SMITTY03

From your experience, how long should you wait to take a child hunting-deer hunting in particular. If a child kills a deer early, then he/she will expect that every time. If a child does not kill a deer for a long time, then they may get discouraged. I have a little nephew whose dad does not hunt. He is 5 years old. I have taken him on the occassional squirrel hunt, but i'm hesitant to take him deer hunting.

RYAN SMITH

bruce_smith60

I have taken mine to watch for serveral years, last year, at 13, he shot his first. It will depend on the child. If they have no understanding of the WHOLE concept of hunting, I feel they are to young.

Hurry up and wait.

burniegoeasily

What Bruce said. Get a feel for the child. Take them with you when you feel they are ready (able to set still for long periods). When they start understanding and have seen you do it few times, then you can probably make the call. I dont know from experience yet, my kids are 5 and 6. I wouldnt dare take either of them out yet. I do take them out with me to scout. They can find tracks, rubs, and scrapes already. My youngest can even follow a trail pretty well. I dont think they have the patience yet to set in a blind and hunt with me. I feel right now it would be more detramental to force them to set bord for long periods of time, waiting.

Lifes a garden, dig it.

Tazman

I took my twin daughters last year for their first time one at a time, they were 9. They did VERY well, they were quiet and stayed still also. I will take them again this season once gun opens, and hopefully they will get to observe a kill and then will see if they are ready for thier hunters safety course and thier first hunt. Every kid is different, but the sooner you can get them out at least to observe the better in my book.

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club

benhuntin

Most children dont have the patience
to sit still and quiet for extended periods
of time when nothing is happening.
I started taking my boys scouting with
me at around 4 and 5. At around 7years
I included them on Deer drives where the
action was quick and they saw lots of deer./
In the mean time I let them hunt squirrels with
me. I think squirrell hunting is a good way to
teach a child patience. Whatever you do
dont push the child to hunt.
Last year my oldest (now 13) said he was
ready to deer hunt. I built several ground blinds
in the area. When it seemed he was getting bored
and figity we would walk to another blind.
After sitting in our 4th blind for about 20 minutes
a big doe walked out about 20 yards from us.
My son shot the doe and now he is hooked.
This year he shows alot more patience and will
be hunting out of a treestand.

jpm8920

my father started taking me deer hunting when I was about 10. i know i probably lost a lot of deer for him but that was what totally got me into hunting.

Ballistictip

I started taking my son squirrel and dove hunting at 3 years old. Then at 4 years old I would take him deer hunting some. Usually we would go in a little late in the afternoon so he only had to sit an hour or so. Take snacks and water for them to eat. <u>NO</u> soft drinks with caffeine. Now he is 7 and wants to go all the time with me. I normally hunt out of a climber but I built a large box stand for both of us to hunt out of. It helps because he still tends to wiggle. The main thing is to keep it fun for the kid. If this means leaving a little early then do it. Once they've seen their first deer in the woods they'll be more intersted.

CAJUNBOWHNTR

I started taking my oldest son when he was 5.We would go on opening weekend when the weather was mild and I would limit our time on stand to a couple of hours.He was pretty good about being quiet.We had alot of sucess together.He killed his first deer when he was 10.He's grown up into an excellent hunter and killed several nice bucks.Now my youngest he can hardly sit still for two hours at twelve years old.It really depends on the kid.I agree with taking kids squirrel hunting.It teaches all the elements of hunting and it's not as confining as sitting in a deer stand.Just remember when you take a kid hunting you are taking a kid hunting.If he's tired and wants to leave the stand early just say ok.Don't make the experience a bad one or he will loose interest.One bit of advice take a 3 liter coke bottle so he can take care of his business if he has too.

Billy

WHACKEM N STACKEM

Brampton Mike

I have a 9 year old nephew that wanted to learn how to deer hunt last year as his dad, my brother is not into hunting. I spoke to his parents & they both said it was okay.... now my brother has app. 25 acres which holds deer & turkey so I told my nephew i'd take him with me a few times.....the trick I found was to only stay out for a short span of time as kids do tend to have a short attention span and get fidgitey....this year i've been taking him out with me on occasion & i've found that he sits longer & quieter thatn last year....hopefully we'll get a deer this year....got 2 turkeys there last spring so i'll include him in my next turkey hunt as well....just my .02 cents worth....Brmapton Mike

Call1N

Brace yourself. I took my son scouting at six months with a bottle in my back pocket, of course this scouting trip was for me. I took him on a late afternoon hunt at two years-where he did scare off the deer, but he did see them and loved it. He shot at his first deer at 6 years and killed his first at 7 years. He has killed several more since then. But my son has been exposed to hunting since birth. My thought would be whenever they start getting interested in going is when they should be taken. But don't hunt as you would if it were only you. Take them at prime hunting times to shorten the amount of time needed to sit and better their chances of seeing game, and when they get ready to go- leave. I started taking my son with only 1-1/12 hrs of daylight left. You do have to make it enjoyable (this includes comfort) for them or they will loose interest, and we don't want or need that. They are going to want to get down, walk around and look. Just remember when you start taking kids you have to put yourself second, it's all for them at that point. Different kids are going to take to it at different ages. I'm in the same shoes as you. My brother doesn't hunt and I've been taking his 12 year old for a couple of years, mostly turkey hunting, but has learned a lot about the outdoors, hasn't killed anything yet, but loves every minute of it as do the other four nephews I take. Good Luck.