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youth hunting: how young?

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Dmathews87

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2022
Messages
767
Location
SE Louisiana
I have a 4yr old daughter who is dying to go hunting with me, and i would love to take her, but im worried about several things obviously....i only have public land to hunt so we got some walking to do, will she sit still\quiet long enough?, is she just too young and i need to make her wait a couple more years?

Whats the youngest you guys took youth with you? How did it work out? tips??!
 
I took both my kids at age five or so. My son would sit quiet as a mouse because he was usually “ practicing his ninja skills” or something. My daughter however was incredibly noisy and moved a lot. We packed in many a polly pocket or pound puppy play set. I also stocked up on snacks. I usually figured we would never see anything because of the noise but I did it anyway. My wife told me little girls need their daddy’s to pay them attention. I’m pretty sure she even scared the squirrels off. Now that she’s a teenager she can’t wait for gun season and has killed some nice deer. I look back now and realize those noisy unsuccessful hunts were some of the best. Good luck and enjoy it, time flies. Oh yes, buy a pop up blind!
 
Each kid is different. My oldest son would sit all day at the age of 5 and never complain. My youngest son still can't sit more than 2 hours at the age of 13. I used to try to make my youngest son sit longer then he wanted, and I think that's what led to him being less interested in hunting than my oldest.

I would take your daughter as far as she wanted to walk, and stay as long as she wanted to stay and I would do it knowing that you likely aren't going to see any deer. Make it about getting her in the woods and not about getting a deer.
 
I have taken my two oldest hunting since they were 4 in blinds. Bring snacks, a tablet or phone with some headphones so they can watch a movie when they get bored and when they are ready to go you go. Now days they are 9 and 12 still hunting in a blind, they still want snacks and bring something to occupy their time when bored and when they are ready we leave. I don't ever want to force them to stay longer than they want. They also catch up on a lot sleep while out there lol.
 
Yeah depends on the kid. my younger son has 2 volumes: loud and yelling lol. I started taking my older son at age 4 and he was great unless he got cold. coveralls, a blind and a buddy heater bought me some time but when he was ready to go I didn't push it. I let him bring a book or coloring book if he wanted, and bring plenty of snacks. joke around. let them nap. most kids crave "dad time." and of course if gun hunting make sure they have ear protection or plug them before shooting
 
Some of my best memories starting at age 4 and up was my dad or mom taking me out in the woods with them to hunt. I know I didn’t sit still and was probably noisy and I am guessing it was for short quick sits but I was hunting with them non the less. Take them out and have fun. Cheap binos and a bird book for your area to have them check off all the birds they see or a coloring book to draw the squirrel or deer or birds they come across. Don’t expect them to be quiet, don’t expect them to be still and it takes a lot of patience knowing they will likely spook anything you see but it’s the experience of the hunt that will help them fall in love with it especially if you don’t hound them to sit still and be quiet and make it unfun for them.

a blind is a good idea. So is squirrel hunting because they only need to sit still for 20-30 min then get up and move to another spot.

My brother in law has hunted with all three of his kids and they have all shot deer with a crossbow before the age of 7, youngest being 4 that got his first doe. Him and I only disagree on the age of when they can kill a deer because I don’t have many memories that young but I can remember my first deer vividly and I wouldn’t want to rob them of that memory. I also told him I won’t let me kids shoot a deer until they are not calling them “daddy deer and mommy deer”….
 
Know your kids and tailor it to them. My son is 5 and has a lot of interest. Took him on his first 2 deer hunts this year. I started last year with squirrels and racoons first. IMO, snacks are the key to a "successful" hunt. Hot chocolate will get you some extra time and smiles. I define successful as just being out there with them. Having the kid see deer counts the same as me by myself killing a deer. I saw the ipad comment above. If I bring one for my kid he'll just be laughing the whole time so I don't. However, he's obsessed with books so I bring a ton of them and stuff for him to color on. Public is a different challenge. Just think about how much more difficult the walk is for them than you and try to keep it shorter. When I'm hunting with my son I bring a big pack but the pack is for everything kid related. Outside of that, I'm just bringing my weapon and whatever is necessary to keep him warm. I'll carry him on my shoulders wherever I can and just have him walk if it's thick. It saves time and usually saves on some whining lol. Don't focus on what's necessary to kill a deer for your first couple just focus on what's necessary to get your kid outside and seeing wildlife. Make it fun and they'll keep wanting to go spend time with dad. My two hunts with my son this year have had deer in range but I haven't been able to get a shot while also having him see the deer. Doesn't matter at all they're the best hunts of my life.

I've also done the same as some others before this year where you're "hunting" but not actually. Let my son bring his toy bow and arrows and headed out to public that can't be hunted on a Sunday. Didn't have to worry about ruining anyone elses hunts or worry about them being unsafe while my kids were around. My kid had no idea and 100% thought he was trying to stalk down a big buck as he walked up the "mountain" that was a 5 foot elevation change hill haha. Let them do the grunt tube and flip the bleat can. Take some toy binos and compass and let them make the decisions on where to walk to next and what you should do to find the deer. Enjoy the memories and good luck!
 
Small game and waterfowl from blinds are made for young hunters where being quiet and still for the whole time are not required.
 
Hope you don't mind OP, but wondering if those of you with kids would also weigh in on time of day too- guessing it'll depend on the kid to an extent, but are any of you trying to get kids in the woods at down or stay after dusk? Or best to just hit the afternoon and have some time in the woods for now (what I'm leaning towards)
 
thedutchtouch said:
Hope you don't mind OP, but wondering if those of you with kids would also weigh in on time of day too- guessing it'll depend on the kid to an extent, but are any of you trying to get kids in the woods at down or stay after dusk? Or best to just hit the afternoon and have some time in the woods for now (what I'm leaning towards)
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If I'm doing the pretend hunt but the kid thinks it's a hunt thing, any time that they're normally awake and happy. If we're actually trying to kill a deer then I'm taking them in the afternoon and trying to stay through dusk, pushing bedtime. They fall asleep in the truck on the way home. We'll eat dinner in the woods which is usually a big hit. Any time of day is better than no time of day.
 
thedutchtouch said:
Hope you don't mind OP, but wondering if those of you with kids would also weigh in on time of day too- guessing it'll depend on the kid to an extent, but are any of you trying to get kids in the woods at down or stay after dusk? Or best to just hit the afternoon and have some time in the woods for now (what I'm leaning towards)
Click to expand...

me personally im thinking afternoon hunts so we have plenty of light and like others said just head out when she's ready
 
I started bringing all of my kids at age 5 but only rifle hunting and sitting in ground blinds or box stands. This was key because I could hand them an iPad or an iPhone with headphones/ ear buds and they could watch movies silently when the action was slow or nonexistent. Had it not been for the electronics there was no way that they could sit quietly for 3 hours but when there was movement I could give them a tap and they were able to see deer, turkeys, hogs, or whatever else walked out. It was enough to get them in hunting situations but occupied when they would have otherwise been bored to the point of having to leave the blind. By the age of 7, and after years of shooting paper, they were ready to actually shoot at deer. I gradually decreased their allowed time on the electronics until they eventually either didn’t get on them or only got on them very little. Both of my sons killed their first deer at the age of 7 and my daughter killed her first at the age of 5. Now my two oldest are 12 and 13 and they rifle hunt box blinds while I take the 9 year old with me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
To concur with some other commenters, if I only had public l would focus on afternoons, walking out with plenty of time and explain and point out every bit of sign I saw, then I'd pick a spot that wouldn't bugger up anyone else's hunt because IMO the most important thing is to leave the minute they say they are ready to go. Whether they are hungry, cold, bored, I have always tried to keep it fun, which means if anyone wants to go, we go, even if it's 30 minutes to sunset. That strategy has helped the kids build up more and more stamina for being on stand. Now at 8 years old my youngest can sit for a few hours no problem. One last thing, their own set of binos is must, kids love looking at stuff with binoculars. I can see why hunting is tough for kids to get into, everything in the world is geared towards instant gratification these days and hunting is a patience game.
 
I took my son when he was 5. Went to public land but went to a place that isn’t real popular and went early afternoon. Bought a cheap pop up blind, packed a bunch of fun snacks, set up where he thought was the best spot, moved when he thought we should move, let him blow the grunt tube and rattle the antlers whenever he wanted. I could’ve likely not nocked an arrow and had the same chance to harvest a deer but he had a lot of fun.
If you should take them is probably completely dependent on your patience and expectations. They walk slow, anything remotely challenging to get through for you is nearly impossible for them, and assume they won’t be quiet or still. If you want to get a deer it’ll probably ruin your hunt. If you want to spend time with your kid and be outdoors it’ll probably make stories you tell for the next 50 years.
 
131north said:
With a 4 year old, there's a lot you can do, such as counting squirrels, birds, spiders, etc. There's a lot out in the woods that we overlook but is fascinating to kids.
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Yep, make anything you can a game to keep them occupied. Here’s a pic of my youngest when he was about 7. He made a “buck chart” and brought a hole punch to keep track of the deer we saw.
 

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Another time we were out scouting and I could tell he was getting bored so when we came to a mud puddle that had deer and turkey tracks in it I told him I would give him a dollar for every track he could identify.

He got excited, and started studying the mud puddle. Then he correctly said “there’s a turkey track and there’s a deer track”. At that point he stepped in the mud, pointed at his own track and said “there’s a person track. That’s three dollars” :tearsofjoy:
 
GCTerpfan said:
Another time we were out scouting and I could tell he was getting bored so when we came to a mud puddle that had deer and turkey tracks in it I told him I would give him a dollar for every track he could identify.

He got excited, and started studying the mud puddle. Then he correctly said “there’s a turkey track and there’s a deer track”. At that point he stepped in the mud, pointed at his own track and said “there’s a person track. That’s three dollars” :tearsofjoy:
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Smart kid!
 
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