’re in a hurry, getting them up before first light, feeding them when it’s time to walk. Lots of things will change from what you’re use to, but that’s all part of training our future hunting partners!!.

If you’re good on the patients (I mean very good), I say take your son, I wouldn’t change my decisions for anything. My girl now 11, has seen more mountain time and critters then lots of grownups, heck, she can tell between billys and nannys better then most people now lol.

Something I found a great help, was our pack dogs. They’re so protective of my kid, they are always playing and cuddling, I think they brought a sense of home for her.

They never realize how much fun they had, until they get back home. If the trip isn’t going well, don’t stress it, those are memories that will stick forever.

My best childhood memory, is at 8 years old, cuddled up beside my dad under a balsam tree, in the rain sleet and snow, late September, on the wrong side of the mountain, cooking my first mountain goat on a stick over a fire. Man it sucked, at the time, but it sure forged me into who I am today though.

The suck never sucks in the end.

 

[Decker9]

Something else that helped with boredom, with me as a kid and now with my daughter, is building homes for “the little people of the mountains”

You can’t see them, but they’re there, and they need homes for when winter time comes. Not shittin ya, this was a big thing lol, it really did help a lot. The little people have homes scattered across the mountains now.

 

[Mtnmilsurp]

I started my sons on the Appalachian trail at ages 3 & 5. It took us about 12 hours hiking to cover 8 miles over 3 days on that first outing. I let them stop and play at every creek crossing.

They’re now 13 & 15 and we’ve done some grueling backcountry hunting and experienced some misery (frostbite, exhaustion, heavy snowfall, tent collapses, miles of deadfall) but each and every trip we’ve done has been over before they were ready to quit.

I think the ease of the early experiences set them up to always want to go further and hunt harder. These guys always want to check over the next ridge or peak into another drainage no matter how many miles we’ve put in or how deep the snow is up there. Now it seems like I’ve created two little fiends bent on proving they can outdo me.

 

[7mm-08]

As the father of a highly competent 30-something outdoorsman who has taken his son on many extended backpack hunts, I'm going to be the dissenting party here and just come right out and say that 7 is too young for the kind of adventure you describe. Others will probably hate me for saying this, but I've seen this go the other way with an acquaintance and his 9-year-old on a big backpacking hike with a mountain summit at the end. That kid, whose now in his early 20's, lost trust for his father PERMANENTLY over this little misadventure and he never went on another outdoor adventure with us. While I agree that a lot of it depends on the child and how you manage their deficiencies, this is something we want as parents and not something we're doing for a child or for their benefit. Slower is faster in this situation and Yoder's approach will pay huge dividends in the end with a lifelong hunting partner, which I now have.

 

[mooretitan]

For me it comes down to what they can pack and how much extra weight I am going to cover. A base camp and a couple days in and out is nothing but 10plus days on a true backpack hunt with you caring all the weight for that hunt might suck. Plus if you tag out that’s more trips and weight. The time frame and distance is second to the weight carried. Little guys walking around with 30-40 pounds of gear can crush those legs. My boys can go all day add some weight and things change

 

[Decker9]

For me it comes down to what they can pack and how much extra weight I am going to cover. A base camp and a couple days in and out is nothing but 10plus days on a true backpack hunt with you caring all the weight for that hunt might suck. Plus if you tag out that’s more trips and weight. The time frame and distance is second to the weight carried. Little guys walking around with 30-40 pounds of gear can crush those legs. My boys can go all day add some weight and things change

I believe it’s recommended that kids only pack 10-15 % of their body weight. 30-40 pounds on a young kid, would wreck the kid.

 

[Backcountry_Preacher]

My daughter has been backpacking in the mountains for sheep and goat with me since age 7 (packing her to goat cameras since a baby). The first couple trips were quad in with a wall tent and hike a bit, pretty easy stuff. Age 9, she joined me (and grandpa and step mom) on the hardest hike in sheep hunt of my 15+ seasons, she was a champ, literally blew my mind. The confidence that hunt put into that girl still shows to this day.

She took last year off (age 10), but will be flying in with us this year for 12 days of sheep hunting. If she has a handle on her Grendel by then, she'll be the shooter.

It’s not easy, keeping them occupied warm and happy all the time, waiting for them when you’re in a hurry, getting them up before first light, feeding them when it’s time to walk. Lots of things will change from what you’re use to, but that’s all part of training our future hunting partners!!.

If you’re good on the patients (I mean very good), I say take your son, I wouldn’t change my decisions for anything. My girl now 11, has seen more mountain time and critters then lots of grownups, heck, she can tell between billys and nannys better then most people now lol.

Something I found a great help, was our pack dogs. They’re so protective of my kid, they are always playing and cuddling, I think they brought a sense of home for her.

They never realize how much fun they had, until they get back home. If the trip isn’t going well, don’t stress it, those are memories that will stick forever.

My best childhood memory, is at 8 years old, cuddled up beside my dad under a balsam tree, in the rain sleet and snow, late September, on the wrong side of the mountain, cooking my first mountain goat on a stick over a fire. Man it sucked, at the time, but it sure forged me into who I am today though.

The suck never sucks in the end.

That’s a pretty awesome gal you got there!

 

[Backcountry_Preacher]

For me it comes down to what they can pack and how much extra weight I am going to cover. A base camp and a couple days in and out is nothing but 10plus days on a true backpack hunt with you caring all the weight for that hunt might suck. Plus if you tag out that’s more trips and weight. The time frame and distance is second to the weight carried. Little guys walking around with 30-40 pounds of gear can crush those legs. My boys can go all day add some weight and things change

Yea I’d have to carry all the gear. Not a big deal, I’d just have to move slower.

 

[TWHrunner]

If home wasn’t a plane ride away, you’d have an easy solution with a 5 day trip in, bring him out and you go back in for the last 5 days or vice versa. At his age, 10 days may be a bit too much as others have pointed out.

 

[EastHumboldt]

Best rule of thumb with kids. It’s ok to push their patience and endurance a little otherwise they may never develop either. But it requires tact, diplomacy, etc to figure out when it’s time to quit pushing them and take a break. My nephew first backpack hunting trip, we hunted hard for a few days. Then we took a day off and ate pop tarts, made camp furniture, played baseball with rock and stick. When my son was young, he’d get bored with fishing, so we would play” bomb the ship”. Throw a large stick in the creek and try to hit it with rocks.

 

[chapman8523]

Do it, son started sheep hunting at 9, both son and daughter have been on extended moose hunts from youth as well. Normal is what they know.

 

[Felix40]

There’s no way I would do that. My son (9) has been on a two night backpack trip, killed his first elk last year, was with me on a bear kill, and goes car camping pretty regularly. I would never try to take him on a 10 day backpack elk hunt. The list of issues I foresee is very long.

Kids have a tendency to get cold and wet. It’s very tiring to keep them comfortable if the weather gets bad. I don’t want to have to carry an entire gear list for a second person. A kid that age can’t possibly carry their own stuff and be expected to walk very far. There’s been many elk hunts I’ve gone on where just getting back to camp for food/water is a struggle. When I start packing meat, the last thing I want to do is keep a pace that a kid can keep up with. I don’t like to dilly dally around with 100 pounds in my pack. I want to be able to walk around the mountains and actually hunt elk. With a kid you end up spending all your time building fires, playing in creeks, catching bugs, etc. I personally don’t want to ruin my elk hunt by doing all that stuff. There’s a time and place for playing with kids and it’s not during your out of state backpack elk hunt.

There’s so many things a kid would enjoy more in the outdoors that I think this would be a waste of time for everyone. You’d spend all your time trying to make it fun for the kid which would ruin your hunt. Take the kid on a backpack squirrel or marmot hunt or fishing trip. Anything where both of you could have a fun successful trip. Even a regular backpacking trip would be better because you wouldn’t go into it thinking you had any chance of actually elk hunting. Pick a kids trip or a backpack elk hunt. I don’t see how you can do both at the same time.