Start kids young and they will learn fast

[Jeff G]

Get those kids out and teach them how to scout, hunt and enjoy the outdoors. My son is 11. He scouts with dan and I. He took his first buck at age 10.

We live out in the country on 5 acres. You can hunt in our back yard, but we don’t. Our neighbors kill some big stuff down the road. But we like a challenge.

As I drove up the driveway after work today, I noticed some crazy weird tracks through the snow. They crawled from the bus stop to some thick pines and went deeper into the woods.

I went inside and my son comes running up and says he saw A booner. He said he noticed the buck as he got off the bus and wanted to see how close he could get.

He told me how he army crawled with his back pack on his back and got within 3o yards and hid in the trees. He counted 11 points. The buck eventually trotted off.

He said he could have easily killed it.

Today was the day I realized he has the killer trait and has been listening and taking it all in

[Jackson Marsh]

[stash59]

[Dewey]

Cool. Sounds like a good buck. So have you changed your mind about hunting in the back yard?

[Jeff G]

8-)

I’m starting to work on your Iowa beast this weekend.

[<DK>]

Alright, this kid shoots a booner this fall behind the house you better bump this thread!

[<DK>]

What a Beast!

[basspro05]

Awesome!

[P&YBuck1]

I agree 100% with you Jeff, need to start them young and see how cool they develop as your son did.

I have done the same with my boys for both hunting and fishing. My youngest son is a member of Kettle Moraine Ice Fishing team and loves it.

I not only try to introduce both my boys to hunting and fishing but also encourage their friends.

Hopefully we will see the fruits of all this recruitment for the outdoors!

[Tim H]

Awesome!

[Boogieman1]

My lil girl is 4, on nice days I take her with me, she is obsessed with tracks. Any tracks, she likes checking cameras and chasing squirrels. I got her a lil stickbow afew months ago, she flings acouple arrows with me in the back yard. By the time she is Old enough to understand life and death. I think she will be quite good with archery tackle. Her first deer will come with lots of practice and the challange of a vertical bow. We don't like it easy.

[Lockdown]

That is awesome. Killer instinct for sure.

I think some of a true killer instinct can be taught, but some of it can't. Some people are born with it and have it in their personality. IMHO your son has a little of it in him naturally. It's brought out with good teaching (props to you Jeff). I can see how most kids his age who are fired up about deer hunting would have watched it from a distance, maybe walked towards it and watched it run off, or half heartedly snuck towards it. Then told Dad about it later and Dad would well with pride.

But to full blown belly crawl that shows a killer instinct and true passion for deer and pursuing them. I bet you were smiling ear to ear.

I can only imagine what his wall will look like in 20 years. Especially with a taxidermist for a dad

[PUBLICbowhunter]

[SidewayZ]

I hope to instill the same in my children! Great stuff!

[MikePerry]

I agree to start them young, I started carrying them in a pack my friend gave me when they were around 6 months, I’d take them checking trail cameras and short scouting missions. The day they were both able to follow me without carrying them was a great day. I’ve had them shooting little recurve bows since they were 2 years old and 22 rifles since 5. They have B.B. guns and reasonable access to our property to use them responsibly. Started both them at 8 hunting small game and deer, they are 8 and 9. I got them a crossbow this past summer and they shot it a lot, my oldest son Hunter killed his first deer this past October a 5 point, it was the best moment of my 32 years of bowhunting.

Neither kid is to crazy about hunting during gun season in the cold so early October archery worked out great. Once the can pull enough weight to hunt with a compound bow we will retire the crossbow, unless they choose not to, I’ll leave it to them.

I’ve been coming on this site and reading a lot since 2014, I post some but I’m more trying to take the whole hunting a particular bed in and I’ve learned a lot and thank you guys very much. Once these boys get to hunting on their own maybe I can put some of what I’ve learned on the hunting beast for some of my own early season hunting, until then I’ll be sitting next to my little guys in October making memories.