Dad advice

[Loppy]

I started taking my daughter, now 8, when she was 2 for walks in the woods. I would get a limited amount of scouting in but really tried to make it all about her. We would throw rocks in the pond, have picnics, a little hide and seek. I would let her find the way back from the truck. Just simple things. I showed her deer tracks and rubs. She really liked it from the start. I was amazed at how fast she could pick up on things. I would have to follow her and she would show me where the tracks were after a couple times out.
I took her out this weekend and it was so much fun. We could split up a little bit and she would yell when she found some hot sign Rubs, old scrapes or beds.
This year she got to tag along with me for the first time on a couple of hunts. We packed snacks and a notebook. She would write down every thing that we saw right down to the last bird. If she wasn't sure what it was she would try to find it in the bird book that she brought along.
It really has been some of the best times in the field when she has been along. So my advice is to make it fun. Don't be to serious, and make it all about them. They will be hooked for life.

[ghoasthunter]

I have a two year old girl I take her out scouting with me now and hiking she loves my shed collection and deer heads if you kill a deer let them check it out. I make sure I show her everything I shoot or catch fishing when. I'm with my daughter we are doing outdoor stuff. my dad did the same for me and now I am doing something hunting related every day surround your kid with the outdoors and have fun and going hunting will just happen. I cant still remember walking up stream banks my dad at my side helping me identify tracks and digging for fossils in the stream bed and catching crayfish.

[BAS4109]

Great topic!

I have 2 boys, 22 months and 5 1/2.

Definitely take is SLOW! We want them to love it just as much as we do but it is really easy to overdue it. I am still learning this.

I take the oldest boy fishing a lot but it took a while to learn that he might not care about the actual fishing part that much. Just let them play if they want to, their kids. We went ice fishing last weekend and brought the dog and they just played in the snow while I fished.

As far as hunting, I take the oldest scouting and checking cams quite a bit. He has been "hunting" twice. Just quick trips in the blind in spots where we will probably see deer. I also have gotten him in on a few blood trails so he is used to the gutting and processing part.

Bring snacks and plenty of them!!!

[headgear]

Make it more about their experience than yours and they will have a blast and come back for more. Sometimes you want to pull your hair out but its worth it. Burned my tag this year on a younger buck because the kids was with me, it was well worth it.

[Sailfish_WC]

I am a fairly new dad I have a little 1.5 year old boy who is getting to be alot of fun and quite a handful. Getting him out on hunts is obviously still a ways off but I cant help but think how much I hope he will be as crazy about hunting as I am and how fun the time spent together would be.
I am the only one who hunts in my family so it has just always been in my DNA. I didnt really have a positive mentor starting out. I have just always had the drive to hunt. So I dont really have a mentoring basis that I can use for my kids.
Of course I would never push my kids to take on hunting if it wasnt something they were passionate about but I was just wondering if I could get some dad wisdom from you more experienced guys. What did you do to help your kids get interested or if your kids didnt pick it up do you think there is something you should have done different?

make it fun

Go the small game, actively moving hunts.

Use a ground blind for the deer hunts (and keep the sit short)

Remember when you do hunt its for them not you.

Make it fun

Expose them often to the woods, not just hunting season.

Let them explore stuff for themselves when in the woods (keep it safe of course)

My son LOVED having a pocket knife in the woods at a young age. Hed stop and cut tall grass and wed blades lol, i never rushed him when he took all these breaks and delays. It was about him enjoying being out there and having fun

Not to sound cliche, but its the journey, not the destination.

Not sure if I mentioned but, make it fun.

Thats my $2/100 on it.

[ghoasthunter]

they are no longer my deer but her deer. I take her threw everything I give her a plastic knife we gut them together and skin and butcher them. she helps me find them we cook together she has her own bow. my buddy tags bears for fish and game and his daughters baby sit her so she gets to see live tagged bears every day in summer. and my buddy has 9 kids out of the 9 7 hunt and fish so she is surrounded with hunting and fishing every day normal every day life revolves around the outdoors.

[Kraftd]

they are no longer my deer but her deer. I take her threw everything I give her a plastic knife we gut them together and skin and butcher them. she helps me find them we cook together she has her own bow. my buddy tags bears for fish and game and his daughters baby sit her so she gets to see live tagged bears every day in summer. and my buddy has 9 kids out of the 9 7 hunt and fish so she is surrounded with hunting and fishing every day normal every day life revolves around the outdoors.

Good stuff Ghost!

Echo what other have said, start small, make it about them, and don't push. I believe people are evolutionarily predisposed to like the outdoors. Give them space and opportunity and it will stick in some way. Maybe it isn't hunting, could be fishing, camping, hiking, kite flying, paddling, whatever. Let them pick their path, but GET THEM OUTSIDE!

GRATUITOUS KID PICS

[tibolli]

I am a fairly new dad I have a little 1.5 year old boy who is getting to be alot of fun and quite a handful. Getting him out on hunts is obviously still a ways off but I cant help but think how much I hope he will be as crazy about hunting as I am and how fun the time spent together would be.
I am the only one who hunts in my family so it has just always been in my DNA. I didnt really have a positive mentor starting out. I have just always had the drive to hunt. So I dont really have a mentoring basis that I can use for my kids.
Of course I would never push my kids to take on hunting if it wasnt something they were passionate about but I was just wondering if I could get some dad wisdom from you more experienced guys. What did you do to help your kids get interested or if your kids didnt pick it up do you think there is something you should have done different?

My son began getting interetested around 8 years old.
Be ready to quit then they are tired of it or too cold. This may only be an hour into the hunt. No one wants to be forced to do things they don't want to do.
Try to make them successful early on. Sitting for hours in a treestand and not getting a shot is not fun. Take them to a place that where you can see deer quickly and get them a shot or two. I had a place very close to my home that had plenty of deer. He would get of the school bus, put on his hunting clothes and walk to the stand within a few minutes. Within 30 minutes deer were in sight. There were a few days where he couldn't shoot because the deer was in line with a house, etc... When the opportunity came he made the shot and killed a small doe. It meant the world to him. He learned safety and patience to kill that deer.
Use low recoil guns. No one should start off with a gun that will hurt or scare them. I ruined my daughter's desire to shoot a gun by having her shoot a low-recoil 20 gauge. The recoil "scared" her. I should have had her shoot a 410 first I guess. She doen't want to mess with a gun at all because of it.
Don't get frustrated when they miss a shot or scare away a deer because they are moving.
Hunt with morals. Don't teach the child to hunt out of season, kill and extra deer, take a bad shot, hunt without a license, etc... They will learn what you teach them.
Teach them tree stand safety. If you don't hunt with a safety harness, they won't use a safety harness.
Sports, video games, phones - Sports has quickly taken over all of my son's time. When he was little it was lacrosse in the spring and football in the fall. Now it is Lacrosee in the Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. He also started soccer in the fall as well. There are too many things taking away there time to hunt. The phone (Youtube and social media) and video games has taken up the rest of the time.

[ghoasthunter]

they are no longer my deer but her deer. I take her threw everything I give her a plastic knife we gut them together and skin and butcher them. she helps me find them we cook together she has her own bow. my buddy tags bears for fish and game and his daughters baby sit her so she gets to see live tagged bears every day in summer. and my buddy has 9 kids out of the 9 7 hunt and fish so she is surrounded with hunting and fishing every day normal every day life revolves around the outdoors.

Good stuff Ghost!

Echo what other have said, start small, make it about them, and don't push. I believe people are evolutionarily predisposed to like the outdoors. Give them space and opportunity and it will stick in some way. Maybe it isn't hunting, could be fishing, camping, hiking, kite flying, paddling, whatever. Let them pick their path, but GET THEM OUTSIDE!

GRATUITOUS KID PICS

amen to that brother hunting is a lifestyle that they will cherish. I've taken many a day off of hunting for myself to take my daughter out in woods and sometimes when doing it you end up finding awesome spots and loud running kids don't seem to spook deer as much as one guy sneaking around I cant even count how many times we have seen deer together and if they want a friend to come bring them with who knows you could get other kids interested in hunting or at the least its more accepted in this day and age and that's what's needed for the future of hunting.

[elk yinzer]

Just some of my thoughts. Parenting is of course super polarizing as you know.

My oldest is about the same age with another on the way. Whatever my dad and pap did sure as heck worked, so I am just going to try to emulate that.

Immersion from a young age. Just from you doing it, bringing home stories, and once in awhile a dead critter, they will think you are the coolest cat ever and want to emulate you. Just be a cool dad and spend time with them. From there just don't ruin the experience. Kids have short attention spans. Short forays into the woods scouting are plenty for a few years. Let them shoot little kids bows, slingshots, let them be kids. My opinion is hold off on the hunting til 8 or 10,but again, just my opinion. There is absolutely no reason a 5 or 6 year old has to experience deer hunting.

A few years of beast style squirrel hunting before even thinking about deer. Squirrels hunting with a 22 is awesome for kids. Heck I still love it a few times a year. Groundhogs too in the summer.

Transition them to longer sits and deer when they are ready. It's not a contest to see whose kid can kill the most deer by age 10. 6-8 year olds shooting food plot deer from a ground blind are screwed, in my opinion. They'll always have this expectation that success should come easy. Be prepared to sacrifice your own hunting at least on weekends for several years. You simply aren't going to get 2 miles into a swamp with a kid, there is plenty of time later in life for them to learn to be a beast. Don't make it too easy but don't make it too hard. I was a hard headed sucker and even when I was 12 pretty much got to choose my own hunting spots.

[Rob loper]

Just get them involved. Do things with them. Start out carrying them in a backpack kid hauler on hikes. Stop and look for bugs under rocks on land and in water. Eventually catch frogs, etc. Take them out in nature and teach them about it.

Eventually include talks about the cycle of life. Including death. Kill a small animal with them. Let them touch it. Leave it where you killed it. Then go back every so often to see how it decomposes. Teach them about the respect for life.

Make or buy a small bow and arrow set and help them shoot it. Work up to a BB gun, .22, etc.



When older. Teach them about the hard work involved to make a successful kill. Include them on small scouting missions. Try and let them help decide where to sit. Instead of just giving them an "easy" kill on their 1st deer.

Great advice stash
You know i took my boy out last weekend on a scout trip with me and we got back pretty far and he said dad stop im scared i wanna go. Lets go please
I said bud why you scared ? Theres nothing out here thats gonna hurt you and especially when im with you
Well he told me he watched a bunch of you tube videos about these freakin clowns. Well i calmed him down and he said ok dad we can go further i said to him nah bud thats ok we can go home. I felt so bad he was trembling in fear yet trying to be a big boy for dad and staying out there.
Anyway we got home and i said where are these videos with this clown at. Well he showed me and you know some idiots made a couple of videos of a guy hunting in a stand and then all of a sudden a creepy clown walks under him staring at him the whole time. Then there is another one where a guy is walking to his stand or from his stand in pitch black and he shines his light up ahead and a clown is all of a sudden in front of him
Man this smoked me i was so pissed why would these idiots make videos like this it really scared my boy and i hope he comes out of it. People are just idiots and dont think of consequences he doesnt have much time to go into woods with me playing 3 different sports . So when he does or ever wants to go out with me i hope this clown crap dont stay with him.
It was really creepy when i watched it. And can understand how scared he was in the woods
But man wat idiots.

[Boogieman1]

I have a lil girl who just turned 4, so I know exactly the feeling you are talking about. So far what I do that she really enjoys is letting her sit out camera traps. I let her put 1 or 2 where ever she wants and she comes back with me in afew weeks to check them. She is always excited to see what she has caught on camera. Not gonna lie a lot of times she tends to put them in places that wouldn't get a pic in a 100 years, so I normally go back without her the next day and throw out some corn. Hopefully this year I can talk mama into letting me take her out in some nice weather and just watch them up close from a ground blind

[Chuck B]

Take it slow and make if FUN. I coach all of my little kids kids sports teams (baseball, basketball, flag football) and the resounding theme is to make sure they are having fun and being introduced to the sport. Same thing with hunting. They don’t have to know beast tactics at an early age , just keep it simple.

Another idea is to bring them on a tracking job after you know you have a deer down. I did that this winter with a Doe I shot and my boys (age 5,8) had an ABDOLUTE BLAST.

Good luck!

[mipubbucks24]

My girls are 2 and 1, so I have not done a whole lot with them yet, she loves being outside though and she loves animals so good start.

My dad started taking us boys when we were around 6-8. He was not the best at making it fun, lol. But he did take the time, and there was always a candy bar and soda on the way home. My dad is the total opposite of a beast when it comes to hunting, but he took something that he enjoyed and got his sons involved. First buck he ever shot he came and got us from school to track it with him! The memory is burned into my mind, will never forget it. Dad got scratched in the eye, and could hardly see anything, I did most of the tracking. When my brother saw the buck dead he was so excited that he sprinted up it to while my dad was yelling at him to wait, he was only like 6.
Point is take your kids and spend time with them doing what you love and they will learn to love it also. As many of the other guys said make it fun, which what is more fun then spending time in the woods.

[Weaver.b]

Thank you all for taking the time to put in some great advice. I appreciate it and wish I had the time to reply to all. I am really excited to get him out there. He will be riding on my back for some scouting Saturday. He usually falls asleep in the baby backpack