I've had Grey outdoors with me plenty of times. Mushroom hunting, fishing, squirrel hunting. All of that stuff was a bit more active and engaging than sitting in a ground blind. Do you guys take things to keep them occupied, like tablets or anything? He hasn't asked, but I dont want him to be miserable for the first couple hours we are out there, and maybe he wont be. When i first started taking him fishing, if we fished for 10 minutes and he wanted to chuck rocks then leave, thats what we did. I went with expectaions that we werent doing anything serious, and it worked. He loves to fish now. Deer hunting is a bit different though, I dont wanna blow a woods out. I am leaning towards packing something in backpack without his knowledge, only to be broke out in case he gets desperately bored. Thoughts?
Questions about taking kids out
- Thread starter Redhunter1012
- Start date
Buckmaster
Senior Member
Go in late and plan to leave when Grey says so. Take activities and snacks. Grey's attention span will equal his age.
If you take him….it's his game, not yours.
Good luck.
If you take him….it's his game, not yours.
Good luck.
Joel
Senior Member
iPad and snacks are a must when I take my daughter. She's 11 now but been sitting in blinds with me for 4 years now.
BlueSpruceOutfitters
Junior Member
My son Lucas is almost 4 and he's been turkey hunting with me for the last two years. I always bring a bunch of snacks and a fully charged phone for distraction. As long as you can keep him focused on "the deer will be here any second" you can usually distract them long enough to keep it going. At this age, Lu is so pumped to go hunting next Friday, he keeps telling me to make sure his blind is ready and he'll "mehhhh" at the deer before I shoot it. Lol. Good luck man. Nothing better than creating your own hunting partners!
Plan on blowing the woods out and messing up a few hunts. Snacks, drinks and some sort of game is basically a must with kids. In the end, it has to be fun for them, not you. To break my kids in, we did a lot of mid day hunts. We went when they asked to go kind of deal. Even if it was a 10 minutes hunt and we went looking for tracks or whatever, it all builds the foundation.
Whatever you do, don’t act like it’s crazy serious, have fun with him and you’ll both enjoy it for years. Don’t forget to tell him to listen...then drop a huge fart. Those are the things he’ll remember and talk about.
It ain’t about you or the deer.
Whatever you do, don’t act like it’s crazy serious, have fun with him and you’ll both enjoy it for years. Don’t forget to tell him to listen...then drop a huge fart. Those are the things he’ll remember and talk about.
It ain’t about you or the deer.
Yes take a tablet or game boy and snacks.
Remember though that even with those when he gets antsy and ready to go. Go. You will see that each time you go out he sits longer before wanting to head back. At least that has been my experience.
Another thing I always did was after leaving the woods we headed somewhere else. Sometimes it was just a bite to eat at the diner. Other times we went and shot bows and/or guns. Early season we hit a pond or lake and fished.
Remember though that even with those when he gets antsy and ready to go. Go. You will see that each time you go out he sits longer before wanting to head back. At least that has been my experience.
Another thing I always did was after leaving the woods we headed somewhere else. Sometimes it was just a bite to eat at the diner. Other times we went and shot bows and/or guns. Early season we hit a pond or lake and fished.
Buckmaster
Senior Member
Big_Holla
Senior Member
All the others have hit the nail squarely. I learned that you have to leave when they want to. Bring all the distracting things they want but when it comes to time to go - do it without begging them to stay longer. Even if it is prime time. You need to be as positive as you can, even if you feel discouraged they want to leave.
lung buster
Senior Member
Everyone is spot on. I started both kids at age 6 and Nintendo ds and iPods were standard gear...no service where we live but they both still carry phones and play games during the wait even at 11 and 13. They both put them away when it gets close, they know the magic time quite well now..lol. good luck! Enjoy every minute of it!
Joel
Senior Member
Also It's not a big deal now but later in the season we've ended many hunts with "Daddy I'm cold". I need to try to build a blind this year that'll stay warm with a little buddy heater.
This is where having rabbit dogs has a big plus. Gets them out and standing still for a while so the rabbit comes by. My kids had a blast running beagles and have the rabbits run within spitting distance of them as long as they didn’t move....
I still remember the looks on their faces... It was priceless......
I still remember the looks on their faces... It was priceless......
Do many people start their kids off with small game anymore? Seems like nowadays once a kid is 5 years old they jump right into deer hunting.
Not many anymore. How many guys you see running dogs these days?
Hell I never had dogs when we rabbit hunted, my ass was beating the brush to kick em out.
twireman
Senior Member
Good queation. Mine will small game hunt for sure. We are gonna do some squirrel hunting probably starting next weekend. There is too much out there enjoy than just deer. Some of my fondest memories are squirrel hunting with dad and papaw.
My daughter brought games to the blind. You can’t expect to get a couple of hours out of them when they are real young.
I also insisted on squirrels before deer. We did that when she tagged along. When she wanted to start shooting, I had her kill squirrels first.
Killed her first squirrel at age 8 and a doe with a crossbow a month later. Since then she has killed several of each plus turkeys. She will be 12 this year.
I also insisted on squirrels before deer. We did that when she tagged along. When she wanted to start shooting, I had her kill squirrels first.
Killed her first squirrel at age 8 and a doe with a crossbow a month later. Since then she has killed several of each plus turkeys. She will be 12 this year.
cspot
Member
My kids take their phones with them when bowhunting. Only thing that we do is when it gets to the prime time in the evening (last hour) the phones get put away. Same thing for the first hour in the morning. Gun season we stay off he phones most of the time as you need to be more alert.
WE mostly deer hunt, but we some small game hunting. Rabbit hunting is great.
Another thing to look at doing is predator hunting. You don't sit for long and with calling it makes the time go past fast. When you get a response is is pretty exciting too.
Also turkey hunting. Very similar to predator hunting.
WE mostly deer hunt, but we some small game hunting. Rabbit hunting is great.
Another thing to look at doing is predator hunting. You don't sit for long and with calling it makes the time go past fast. When you get a response is is pretty exciting too.
Also turkey hunting. Very similar to predator hunting.