Teaching kids to glass during first varmint hunt

TaperPin

WKR
Joined
Jul 12, 2023
Messages
2,790
There we were, the grandson and I sitting at a good vantage point to spot little varmints that thought they’d invade our space. He has never been been hunting before, but was a quick learner - I’d point out the obvious ones moving out in the open first - Zonk! - his first kill. Zap! - his second. We grinned in unison. Then I pointed to a few that were just barely sticking their heads out - he tried, but they were too hidden to take out.

I’d point out areas they were likely to be - his eyes would follow the pattern of glassing that was being shown with a pointed finger, systematically picking apart the landscape for any movement or a shape that’s not supposed to be there, then looking over the same area again, and again until one made a dash for it - Bonk! - dead varmint!

Once things calmed down we moved to another vantage point near a prime food source and continued scanning the hiding places and shadows. He really caught on to searching in a pattern, spending extra time on small draws and other hard to see areas. A minute later one walked out to scan the country side. Kapow! Dead varmint. He might have giggled a bit since his mom was asking if we were OK - I didn’t dare tell her what we were up to and simply said, “We’re just having fun.”

When a 14 month old enjoys hunting and putting the finger tip smash on sugar ants as much as he does, I think we’ll have a lot of fun hunting bigger varmints down the road once he can walk. :)

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mxgsfmdpx

WKR
Joined
Oct 22, 2019
Messages
5,222
Location
Outside
There is no better training than varmint hunting! Learning to find animals bare eyes or in binos, then move to the gun and get said animal in the scope. There is no better training replacement for this on moving targets that blend into their terrain. Dedicated and well practiced varmint hunters are without a doubt some of the most efficient big game killers I've ever hunted with.

My son started glassing for varmints before he was 3 years old.

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He is almost 7 now and can use range finding binos and give my wife and I distances to animals.

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