Taking our daughter/ Moffat 2019 Trips

[Becca]

One of my goals for 2019 was to do a better job of documenting our outdoor adventures (hunting and otherwise) with our 2 year old daughter, Molly. Before she was born, Luke and I both committed to continuing hunting and outdoor hobbies as a family, but it was hard to know what that would really look like until she arrived and we started actually taking her along. In the last 2ish years Molly has spent around 140 nights in the field, which is actually not much less than our average in the years before we had her, although we have admittedly done some different types of trips. To date we've hunted moose, caribou, black bear, black tail deer and brown bear as a family and done trips hiking, via boat and ATV, as well as 3 Kodiak fly outs.

I've been kicking around thoughts for a "taking your baby or toddler" hunting article for awhile now, and will probably try to make that happen sometime soon. In the meantime I figured I could start a thread to document what we are doing this year, sharing our adventures and a little of what goes into taking a small child on backcountry trips in Alaska.

 

[Becca]

We started 2019 with a lot of time at our cabin in interior AK where we enjoyed winter activities like skiing and ice fishing. In March we did a 4 day/3 night winter camping trip 80 miles round trip via snow machine (snow mobile).

Skiing and hiking on short days

Ready for a snow machine ride to go ice fishing

Ice fishing

Our winter camping abode, no lightweight gear for this trip

 

[Dexter Grayson]

Looking forward to it! Will definitely be taking notes.

 

[Becca]

In early May, we flew to Kodiak for 8 days with Luke's parents for a brown bear hunt. The logistics of fly out hunts are complicated, and even more so when you add a toddler to the mix. I won't lie, this trip was a lot of work for Luke and I, as it was really important to us that everyone had a good time and stayed comfortable on the trip.

We experienced some pretty foul weather (not that unusual for Kodiak), but still managed to help my father-in-law fill his tag on a beautiful blond bear. Molly amazed us with her adventurous attitude, often wanting to go "outside!" even when the rest of us were happy staying warm and dry in the tent.

Molly loves riding in the float plane, and wears her "airplane ears" without complaint

Tidal conditions made it impossible to get the float plane to the camp spot, so Luke and I used the packrafts to barge all our gear 500 yards

A huge, comfy camp helped make it enjoyable even with subpar weather for most of the trip

Entertaining an active toddler in a tent for a week was a challenge. Molly enjoyed coloring, books and games when it wasn't nice enough to be outside

Anytime it wasn't raining or blowing we tried to get out for a bit

Hiking to a high spot to glass the only really nice day we had

A family trip we will remember forever

 

[Mark]

Truly an inspiration for all. It's great to see Molly growing up in such a beautiful place and enjoying the outdoors lifestyle. The fact that you guys haven't slowed down much, if any, shows that your passion for the Alaskan outdoors is exactly where all of you belong. And your commitment to family and taking Molly along is just amazing to see.

Thank you for sharing your family adventures with us, Becca.

 

[GJC435]

Always like when you guys post your storys! One day i will get to Alaska one day.

 

[orionsbrother]

Totally cool Becca and Luke! I am jealous!!

People here think I’m nuts taking my kids snow camping and they hear the kids talking about sledding and snow shoeing at -28*

Biggest challenge when they’re real small is thermoregulation. We almost broasted our youngest on a -12* day by overdoing the layering.

Keep Molly rolling and share the stories.

I truly believe that outdoor kids are the best kids, learning sel-sufficiency, resourcefulness, resiliency and respect with each trip.

The world needs more of those stories.

Gotta go wrangle two of my three now.

 

[Rob5589]

Great stuff. The pic of her and dad glassing is priceless. I took my daughter camping at 6 wks. Full on camp ground, toilets, bbq's, I mean way easy family camping. My mom freaked, she was worried about coyotes coming into camp and snatching her up! Not sure my mom would approve of you guys taking her into the hard core bush

 

[Becca]

Totally cool Becca and Luke! I am jealous!!

People here think I’m nuts taking my kids snow camping and they hear the kids talking about sledding and snow shoeing at -28*

Biggest challenge when they’re real small is thermoregulation. We almost broasted our youngest on a -12* day by overdoing the layering.

Keep Molly rolling and share the stories.

I truly believe that outdoor kids are the best kids, learning sel-sufficiency, resourcefulness, resiliency and respect with each trip.

The world needs more of those stories.

Gotta go wrangle two of my three now.

Keeping her warm and dry has definitely been a challenge, although I feel like we are getting it dialed in. Now that she's talking so much it's really helpful, as she can tell us when she's warm or cold and we can adjust accordingly. I think she runs warmer than any of the adults, she consistently wore one less layer than the adults did on this trip and never complained of being cold. Of course she never stops moving either, unless she's in the backpack, so that might contribute.

 

[Becca]

Great stuff. The pic of her and dad glassing is priceless. I took my daughter camping at 6 wks. Full on camp ground, toilets, bbq's, I mean way easy family camping. My mom freaked, she was worried about coyotes coming into camp and snatching her up! Not sure my mom would approve of you guys taking her into the hard core bush

We've certainly heard plenty from folks who are surprised we take her. And I wouldn't push anyone else to do things with small kids that they aren't comfortable with. At the same time, these are the types of trips we did numerous times before we had her, and we are careful to choose trips that we are comfortable with and where we know taking her doesn't exceed our skill level. For instance Having previously packrafted an uncharted creek for brown bears, I wouldn't take her on that trip but I would certainly do a heavy drop camp.

Honestly though, we don't know very many people doing these kinds of trips with small kids and it's part of the reason I wanted to share our experience. It is way more work, but it's absolutely possible and very rewarding.

 

[Rob5589]

Keep it coming, sounds like great adventures for her. I have 5 so I hear ya on "way more work."

 

[jhm2023]

My wife and I have been taking our now 3 year old daughter on hunting and fishing adventures since she was only a few months old. It certainly makes for more in depth planning and precaution, but we very much enjoy taking her and it is very impressive what that little girl is capable of. Heck just last year I was feeding her fruit snacks in the tree stand when I arrowed a boone and crocket black bear. She got quite a kick out of the bear doing the death moan 15 yards from the stand.

 

[Wrench]

you have a pair of these yet? It helps get some sleep.

 

[Becca]

My wife and I have been taking our now 3 year old daughter on hunting and fishing adventures since she was only a few months old. It certainly makes for more in depth planning and precaution, but we very much enjoy taking her and it is very impressive what that little girl is capable of. Heck just last year I was feeding her fruit snacks in the tree stand when I arrowed a boone and crocket black bear. She got quite a kick out of the bear doing the death moan 15 yards from the stand.

Very cool! And I laughed about the fruit snacks...frequent snacks seem to be key in keeping her happy

 

[jhm2023]

Very cool! And I laughed about the fruit snacks...frequent snacks seem to be key in keeping her happy

Fruit snacks, gold fish, and the rice and chicken chef Boyardee cups are the key to success.

 

[Randle]

THESE threads are awesome and they ARE what makes Rokslide great. My kids are all grown and gone but I have 6 grandkids and my kids are making the most of it, passing along the enjoyment and respect of the outdoors.

 

[Rob5589]

Gold fish, fruit snacks, Capri Sun, chicken nuggets; a toddlers 4 main food groups

 

[handwerk]

Thanks for the great photos/write up, you're making wonderful memories for sure.

 

[Kevin Dill]

My father held my belt while I stood at the water's edge and watched a bobber. He would kneel and let me use his shoulder for a gun rest. I shot squirrels with my .22 rifle in Arizona.....Mingus Mountain.

________________________________________________________

My daughter is long grown, educated, married and moved away. She and we still talk about some of the outdoor adventures we did as a family (or just me and her) when she was a child. We've never ever lived anywhere but on a rural farm. The transition to outdoor things came pretty easy. Today she shows plenty of that adventurous outdoor spirit, though she does not have any personal interest in hunting.

Anyway....I completely ENDORSE this thread! Exposing our children to the culture of what we do is vital to its understanding and continuation. I think it's more important to bring them along and involve them....less important to be determined that they become what we would make them. It's enough to give them the chance and let them decide what they want from it.

Thank you for this thread. Thank you for hopefully inspiring other parents to bring their young children along on their adventures.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

I suck at documenting, but sometimes you gotta do a quick dash to find a camera.