Taking my 6 year old daughter elk hunting

[Tuffcrk14]

I’ve been taking my three and six year old with me checking cameras and scouting all summer and I thought it could be fun to take my six year old on an over night elk hunt over Labor Day weekend. She’s shown an interest in learning about the various types of elk sign we’ve come across and what they can tell you as well as seeing what we got on our camera. I have several spots close to the road where I know elk tend to hang out. To those of you who have taken your kids out hunting and getting them to enjoy it, what were some things that you found that worked well and made your kids want to keep going out hunting with you? I have this sneaking suspicion that I’ll hear “I’m bored” or “When can we go back to the pickup?” At some point and I’d like to at least keep her occupied and engaged enough to not have those thoughts cross her mind after being in the woods for 30 minutes. She loves the outdoors and I want her to enjoy it as much as possible so she wants to come with and do it again. I’d love to hear your stories/input that got your kiddos into hunting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lefty]

Our daughters had been going hunting and camping from the months they were in the womb. the first rule,,, always make it fun. The boring. the drudgery may eventually happen.
Next big rules: always keep them comfortable that means warm and dry,
Dont over-exert them.
Your out there for your kids, and being a better parent by doing so.
Make the chores fun. Show up for camp late,, well now you have a flashlight holder ( let your kid select the kind of light they want to each have their own)
When our girls were very young they, "Pee on the white rock"

Our daughters likely went on well over 50 duck and goose hunts while we lived in Utah. We took reading and coloring books. And with the dog ther was always sticks.
Waterfowling I bought them a Shacker Mallard call.
Give them calls and practice at home, them let them call in the field, A hoochie moma or and of the open reed calls

I often put a kid in a back pack and made short hikes with a rifle
Let them decide what time they want to hunt. One daughter was often ( and still ) ready before me

Often playtime was making things out of small twigs * which sometimes became kindling.
One of my greatest joys ( even bigger than the elk Ive killed) was the time my 6 year old granddaughter had a bullbugle back after she had been raking and stomping and tried to make her own bugle .
A bull fired right back fro 100 yards
Just expect your oppurtinities will be less to see and kill game.

at 14 thge first times she shot this gun,, 4 shots 4 geese

IMG_1018.jpg (92.2 KiB) Viewed 374 times

After a few years this is what you get!
Nice weather antelop hunt,,, lots of good food and a comfortable camp

Antelopehunt109-04Small2.jpg (45.77 KiB) Viewed 374 times

At some point they want to go.

Wyoming antelope hunt. 22 degrees that morning

DSC02926Small.jpg (54.68 KiB) Viewed 374 times

[Swede]

You know your child better than anyone here. I would plan to keep the hunt short, fun and easy. I have found little kids get tired and hungry very easy. They are hard to keep quiet for long. I would plan for less than an hour and have a little snack she likes. I suspect your daughter would enjoy seeing squirrels play as much as observing a giant bull elk. Often just going out with dad is the fun thing to do.

[Elkhunttoo]

Short and sweet…don’t hike them to much

Good food…and who knows…just might be your lucky charm

[Tuffcrk14]

She loves to mountain bike, so I plan on taking our bikes and cruising some logging roads (we even have a bungee tow rope to help her up steeper hills.) I have all of her favorite snacks and juice boxes too. I figured opening weekend would be the best in regards to the weather. It’d be awesome to fill a tag, but that’s not even on my list of major priorities. If we get some responses and see a few elk, that’d be fine with me. I’ve got some camo face paint that she would probably love to put on my face too. We’ll see what trouble we can get into anyways. I like the coloring book idea. Gets her away from the iPad. Thank you guys for the stories, tidbits, and helpful ideas. Great input so far! I’ll give an update after the hunt.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wawhitey]

With little kids in the woods with you, just dial it back, lower your expectations. Think about them having fun, not about you filling a tag. I dont have kids that i know of, but theyre probably out there in western alaska somewhere. But i recently went hunting with a friend and his twin 4yo girls. Just have to think about them first. When they get a bit older, you can start being more serious, and expecting more from them. But if you want to take young kids on the hunt, keep your expectations realistic, and keep it fun for them. Point out fun stuff. I was showing the little girls coopers hawks, downy woodpeckers etc when theyd hear weird noises. I think if you have kids youll have to sacrifice a few years of "success" in the process of taking them along and getting their interest. I know my dad did

[Tuffcrk14]

Well, I’d say taking my daughter out hunting was a great success! She spotted some deer that dad missed and held that one over me for the majority of the trip, which I was ok with. We rode bikes, looked for arrowheads (triangle shaped rocks), and any animal sign, bones, or treasures we could find. Never saw elk, but we smelled them and found their tracks from the night before. She wasn’t into the whole elk calling thing and got bored pretty quick, but thankfully I pulled out her coloring book and that bought me a lot more time to call and try to get something respond. When we got back to camp, we made a mountain house spaghetti and meatball meal and she ate the whole thing herself while we watched a movie on the iPad. She wasn’t very quiet while we were out hunting, but find me a six year old who is. We worked on being quiet and listening to our surroundings, but we’ll be working on that one for a while. She said she wants to go hunting again with me, so I’ll hang my hat on that. This weekend gave me a different perspective that I think I lost touch with and that’s enjoy the little things out there with the people you’re doing it with. It’s not always about being the stealthiest, most serious hunter out there. I have far more memories from this weekend than I do from multiple solo hunts put together. Thank you all for the input!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk