Hunting with young children on public land - use blind or not?

[MuskieHunterDave]

So, I'm going to be taking a couple of my young children out to hunt with me a bunch of times this fall. Ages are 6 and 9. The 9 yo is pretty good, but the 6 yo will have trouble staying still. Question for all you experienced father/hunters - is it better to use a blind or not? On one hand, any child movement will be hidden pretty well. On the other hand, when deer see blinds on public land they generally run away fast.

I don't expect I'll be in a good position to shoot a deer either way, but it'd be great for the kids to just be out and at least see some deer walk past.

[MichiganMike]

I would say yeah- go ahead and build a natural blind now and let it sit for awhile so the deer get used to it. I wouldn't use any pop up ones or box blinds etc. I remember sitting with my dad when I was a kid and would see deer no problem. During Rut, anything can happen anyway.

[MichiganMike]

I would say yeah- go ahead and build a natural blind now and let it sit for awhile so the deer get used to it. I wouldn't use any pop up ones or box blinds etc. I remember sitting with my dad when I was a kid and would see deer no problem. During Rut, anything can happen anyway.

[NorthStar]

I have had better luck with finding natural blinds, like a downed tree, when hunting with my kids. That way you can easily move to the next spot when your kid gets restless and you are in need of a change in scenery.

[elk yinzer]

What have you done with them to date? Are they experienced snipe hunters? Good with squirrels? Know a muskrat from a coon track? Able to navigate fairly well in the woods?

[Bperdue21]

I would definitely use the natural blinds or build a few ground blinds to use. I have used the 2 man ladders since he was 6-7 and haven't had a problem also. I hunt private, though I have drug a few of the 2 man stands on to public.