GMMAT

Only dependence. And I must admit I DID miss your point.

In the case of my son, though.....I'm not going to wash his clothes every time he decides he's going. I agree with you that that wouldn't teach him a thing......(only dependence). I think I can teach him the most by just telling him when I'm going....then shutting up. He's old enough to decide for himself if this is something he wants to do more or less of.

I just see the generation he's in.....with the biggest "Entitlement" mentality of any group I've ever seen. He wants everything given to him. I just can't do it.....with good conscious.

Kids love to drive cars when they get old enough. Do you let 'em go do that without mowing the lawn.....keeping their room clean......picking up after themselves....etc...? Or...do we just give 'em the keys.....with no rules or pre-requisite responsibilites that must be met, beforehand? I won't. Call me a hard-ass. I'm trying to teach him something.

MOTOWNHONKEY

Hey, it takes a village to raise Jeff's son. What I know of Jeff I think that boy will turn out just fine. If by chance he doesn't blame it on the wife.

trouthunter

I only put in a small part of the whole story to make a point about over doing it when showing your kids the ropes. If you know me at all, then you know how highly I speak of my father. I was mearly pointing out an observation that both my brother, other family members,and I agree on. Dad taught us boys SO MUCH, but there quite a few times where we wished he just let us do it ourselves. I think that is just part of our generation. We're the early Gen-X'rs that wanted to go and figure it out on our own. However, I do feel very blessed to have a dad that did his best to show us the way.

Today we're all faced with kids from the information age. They want to know it now and not wait. The internet puts information a couple clicks away, and our children bring that with them to the outdoors. They want results NOW, not later. They don't want to delve into something and learn it, they want the info now to browse over, take what they think they need, and continue on. I feel the largest hurdle for young hunters is tolearn patience. The old saying "good things happen to those who wait" just doesn't ring loudly in our childrens"give it to me now"mentalities.

I'm currently in that challenge with my 8 yr old and fishing. He doesn't have the patience at all to bait fish, and if he is spin casting and hasn't hooked up in the first few casts, it's "Dad, we need to go somewhere else". He finally seen the benifits of being a little patient and giving a hole a chance when he landed a nice +5lb smallmouth bass a few weeks ago...
...now, if I can just get him to tie up his own rigging then I'll have really accomplished something.

GMMAT

Chris......

Thanks.

huntingson

LOL. That is what I am going to do as well. Best advice yet

The fact that we discuss things like this probably means that we all are doing the best we can. What else is there?

GMMAT

Like I said, huntingson.....I've misplaced my "DAD" manual .

We're ALL in this, together!......and I appreciate all the advice. I like hearing how other guys are doing "it".

BobCo19-65

I hear ya trouthunter,

You made some good points. Shooting a bow and hunting is something that takes time, patience, and perseverance. Anything that may discourage a youngster should be looked at and thought about. Personally I can see discouragement in my son at times which is the most important thing to correct or help to make right. Motiviation is key.

"The will must be stronger then the skill." - Muhammad Ali

One of my favorite quotes. As long as the will is there, the skill will follow. But if theanythingbreaks down the will,it could leadto problems.

_Dan

I never had a problem with boredom when I was younger. I attribute that to spending a lot of time in the outdoors doing a lot of other things than just hunting. The knowledge I had of the trees, birds, insects, etc. and being able to enjoy these things as much while hunting as seeing deer conquered any boredom that may have arisen.

Teach your son about a lot of other outdoor things than just the deer hunting and it will make him a better deer hunter with a lot more patience.

MC Bowhunter

Being raised by Jim Dougherty I had no choice...LOL

I have 4 brothers. One of us decided he wasn't into hunting.
Dad didn't care and supported him in the other things he was into.
Now I have 2 kids. My daughter that's 11 loves to hunt pretty much anything that walks. My son that's 16 isn't into deer hunting. He has killed a deer with his bow. But isn't into the sitting and waiting game. He may enjoy that more when he gets older.He loves to turkey hunt though.

MC bowhunter