Taking 5 year old hunting?

[BoltActionBrotherhood]

I started taking me son when he was two. But he is an advanced kid to start with. When I mean take, I mean literally hiking 5 miles, getting up at 4am, and actually hunting, snd he did it all on his own accord.
it took a few times for him to figure it out, so maybe take her small game hunting or something first.
but now he is 3, he walks quietly, knows how to stay quite and why he is staying quite, he spot and identifies tracks and scat of about 5 different animals, and is currently learning how to read and use wind to your advantage.
I also tried to expose him to gun fire as early as possible so he wasn’t afraid of it. He has now shot out to 200 yards with my 224 Valkyrie.
They are sponges as this age and will absorb all the information you give them. For my son it’s a shared passion, he love it. I think if your kid is not into it, it would be a lot hard to accomplish.
here is my boy.

and yes, he helped clean the rabbit lol

 

[540-Virginian]

Some of y’all are just badasses. Think my kids would trade up if given the choice!

Seriously, some badass kids and families in this thread!

 

[Seth]

Both of my kids have been coming since they were infants. One of my favorite field photos is of my wife with two pronghorn does, and our daughter (2) and son (6 mos) sitting with her.

Make the hunt about the kid, and pay attention to the great advice around snacks, keeping her warm, and making it fun. When she’s ready to leave, then go.

My kids are now 13 and 11, my daughter has taken a mule deer and an elk, and my son would live on the mountain, if I would let him.

 

[Dos Perros]

I welcome more experienced parents to comment, but I think there is value in some “just a little bit further,” “just a little bit longer.” Kids don’t know how deep their well is, it’s our jobs as parents to put them in (safe) situations where they have to dig just a little deeper. That’s how they grow.

 

[Seth]

Fully agree with Dos Perros... stretching time and distance with positive encouragement is part of it. Let’s try 10 more minutes, or maybe we can go a little further pays off in hunting and in life. Lots of life lessons to be learned in this pursuit, if we look for them and discuss them.

 

[Lowg08]

I welcome more experienced parents to comment, but I think there is value in some “just a little bit further,” “just a little bit longer.” Kids don’t know how deep their well is, it’s our jobs as parents to put them in (safe) situations where they have to dig just a little deeper. That’s how they grow.

My dad used to do that to me all the time but I was 12 or 13. It only ever worked one time. Killed a deer at 11:45 that morning. Now. I did that to my 11 year old. Around age 9. He will be 12 this September He can and will sit all day. Dark to dark

 

[buckpro]

Every kid is different, mine started early, as they have been surrounded by dead critters all their life. Never make them go, ask or make them ask imo.



My 8 year old killed his first turkey and deer at age 5 and has killed multiple deer ducks and turkeys since. This year my 5 year old, killed his first turkey in April and first deer last week. I never asked them if they wanted to shoot, they were already begging, so when they did, the practice started and they had to prove themselves, besides me being cautious turning the safety off, the rest was up to them. My 5YO is all business and surprisingly laser focused. My oldest though has missed 3 turkeys, kid literally hyperventilates like Stan Potts and has to calm himself down before shooting.

 

[Boarmaster]

Go for it. Just temper your expectations on how still she will be and you probably know better what her attention span is. Even grown hunters differ. I can set still against a tree about all day but I got hunting buddys that cant sit still for 5 minutes let alone hours. They are up wandering around an hour after daylight. I dont complain as they get the deer moving around.

 

[Glendon Mullins]

Chuck you know where I live and how close I live to you, and here are my suggestions:

You know how cold it can get later in the season up here, So I try to pick days of "fairer" weather to take the kids. Bow Season, our early muzzleloader generally is great as well.

Take stuff to pass the time for them, or to make it more comfy for them if that means a teddy bear or ironman toy, let em take one lol.

I also generally do not wear facepaint while hunting, except when I take the kids. But here's the trick to it..... We don't put it on until we sit down at our stand etc. Applying the camo facepaint, means at least 30-45 minutes of quiet time (cause they are really concentrating) with relatively little movement. lol plus it's fun for them. and yes kitty kat face paint on them or yourself is accepted.

Also some cheap binos for kids from wal mart will occupy their time as well lol. Keep your grunt call hidden though cause they will want to "call the deer" over and over and over and over and over and well u get my point lol

Be prepared to be mobile, they do get bored sitting in one spot for too long especially if u aren't seeing any game and they will let u know....multiple times lol. While I try to make em tough it out for a while for teach them to be still, and such, you don't want to make it an "unpleasant" experience. Once it's to the point they wont be still etc. there is nothing wrong with going for a "walk" they enjoy the exploration, and I am sure u know it is possible to kill deer while on the move up here too. Of course harder with a bow, but u get my point.

Take plenty of snacks!!! LOL and by plenty I mean roll up a dump truck and empty it into your pack (if they are anything like my kids anyway)

As far as the killing part, mine have always been super curious about all that and even the field dressing didnt bother them one bit, as a matter of fact I had to basically give a biology lesson when field dressing a deer... "whats that part" was asked pretty much the whole time etc.

 

[Dbat]

Make it fun for her like an adventure, the serious hunting can be for later time.

 

[stealthycat]

I took my son at that age but he only watched - he had to shoot himself and all himself before he participated in filling his tags etc and that was when he was 9 (he killed a turkey and deer his first year)

 

[JBrown1]

I started taking my daughter hunting and hiking when she was old enough to ride in a baby backpack. This is the story of our first antelope after we moved to Wyoming. She had just turned 4.
“Renee and I went antelope hunting in Worland. We headed out at 5am. Renee was back to sleep by 5:30. I left her in the truck and made a few short stalks(keeping the truck in sight) but each time I came up empty-handed. About 6am I drove to a new area and got out to look things over.

A few minutes later I spotted a doe standing broadside about 100 yards away. Renee was still asleep in the cab of the truck with the windows partially open and I was only standing a few feet away so I ducked and moved around the back bumper. When I stood the doe was still there so I touched one off. As I came down from the recoil the doe was nowhere to be seen so I figured she dropped where she stood. I just knew that the shot would wake Renee and scare the daylights out of her so I ran around to the front of the truck. To my surprise she was still fast asleep.

I walked out and looking for the doe. 100 yards sure seems a long way to walk when you are looking for an antelope hidden in bitterbrush that is devoid of landmarks. I even had that odd feeling where you question if the animal was really there or if you were seeing a ghost. I found the antelope and it was shot quite well through the lungs.

I drug it back to the truck and woke Renee. She was excited and asked me a million questions as I field dressed and quartered the antelope. A neighboring rancher stopped and congratulated us and thanked us for thinning the heard.

It was getting hot and I knew it would be over 90 degrees soon so we headed back to town to get the meat on ice. While driving across the ranch we spotted a beautiful buck antelope near the road. We watched as he jumped a fence and crossed in front of us. He trotted out into the sagebrush and stopped on a little rise 150 yards out. Not many things look as beautiful as a mature pronghorn standing sky-lined in the sage.

After a long silent period Renee said, "I hope that antelope is going to be OK." Immediately I knew she was talking about the one I killed, but I prayed that she was talking about the buck we had just watched cross the road. With a healthy dose of wishful thinking I said, "that buck? He's fine. Did you see him jump that fence? He's just looking for a place to rest." As I knew she would, Renee jumped in and said, "No, I'm talking about the one you killed."

I paused wondering what you say to a 4 year old who voiced concern for an animal that she just witnessed you field dressing and quartering. The "all antelopes go to heaven" speech crossed my mind, but I knew that she deserved better than that. Before I could decide where to start in explaining that all animals must die and that this one would serve a purpose Renee interrupted my train of thought with: "Well, I guess we'll just have to eat it to find out."

You have to love that little girl!”


I’ve also included a picture of Renee with her first caribou when she was 11. It was -20f and she took it with one shot from her 257 Roberts at 200 yards.

The last picture is her with a muley that we got when she was 6.

 

[hunterjmj]

We started taking our antelope hunting at 3 & 5. Not easy and you can't do what you normally would do but it's a blast and our kids love it! Keep them warm, don't overdo it and just make it fun!

 

[Pony Soldier]

A friend of mine took his wife and youngest baby hunting. Who knew a hungry baby would call in a huge bull elk. His wife drew the line at the last kid. So much for finding the secret.

 

[coiloil37]

I started taking my kids at 1.5 years old. They hunted everything with me from upland, waterfowl, deer, elk, moose, bears, predators, gophers, you name it they came with me. I changed diapers in the bush and they all rode on my back as needed. They’re only 4, 7 and 9 now and I wouldn’t trade those years for anything. Nobody knows a kid better then their parent but from my experience it’s certainly not to early. Imo you’ve missed some of the best years already so best start making up time.

 

[Pony Soldier]

The toughest part is after forming those bonds, they get on with their lives and you get to end your life alone.

 

[MeatMissile]