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Few things can bring you more
joy than to pursue two of your passions at the same time.
This is easy to do by taking your children hunting with
you. The first time I took my son with me he was only
about 4 years old. We walked a couple hundred yards behind
the house and sat down on a log. It was only a few minutes
later he said that he needed to go back to the house to go
to the bathroom. There was no talking him into relieving
himself out in the woods, so back to the house we went.
Our first hunting experience together wasn’t very
satisfying or very long. After this first trip I wasn’t
looking forward to taking him again for a while but in the
years since it was I who had some learning to do about
hunting with children.
After that experience I
realized that I did want my children to hunt with me so I
decided that we would keep trying. Since they had showed
an interest I didn’t want to stifle it by telling them
that they were too young. I wanted them there with me when
they were old enough but I thought that if I stopped them
when they were young that they may not want to hunt when
they get older.
In the few years since, we
have had some great times together in the woods. Stories
about having young children with you usually do not
conclude with the description of the trophy buck that you
shoot, but the memories of being there with them are
better trophies. I’ll never forget watching my son jump
out of his skin when a grouse took off and scared him or
of the first buck that he shot.
It is hard for us serious
hunters to accept that sometimes we will go to the woods
and not realistically have an opportunity of shooting a
deer or that the chances could be lessened because there
is someone else with you that likes to move a lot and is a
little noisy. Once you accept this and just watch them
enjoy being there with you, you can have the time of your
life.
Over the years I have found
some ways to make the hunt more enjoyable for everyone.
Quiet woods will only hold a child’s attention for a
little while and then they will look for something to do.
One of the first things that I do is to make sure that I
have plenty to eat. A couple of apples and some candy can
usually get another half an hour or so. Not that I eat any
of the candy myself, it’s just for the kids.
I also take something for
them to do. Word search books and crossword puzzles will
deter them from moving around a lot and keep them
interested for a while longer.
The hunt will be very short
lived if they get cold. Make sure that they are dressed
warm. On one hunt I took a sleeping bag for my son and he
stayed nice and warm while the snow was falling on us. It
also helps if you can keep them sheltered from the wind
and rain. We used to get into an old building and sit, but
we now have a camouflage hunting blind that we use. Last
season we spent several hours in it staying out of the
wind and rain. On one hunt my 8 year old daughter was the
first to spot a group of does that came from behind us.
She was real proud of her accomplishment.
The best way to keep them
interested and coming back is to see game. I take them no
matter what time of the day it is even during the non peak
activity hours. It’s often hard to get them to go with
you at dawn or dusk when activity is at its peak but it is
usually colder during these hours anyway. They don’t
have to see something to have a good time, but they will
tell everyone about the animals that they saw.
Last year I had watched a
group of young bucks that would come to a food plot and
feeder. At the end of the season I took my son and a video
camera and we climbed into two treestands side-by-side.
After being there for about thirty minutes there was a
shower of rain and he wanted to pack it in. I convinced
him that if we could stick it out another thirty minutes
we would probably get to see some deer. He decided to stay
and the deer showed up and we had a great time watching
and videotaping them. I used the opportunity to try to
teach him that it’s not always easy and that the effort
can pay off in the end. At eleven years old he is now
learning more about hunting and is becoming a good
tracker. I’m hoping that I have two hunting partners for
life.
If you would like to read
more about my families hunting experiences you can go to
our website at www.whitetaildeer-management-and-hunting.com.
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