And then gone in a few more blinks. So make sure you don’t miss it.
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Next generation - start them early
- Thread starter Red Beard
- Start date
And then gone in a few more blinks. So make sure you don’t miss it.
Mine came in like a tsunami. We wanted a big family, so we average a new born every other years. At first I wanted to spread them out because the idea of having 3 sizes of diapers at once freaked me out, but wife made one of the best argument for having them close together.
"You're going to be changing the same amount of diapers either way. Yes, the first few years is going to be hard. BUT if we spread them out 3-4 years like you want. You are signing up to change diapers for possibly 2 whole decades."
That's 20 years of diaper changing.....no thank you.
But then 10 years from now, I'll have 3 girls in high school at the same time. Need more ammo.
Took my son to his first 3D shoot. He really enjoyed it. At first he was going to bring his Genesis but when I said I was taking the longbow, he decided to take his mom's longbow (wife and him are right handed, me and the girls are all lefties!). But since I didn't have arrows for him with that bow, I told him he's going to make his own arrows. They turn out pretty well and I think he enjoy the process. But I must of done something wrong, because he shoot pretty well....WHEN HE ACTUALLY AIM! ShotIQ might be in order because he just snap shoot most of the time!
"Did you aim?"
"No"
"Why not?"
"Forgot to"
Anyway, it was a blast and it might be a monthly thing for us now! Once the girls can walk the 3/4 miles course without complaining, they can come too. I lost 4 arrows and he had 2 surviving out of 6. Definitely need to bring more arrows for him.....
"Did you aim?"
"No"
"Why not?"
"Forgot to"
Anyway, it was a blast and it might be a monthly thing for us now! Once the girls can walk the 3/4 miles course without complaining, they can come too. I lost 4 arrows and he had 2 surviving out of 6. Definitely need to bring more arrows for him.....
Great memories!
That's awesome. Almost makes me want to move to Maryland.
hokiehunter373
Well-Known Member
Fantastic!
Iron_llama
Well-Known Member
I'm told that on the way to daycare this morning, MiniLlama announced to MamaLlama, "I want to be a hunter like Daddy and kill deer for food". She's also curious about the archery section of the local fleet & farm store I drag her to. She's turning 4 later this summer and will probably get a toy bow. She's done a bit of scouting in the yard with me and can pick out hoofprints and "smart pills" on the ground. MamaLlama is of the opinion that MiniLlama is too young to help me butcher; my position is she can hang out with me without a knife in her her hand. How did y'all get your young'uns involved in field-to-table piece of hunting?
I have a scar on my right index finger from "helping" Dad process a deer he killed when I was 5. I was going to cut more pieces while he was running stuff through the grinder. I grabbed up the knife and went to work before he could get to me, lol. Lessons were learned that day by me and him. He was more careful about leaving a knife where I could get to it and if he thought I might be able to get to it he would say leave that alone, it's sharp and I knew what that meant. Neither one of us got a whoopin that day and that was shocking.
Iron_llama
Well-Known Member
I saw - maybe it was on LEM - a plastic knife sheath for commercial meat cutters, so they can stash their knife without setting it down. I might need to rig a piece of PVC with a magnet and belt hook or something so I can do the same. MiniLlama doesn't generally play with knives, but want do be involved in whatever we're doing.I have a scar on my right index finger from "helping" Dad process a deer he killed when I was 5. I was going to cut more pieces while he was running stuff through the grinder. I grabbed up the knife and went to work before he could get to me, lol. Lessons were learned that day by me and him. He was more careful about leaving a knife where I could get to it and if he thought I might be able to get to it he would say leave that alone, it's sharp and I knew what that meant. Neither one of us got a whoopin that day and that was shocking.
hokiehunter373
Well-Known Member
It doesn't take much. They're curious and (at least with my two) they find things that older people that don't hunt think are gross super interesting. I started just by taking my kid to the processor and letting um see a deer hanging. Then making sure to point out when you're eating food from something you've killed, where it came from. How it happened. Cool things that happened outside of the kill during that hunt. I eat the heart so I showed my kids a fresh heart and how the blood pumps in and out and how that makes the deers body work. They think that $*** is awesome! Take them squirrel hunting. Take them fishing. Take them trapping.
Squirrels are so much more of a relaxed hunting thing. At least for me. So it's easier to relax with my kids and not be a hard a$$. I bring a bunch of snacks or hot chocolate or whatever and I don't care if they're loud or moving. We try to see how many different kinds of birds or animals we can count and make that a game.
Nothing has done more to get my kids involved in the outdoors and the field-to-table piece than fishing. It's something that they can actually be pretty easily involved in at a young age. Even if you're doing all the casting/catching, let them feel the fight of it. Let them touch the fish. My daughter is 3 and if she's with me and I catch a bluegill that bluegill is either getting eaten or she's crying because I threw it back
. Nothing my kids love more than keeping fish they caught, watching me cut them up, and then helping to cook them. I never trapped growing up but the raccoon population around me is through the roof and turkeys are suffering so I started helping the landowner where I grew up hunting. The first time I took my son I was insanely nervous. He had just turned 5 I think and I didn't know what he'd think actually watching me kill one. He thought it was great, instantly wanted to carry it, and explained things in way too much detail to my wife. This year he helped me set the traps. He was so excited that he drew a map of everywhere he thought we should set them. Then he helped the landowner skin one and kept the baculum.
For deer, have them help scout. Set cams. Walk trails. Be there when you trim a tree or hang a set. Get um some little binos and have them help glass. Any easy stuff.
Bottom line: whatever you do, they soak it up! It's not some foreign concept to them. It's just what dad does and it doesn't have to be much. Oh, do you have turkey decoys? When you get that toy bow let them shoot the turkeys with it. My son thinks that's amazing. Bring them on a "hunt" with the toy bow. Let um blow some calls and pretend or heck maybe even have a deer come in. Let um shoot that toy bow at it. Your hunts will suffer if you do this in season but you won't care. Enjoy it, it's the best!
Next generation - start them early
Building his first set of arrows. He's doing most of it.
saddlehunter.com
Next generation - start them early
Got both of my kids out this year for Rifle Season. Daughter is 6 1/2 and wanted to get her own rifle tag this year so thats what we did. now my 4 year old boy is itching to get after his own deer. Lots of good times. try to get them out as much as possible, both here in AZ as well as MI...
saddlehunter.com
Next generation - start them early
U guys better stop misgendering my little girl or I'll get u cancelled.... Get red cancelled .he misgendered the little bad azz thread.....called it sumpin eltz?
saddlehunter.com
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2022
- Messages
- 1,001
I’d echo a TON of what @hokiehunter373 said above. My son started with a toy bow and now has a youth one he practices with, my daughter has the toy one now. They “hunt” my turkey decoy all over the basement and the yard and they use their toy kitchen knifes to butcher it.
When I got a deer last year I brought them home before I took them in for processing. Both the kids would climb into the back of my truck with it, touch it, ask lots of questions from where did your arrow hit it to where is the part we eat.
Small game and fishing are two easy ways to get them more involved. I’ll sometimes have my son do tasks I normally wouldn’t just so he is helping like he wants to. For instance I’ll have him pluck part of a pheasant or scale a fish. I’ve started teaching him more about knives and letting him do small things with them to get the safety aspect better so he’s able to actually process more game and fish.
Honestly I’m certain my dad just gave me a 30
second don’t cut yourself speech and turned me loose but the times they are a changin’ or something like that so I try to teach them something. I’m continually surprised how much my daughter wants to do so I keep trying to encourage and involve her, figure she’ll grow out of it and want dance class or something soon and I’ll miss these days.
When I got a deer last year I brought them home before I took them in for processing. Both the kids would climb into the back of my truck with it, touch it, ask lots of questions from where did your arrow hit it to where is the part we eat.
Small game and fishing are two easy ways to get them more involved. I’ll sometimes have my son do tasks I normally wouldn’t just so he is helping like he wants to. For instance I’ll have him pluck part of a pheasant or scale a fish. I’ve started teaching him more about knives and letting him do small things with them to get the safety aspect better so he’s able to actually process more game and fish.
Honestly I’m certain my dad just gave me a 30
second don’t cut yourself speech and turned me loose but the times they are a changin’ or something like that so I try to teach them something. I’m continually surprised how much my daughter wants to do so I keep trying to encourage and involve her, figure she’ll grow out of it and want dance class or something soon and I’ll miss these days.
A buddy of mine has a 12y/o daughter and he takes her all over the place for dance classes and comps. She all girly girl until turkey season rolls in and she wants to go bust one and she is always fired up to go kill a deer or 2. Keep yours involved as much as she wants to be. Lord knows at the rate we are going she may have trouble finding a man that can put meat on the table and she'll be happy to know how too.
Coming in a few years: SaddlehunterDating.com
A place for young adults to meet and be broke together.
A place for young adults to meet and be broke together.
Iron_llama
Well-Known Member
Everything you saidnis awesome and I'm taking it to heart! I never thought about hunting a turkey decoy, i will have to get one! Probably need a deer target as well!
hokiehunter373
Well-Known Member
Doesn't even matter if you just set up some blow up animal they've got or something. My son gets super pissed when he's not achieving what he wants... don't know who he gets that from lol... but that makes the success better. Just keep it close and make it easy so they have fun
hokiehunter373
Well-Known Member
Sometimes it's frustrating as hell but I'll never trade in these days for anything in the world. Their first trip out on the inflatable. Spent an hour on it before we headed for dry land.
Agreed all around. Our fishing trips these days are usually dad doing a bunch of work before/after for my two girls to fish for a half hour at most, but when they catch fish they are super excited so it's worth it. We enjoy eating the big ones and have kept a few small bluegill and a sunfish alive (that they caught in a local stream) in an aquarium for a month or two now.
When I'm butchering deer they are super in to watching, and I try to remember to slow down and answer their questions and let them touch what they want to reinforce that interest. I was skinning out the head from the spike I shot last season a few weeks ago (bucket water macerating it at the moment) and they really wanted to see it's eye balls and cut them open so we had an impromptu lesson on vitreous and corneas and how eyes work, it was great. They also want the skulls from all the deer I shoot on their bedroom wall lol (I saved the first doe and this spike, not going to save every one, just bucks from here out or their first deer whenever that time comes most likely)
They are 5 and 7, at the end of last season I bought a tidewe see through ground blind that I am hoping to take out into the woods with them this year, I figure a short walk in and setting up inside that for a few hours with me manning the HC mini and them set up with a book or an ipad with headphones and some quieter snacks will be a recipe for success, deer or no deer.
When I'm butchering deer they are super in to watching, and I try to remember to slow down and answer their questions and let them touch what they want to reinforce that interest. I was skinning out the head from the spike I shot last season a few weeks ago (bucket water macerating it at the moment) and they really wanted to see it's eye balls and cut them open so we had an impromptu lesson on vitreous and corneas and how eyes work, it was great. They also want the skulls from all the deer I shoot on their bedroom wall lol (I saved the first doe and this spike, not going to save every one, just bucks from here out or their first deer whenever that time comes most likely)
They are 5 and 7, at the end of last season I bought a tidewe see through ground blind that I am hoping to take out into the woods with them this year, I figure a short walk in and setting up inside that for a few hours with me manning the HC mini and them set up with a book or an ipad with headphones and some quieter snacks will be a recipe for success, deer or no deer.
hokiehunter373
Well-Known Member
I've been wanting a see through one specifically for this reason but not wanting to pay the price. Had no idea tidewe had one. You may have just lightened my wallet
Oh my goodness. Why did you have to mention this? Just looked it up and it seems amazing. Can you draw your recurve in it?
hokiehunter373
Well-Known Member
Amazon has the magnetic door one for $120. I bought one and it took everything in my dang body not to make it 2