Should hunting be uncomfortable? -Bringing up young hunters

[Amos Keeto]

I took my 3.5 year old out for his first few squirrel hunts this year. I knew just sitting still would be the hardest part for him so I made sure I had as much stuff to make it otherwise comfortable as possible. He did really well at walking fairly quietly and not talking a whole bunch. He wanted to make sure he had his "onoculars" though so he could look at stuff. We hunted as long as he could stand it (a little over and hour) and then left. It's prime rifle season for deer right now so I don't want to have him in the woods with everybody else, but after Friday a good portion of where I hunt turns to buck only and most people stop hunting it. I'll let him decide if he wants to hunt anymore at that point.

As he gets older, my plan is to keep slowly building on his experiences, so long as he's still interested. There's a certain amount of mandated hunting that's going to happen just for the exposure. Kids don't get to make every decision.

I guess first, let me explain as to "Why?".
I was born in 1950. My dad and grampa bought a deer lease in 1952.
I am an only son. I was my grampa's only grandson. My maternal grandfather passed away in 1932, so i never knew him.
So to say I was the center of attention is an understatement!

The first time dad took me deer hunting, I was 3 years old!
He would piggy back me up into a tree stand, wrap me in a blanket and tie me to the tree so I wouldn't go to sleep and fall out.
First three years, we stayed in a surplus Army tent.
When I was 6, dad, grampa and grampa's brother (great uncle) built a 12'×12' one room camphouse.
I was devastated when 1st grade rolled around and mom told me I couldn't go hunting. I had to go to school!
I was absolutely heart broken!
I grew up hunting that same lease until 1981.
I'm 74 years old.
So I've hunted and fished for approximately 71 years now! LOL!

When I finally got old enough to sit on a stand alone, I sat patiently on a wooden platform, 12 feet off the ground, shivering like a dog passing peach seeds!
Rain dripping off the brim of my cap.
Mosquitos big as turkeys gnawing on my tender young hide through the 6•12 Mosquito Repellent.
Wading the Neches river bare foot casting an Arbogast #2 Hawaiian Wiggler in pursuit of pink eyes and large mouth.
Me and dad and grampa fished and hunted all over Anderson County!

Comfort was always secondary to the intended quarry.

When grampa turned 78, he decided he wasn't going to hunt on cold mornings.
One of the guys in camp showed up one day with a box stand and set it up for my grampa to hunt out of.
Grampa was sitting in a heated box blind, killing deer, while the rest of us were humped up in a tree on a frost covered board. Shivering like a .....well, dog! LOL!
Next year, there were box blinds in everybody's favorite "spot".

I have no problem, at my age, being as comfortable as possible.
I don't think today's kids would go through what I went through, just to go to the lake/river/creek/lease with dad and grampa!

 

[Rich M]

My earliest memories are woods and water related with my parents. I was fishing in diapers, "hunting" w mom's shotgun at 4 or 5 and falling into frozen creeks, backwoods adventures - canvas tents, feeding rabbits kix cereal, etc.

We bought some land and been dragging my 80-something father along every time we go - dad and i do something every weekend, usually fishing or hunting or shooting related anyway. Canvas tent, chain saws, and fire grates. Leaving in the morning - he's all packed and excited to go. Good stuff. Total reversal from all those years ago when I was the one who couldn't wait to go. Planting 150 trees this weekend, cutting up storm-downed trees, maybe some fishing or shoot a buck if one walks out in the pasture, but mainly doing what we have always done as a family - being together.

Bottom line is you raise the kid how you want them to be later in life. Your kids - your decisions, you will love them forever, no matter what. Enjoy your time with them.

 

[Amos Keeto]

"Teach your son to hunt and you'll never have to hunt your son!"

 

[Glory]

Make it fun and don’t be an jerk. If you are demanding they are perfectly still and silent, they will hate it.

Every kid is different as far as tolerance for discomfort.

 

[txtransplant]

Might be a good read.

The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort to Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self https://a.co/d/8lCFzV6

 

[7mm-08]

Careful how you proceed with this decision is all I have to say. I have an acquaintance who completely ruined the possibility of his son ever hunting with him by thinking a nine year old should enjoy the suck of a multi-day back country backpack hunt that involved hours upon hours of spotting. The kid lost confidence in his father's judgment and the now 19 year old son hasn't done anything outdoors with his father in 10 years. Self inflicted.

 

[Amos Keeto]

Careful how you proceed with this decision is all I have to say. I have an acquaintance who completely ruined the possibility of his son ever hunting with him by thinking a nine year old should enjoy the suck of a multi-day back country backpack hunt that involved hours upon hours of spotting. The kid lost confidence in his father's judgment and the now 19 year old son hasn't done anything outdoors with his father in 10 years. Self inflicted.

That is exactly why beginner hunting trips should start with squirrels, doves or some other game where there is more activity.
If backpacking is your "thang", start with short, daytime trips. The first overnight trip should be close to home and in good weather. No bugs, no snow, no rain!
Hey, even the backyard will work for a starter!

My experiences in the early 50's were fraught with discomforts and disappointments ....but.... I was so intent on going "with" grampa and dad, I probably would have walked over broken glass barefoot to trail along behind them!

One of the problems these days is having the time off work in today's economy.
It's tough!

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

I would question almost the opposite way. But I am 99% Dickhead from birth.

If it needs to be that cushy, soft and 100% guarantee of bagging an animal....

What's the Point or the End Goal? Why bother?

Go to Chuck E. Cheese, play video games with them, enjoy their sport or band performance with them.

If it takes that much effort, they are doing it for YOU, not them.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

To my above point.....it would be different. If your kid is sleeping in his camo, or sleeps in the truck to make sure you don't forget them. Totally different kid.

I think most kids 7-10 like the IDEA of hunting. And instant success. Watch Michael Waddell schlock monsters all day on the TV. If you provide anything less than that, and can't edit three days of hunting down to a cool 20 minutes and a ton of High Fives.....yawn...Pass. "Can I play on your phone now Dad?"

I think Western kids are way different. Way more hardy. Way more grit. A Montana prairie kid who farms and ranches....I'd push that kid a bit. But they're also the ones probably sleeping in the truck to not be forgotten.

 

[Glory]

Careful how you proceed with this decision is all I have to say. I have an acquaintance who completely ruined the possibility of his son ever hunting with him by thinking a nine year old should enjoy the suck of a multi-day back country backpack hunt that involved hours upon hours of spotting. The kid lost confidence in his father's judgment and the now 19 year old son hasn't done anything outdoors with his father in 10 years. Self inflicted.

Exactly. You can ruin a kid quickly by putting a kid in a situation they are not ready or mature enough to handle. Getting your kids involved in hunting is a process that means you sacrifice prime hunting times and locations to lay the foundation of hunting with your kids. I hunt with all three of my kids individually. My girls are athletes and can do any hunt I throw at them as long as I keep the time in the woods reasonable and I am very kind to them in the hunt. I treat them about a well as i can and bend over backwards for them to make sure they want to do it again. My little guy (6YO) will do any hunt as long as an atv is involved and he gets to drive. When we hike he has his bow with him at all times. He's convinced that one day he will shoot a buck. That keeps him engaged and triples his attention span.

 

[Amos Keeto]

I would question almost the opposite way. But I am 99% Dickhead from birth.

If it needs to be that cushy, soft and 100% guarantee of bagging an animal....

What's the Point or the End Goal? Why bother?

That's why surgeons start out as interns.
That's why kids start out with T-ball.
That's why you start a kid with a .22LR instead of a .300 Win Mag!

Have a little empathy. Let a beginner "succeed" a time or two. They will learn in time why it's called "hunting" rather than "killing"!
Don't set a kid up for constant failure, but let them learn that success isn't a walk in the park.
"Hunting" is searching for success.

I began deer hunting solo when I was about 10. Prior to that, I followed dad and grampa all over Keechi Creek bottom shooting squirrels and ducks or dove hunting on grampa's farm.
I was 17 before I finally killed a deer.
Lot's of cold, frosty, windy, wet, rainy, sticky hot, mosquito infested hours sitting on a board in a tree before finally connecting!
....but I never gave up on hunting!

....and I never had to worry about dad or grampa "forgetting" me.
If I was left at home, I always knew why!
....whether I liked it or not!