Young Dad’s Success Thread

[Sully_44]

My buddy (who just had his first kid) and I (5 year old son, 2 year old daughter, and daughter on the way) were hanging out last night and he was talking about the new respect he’s got for young dad’s that are successful at life, and hunting. He was amazed how someone can make that work. I want to put together what a lot of you do, or did when you’re kids were young to be a good dad/husband, provider, and still get after it.

For me, I would say I’m still on the pursuit to be known in my circle as a killer, however I do punch a tag or two every year. I try to incorporate my kids into my hunts as much as possible, whether that’s sacrificing a couple days of getting away from the roads to spend with them bouncing around in the truck so they can be with me, or bringing them on scouting trips. To do some of the more serious stuff I feel like some sort of sacrifice needs to be made and it’s often sleep. I’ve found myself out setting or checking cameras after the family has gone to sleep. It seems like there is usually some sort of sacrifice that is always being made.

Feel free to drop some advice as well as pictures of your success while being a young dad. Doesn’t matter if that success came while sacrificing time away from family and you were solo, or sacrificing going hard and peacefully because you brought the kids.

 

[Jdeck09]

The mass on that mule deer is incredible!

I've got a couple of young boys, so I'm still figuring it all out, but my plan is to take them with me as much as possible. I'd rather have a few less-than-perfect hunts if it means spending that time with them.

I'm fortunate that my wife is supportive of me taking one big elk trip each year. The rest of my hunting time will be spent on shorter hunts with the boys.

My hope is that by the time they're 10 or older, they'll genuinely want to hunt with Dad because they had so much fun when they were younger. Then those bigger elk trips can become adventures we share together.

I've also come to the realization that if I really want to hunt elk regularly, I'll need to move out West. That's actually something we've started planning for.

 

[Sully_44]

he mass on that mule deer is incredible!

I've got a couple of young boys, so I'm still figuring it all out, but my plan is to take them with me as much as possible. I'd rather have a few less-than-perfect hunts if it means spending that time with them.

I'm fortunate that my wife is supportive of me taking one big elk trip each year. The rest of my hunting time will be spent on shorter hunts with the boys.

My hope is that by the time they're 10 or older, they'll genuinely want to hunt with Dad because they had so much fun when they were younger. Then those bigger elk trips can become adventures we share together.

I've also come to the realization that if I really want to hunt elk regularly, I'll need to move out West. That's actually something we've started planning for.

I failed to mention that having the support of Mama is by far the most important ingredient in my opinion! Support of both the solo trips and trips with the kids going into the wild.

 

[MarkOrtiz]

Part of it is making sure Mom at home is taken care of. During the off season do the honey dos, spend lots of family time together, make sure the bills are paid, then when it comes to hunting season it is easier to get away. My success now is hunting with my kids and I get to do that more than hunting for myself. This year I finally have a mule deer tag that I will have a chance to fill and I'll spend lots of time away. I will say that hunting with the kids is about the best thing there is. It’s taught me a lot of patience and other skills.

 

[Sully_44]

Part of it is making sure Mom at home is taken care of. During the off season do the honey dos, spend lots of family time together, make sure the bills are paid, then when it comes to hunting season it is easier to get away. My success now is hunting with my kids and I get to do that more than hunting for myself. This year I finally have a tag that I will have a chance to fill.

Great point!

 

[Samson7x]

Yes, definitely making sure mom and home base are taken care of is paramount. I wouldn't say I'm an extremely successful hunter but I like to think I'm a great dad. Both of mine are too young to hunt at the moment but I look forward to the time when I can take them along. I usually take one big trip either out west or Africa per year and several local day hunts. I have a few bucket list hunts I still want to take but those will be spread out over several years. I've known men who have lost relationships and a contributing factor was time spent away from home hunting. Definitely needs to be a balance and every relationship is different.

 

[HGrodner]

I’m in the southeast so I’m sure it’s a little different. I hunt more than I deserve to but I’ve done a couple things to set it up that way. Firstly, you have to marry correctly. Some women just can’t deal with you being gone. Next, I take care of family stuff all throughout the year. Whatever she wants done, I try to do. Venison is our primary red meat so that makes it essential for me to go. I don’t trophy hunt much at all. I also don’t hunt if it’s not high odds. I may have the freedom to go to the woods one afternoon. I’ll scout my way in without feeling pressure to climb a tree. If I find great sign, I hunt. If I don’t, I go home. I don’t do many marginal sits because being home is more beneficial to me. Lastly, I’ve narrowed the scope of my hunting. I used to hunt anything I could and spend lots of time doing it. Now, I’ve given up most everything besides deer and turkey.

32 year old dad of 6, 3, and 1 year old daughters.

 

[Rogue Bay]

I sure miss when my girls were young. From the time they were babies (twins) we took them hunting with us on 98% of our outings. And I wouldn’t trade that time for anything! I would get away for a solo morning or afternoon hunt occasionally.

Sometimes I would take them on a hunt, just the three of us, and let them call the shots on where we went and what we did, knowing we weren’t going to get anything. I’d let them put the camo face paint on me, let them call if it was a turkey hunt, let them do the tracking if it was big game. Really play it up and make it enjoyable for them. It was the most enjoyable time of my life.

They’re 15 now and have turned into successful hunters themselves. Watching them learn and succeed far surpasses any hunting accomplishments of my own. I’m looking forward to some bigger trips with them now that they’re older but they will always be my top priority. I read a quote (don’t remember the author’s name) one time that our children are a message we send to a future we’ll never get to see.

Spend as much time with them in the outdoors as you can. You won’t regret it!

 

[Anthony_hunts]

Currently here as well. Daughters are 6,3, and 3 months. My oldest has been with me on a couple truck hunts, and was lucky enough to shoot one with her in the back seat. Other than that though, she is a very outdoorsy kid, but hunting just doesn’t seem to interest her too much. The 3 year old may take to it better next year, we’ll see. Definitely a hard balance, especially for me right now that I moved and am needing to get out and scout before season so I can try to be successful this year, but other obligations and family keep making it hard to get out there, hopefully next Tuesday. Wish I had some real advice, all I’ve got is to try to make sure the house and chores are taken care of before taking off, mowing the grass always seemed to be the toughest chore to get done before leaving. Good luck!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[grfox92]

I am home 7 nights a week and every weekend for 10 months a year. Every minute of my free time is spent with my wife and kids. If I need or want to go shoot my rifles I go at 5am before everyone is awake and get home right around when they are waking up so I can make breakfast. I go to the gym at 4am. I dont go out for drinks with the boys after work. So when September and October roll around I hunt as much as I want and my wife is completely cool with it and encourages it. I make sure the house is stocked with groceries before the weekend comes and all loose eneds are tied up.

I have never understood the mentality that when you have kids you have to stop doing the things you love doing. It makes no sense to me what so ever. If your wife has tricked you into thinking you cant go hunting because there are little kids at home, you have royally screwed up.

My kids are getting old enough now to come with me. If it wasnt for the damn G Bears they would have been able to come more often a little sooner, but they need to be able to use bear spray at least to be out there with me. Me and my 11 year old had a big boar at 20 yards this year and my son went for his spray right away.

My 11 year old did some brutal shed hunts in some rough country with me this year and man, was it an amazing experience to have him out there pushing himself. Him and I have one of the best Bull tags in Wyoming this year and we get to hunt it together as his first ever year big game hunting.

My 8 year old daughter begs me to come but she cant come everywhere. She just cant keep up yet. So we go on family hikes to scratch that itch. My other kids are 5 and 2, so there is some time before they are out with me.

 

[Silver Wings]

Just a few minutes ago I was going through some old photos that I’m going to have printed out. Photos of my boys and I hunting when they were young…they’re in their 30s now.
Probably the best advice I can give is to think of it like you’re building yourself the best hunting partner ever. So do the things that will make that happen. Always make them part of the team, no matter how young, and long before they are carrying a rifle or shotgun. Get them a little pack and have them carry stuff. It makes them feel like a hunter and contributor to the success of the hunt. No electronics to occupy them…there’s plenty to look at and talk about in the field.
Once my boys were 5 or 6 I rarely hunted without them…partly because they would lose their minds if I tried to.
The wife didn’t mind us being gone for the weekend at all. She enjoyed the break, so that was a bonus.
I can say without any reservation that the time spent hunting with my kids, from when they were little to present day, has been the highlight of my life. Nowadays they are both better hunters than I ever was and to top it all off, they more or less guide for me whenever we hunt!
Play your cards right, fellas!


Duck hunting about 25 years ago.

 

[ckt3]

Great thread idea. I’m a pretty new hunter and pretty new dad, so I’m learning a lot from you all

 

[Hnthrdr]

Well im a dad of 3 they are all currently under 4 years old, I went from about 100 days a field to about 8-9 if I’m lucky. these last few years, I’ve also killed my best animals since my girls were born so they must be my lucky charms! My oldest will be 4 soon and I’m hoping she comes out with me for a day or two this Sept if I can snag an elk tag! Since my girls came I’m 3/4 years on bulls and 2/3 years on bucks. Bear tag and 2 deer tags in the pocket for sept/ Nov and hopefully I’ll get an elk tag, bear hunting might be a tad slow for the little but hopefully we can hear some bugles!

 

[Dkjoey]

Having 2 under 3 that are always with me outside of a couple days of season they definitely slow me down. But hopefully I do a good enough job as a father. That when I’m old and grey , they let me join their hunts and slow them down.

 

[Robobiss]

I have a 2 year old boy and a 4 day old girl hopefully I can find some time to shoot and load bullets in the next month I am off work .

My little boy has been in the trenches with me since he was 6 months old or so. I have too many videos and photos to share of him as a baby with dead critters, helping hang cameras, etc. I remember a funny day from when he was a few months old of him rolling around in the driveway picking turkey feathers out of his mouth from the birds that I shot in the yard while mom was at work that I was trying to hurry up and get in the freezer before she got home.

He went on a moose hunt with his mother and I last October and put dozens of hours in the carseat looking for moose, birds to shoot etc. He would lose his marbles and get very excited when he would hear a gun go off knowing we were shooting at something.

Last year I took him rifle hunting deer a couple of times in a backpack carrier at 1.5 years old, only on the milder days that were in the 30’s and 40’s since he wasn’t really talking enough to communicate and tell me if he was cold (I can’t feel my feet, dad). He did really good being quiet as long as he had a stick to wack me with. He is and has been around enough shooting (suppressed + muffs usually but always suppressed) to where I know he won’t freak out if I shoot something. He would be hooting and hollering excitedly.

Lately he legitimately helps me reloading. I had him mandreling 6 creed brass the other day. He takes them out of the bag, needs a little help getting them into the shell holder, then will run the press up and down and put them in the loading block. Like I said, he is 2. He is already eaten up with hunting and shooting, loves it. He takes the couch cushions off and stacks them up and uses them to shoot his nerf gun off of supported yelling “moose” “big buck”. We also do a lot of fishing on the weekends out of a canoe.

It’s been really rewarding thus far. I hope that I can get his little sister as excited about the outdoors as he is already.

 

[HunterGatherer]

Great to see some young guys still keeping the dream alive. Lately there’s been so many old guy threads I was starting to get worried. When the most popular threads are retirement, hair loss, Colonoscopy, “telling people to get off your lawn”, and “choosing the right casket”, it makes me nervous the whole sport is aging out