Hunting with kids

[Bullnuts]

This will be my second year of parading through the woods with my three kids. My oldest, 16, has been with me for the past 5 years and my youngest, 13 year old twins, will be making their second trip. Last year they had opportunities at a big 6 (at 10 yards), a 4 at less than 10 feet, a 5X6 at 20 yards, and we saw several more that we couldn't get close to.

We hunt from the ground, set up and call a lot, and we cover a lot of ground during the day. I used to hunt solo until the kids became old enough to go with me, so having them with me in the woods is both challenging and extremely rewarding. A few tips for archery hunting, my style, with kids:
1. No talking. Kids love to talk and they use their outside voices a lot. Make sure they understand that there is no talking above a whisper.
2. Look before we move. The kids saw a bunch of elk last year because we used their young eyes and different perspectives to see more terrain. Before we move off of any calling location they have to sit and look around for at least a couple minutes.
3. Bring lots of snacks and lots of water. I hump a lot of pop tarts, power bars, cereal bars, etc, in my pack for them and they carry a hydration bladder in their packs.
4. Make sure they are warm and have rain gear that works! Nothing will kill a hunt faster than cold and wet kids.
5. Make sure they have quality boots. Kid's feet grow fast and you'll go through boots every year. That's not a reason to skimp on quality, though, because blisters will make them and you miserable. By the way, make sure that they begin wearing their hunting boots a month before your hunt to ensure a good break in period.
6. Slow them down. Kids have energy and always want to move too fast. I struggle with keeping my boys in line and constantly remind them to walk with their heads up so they can see and to move slow enough to see into the woods around them.
7. Be forgiving of mistakes. Kids (and adults) will make mistakes in the woods and they will jump elk. The sky is not falling. I like to think of it like a mother bear that is teaching her cubs to fish. Patience is the best teacher, and when you blow a stalk, get yourselves put back together and find another one.
8. Spend a lot of time in the pre-season looking at photos and identifying good shot angles. Make sure your kids understand and adhere to their maximum shooting distance.
9. Let them analyze what went wrong with blown stalks and missed opportunities. Kids are surprisingly insightful and will learn a lot from each chance. My kids love the opportunity to sit down and talk about why things didn't go right, how they should have waited to draw or drew earlier, not moved or moved earlier to a better position, etc. It gets them involved in the hunt like nothing else.
10. Reserve some time to play and have fun. Even my oldest son loves to play around and I have fun with these kids when we're out hunting. We aren't all business in the elk woods and we find appropriate times to sit and talk, joke, etc. On his first hunt my oldest stopped me as we were climbing a steep hillside and said, "Did you hear that???" I stopped and listened, and asked him what he heard. "My legs are screaming". I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

Long post, but these are things that work for us and will likely work for others. Have fun and be safe this season and I hope you and your kids score more than just an animal on the ground this year - I hope you find new hunting partners that you'll get to enjoy for many years to come.

My elk hunting partners

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[ElkNut1]

Bullnuts, very, very cool!!! Great info shared by a great Dad!!! My hats off to you!!

ElkNut1

[Lefty]

Great post!!!!
Kids just want to spend time with their parents and hunting is a great way to spend time with them


I am a High School teacher and it just breaks my heart hearing some of my student’s stories.
One Student drew a coveted turkey tag near town, the boy even got some great permissions, with a six-week season, his parents never had the time to get him out.

One girls parents wouldn’t let her hunt alone or with others : Every weekend she looked forward to hunting with her dad. They made it out one morning in a two-month season

Another 17 tear old student did some good deed and was given a pack trip in an Idaho wilderness area by an outfitter, truly a hunt of a lifetime, the dad made some excuse he has his whole life to hunt and dad didn’t have a tag so no reason to go.

The horror stories go on and on. I hear excuses from parents all the time. Divorced dads seem to be the worse with comments like, “Hunting is my time”, or “my time with my hunting buddies” or “I don’t like my kids to see me drunk”. Ive listened to one dad say how nice it was for me to let his son hunt out of my goose pit because he didn’t want his son to know where his good hunting spots are

My daughters have gone along on all sorts of hunts, they all were on hunts of some kind before their first birthday They know they can hunt any and everytime I go, and everyone else knows the same.
My best memories are sitting in the willows reading, perched on a side hill glassing for deer, sleeping in the goose pit or bear blind, putting the best stalk on an antelope, it goes on and on with my daughters

And sometimes karma smiles on you.One of my wifes favorite hunt stories. Her dad took her two of her sisters and her on a hunt, He killed and elk and deer right from camp while they watched from their sleeping bags eating breakfast

[Sucobowhunter]

Awesome!!

[bullrub]

Some of my greatest hunting trips were just me and my 2 sons when they were still just 12 years old. They are now 30 and 27 years old and we still hunt together. I can't tell you how inportant getting your kids involed in hunting is, but if you don't, you are cheating them and yourself. So guys a big thumbs up to you for doing so.

[JimKirk]

bullnuts- thats livin right there!!! you are bagging way more memories than elk and thats whats important. way to go man! America needs more dads like you!!!

[Bullnuts]

Great read! My kids are getting to that age that they will start hunting. My 8 year old son is even learning to cow call with a reed( until he left it down and the dog ate it). I plan on getting my kids out more this season. My son is really wanting to call in an elk, so I'm gonna let him try.

We actually started with my oldest bowhunting grouse while I elk hunted. He got to see a lot of elk and learn a lot while he was too young to elk hunt and once he was old enough he already had a lot of knowledge. My twins didn't get to hunt with me prior to their first official elk season, but we used rabbit hunts, pheasant hunts, even fishing trips to talk about elk hunting and the things that were important. When they hit the woods for the first time they were ready and we had a great hunt. They even packed the majority of my bull out of the woods last year. I hope I can return the favor this year!

[cnelk]

Good post!

Now just add rule #11...

SMILE!!!

[Lefty]

Kids really can start young.
A friend use to set up their yard in town as an archery shoot for his boys. they were shooting those little bows and arrows before they could speak a full sentance
My oldest was a real talker at 4 years old. She claims she still remembers the coyote ears over the top of a log as I packed her in to check a few traps. at 4 ,5 and 6 she was in the back pack a lot as we "deer hunted". More of a hike for me because of her constant talking

Getting kids out young may cramp some fellows hunting but can be great family expiriences.

[Buglemaster]

Terrific post Bill! My son has been my #1 hunting buddy since he was 10 years old.We have memmories shared that will last a lifetime.His wife gave birth to his second son this month & for the first time since he started going, he is going to have to pass. I know he will be along in spirit tho.I'm really looking forward to taking my Grandsons to the high country but thats probably 10 years away. Hope I can still do it at 67.My Father was in camp at the age of 83 & loved every minute of it.

[>>>---WW---->]

Great post Bill. Looks like another generation of Claspell hunters on the way. I admire your dedication. Sometimes it is hard to teaching kids just one at a time. To handle three should put you in the running for Father of the Year. You have my vote!

[Bullnuts]

Great post Bill. Looks like another generation of Claspell hunters on the way. I admire your dedication. Sometimes it is hard to teaching kids just one at a time. To handle three should put you in the running for Father of the Year. You have my vote!

Definitely a challenge, but a lot of fun, too. My best hunts have been when I've had the boys with me, no matter if we're chasing bunnies, birds, or elk, they just make it a better time by being there. I'm blessed to have these guys with me every year and I would just love to see other fathers out there with their youngsters, teaching them the way. There's nothing better that putting an elk in front of your kid. My boys never released an arrow last year but my oldest brags that he got to half draw! It's absolutely priceless to watch them catch the fever and know that they will be hooked for the rest of their lives, to see the excitement in their eyes, and here, a week before the season starts, I can see them not being able to sleep at night and having a really tough time during the day at school. They have it bad, and while they might suffer from insomnia and their grades might take a dip this week, I can only sit back and laugh because I know that I won't get much work done this week either and I'm pretty much living on three hours of sleep a night myself!

[Magic]

My Son has been hunting with me for over 40 years. (I posted about him in the hunting partner board.) Now I generally have a Grandson with me.

[one_elk]

By far the best hunting trips I have ever had are with my boys we have always tried to keep the rules to a minimum with the exception that it has to be fun for them....wrist rockets, peanut M&M's and squirrels..you would be surprised at how deadly accurate a peanut M&M is when fired from a wrist rocket. Hunting with kids brings a whole new perspective to hunting in general to bad more kids don’t get the opportunity…

[one_elk]

and that is a great post bullnut's....

[Freebird134]

The thought of hunting with my son or daughter is about the only thing that makes me want to have a child. Maybe I'll just adopt a twelve year old after they pass bowhunter safety.

[Bullnuts]

The thought of hunting with my son or daughter is about the only thing that makes me want to have a child. Maybe I'll just adopt a twelve year old after they pass bowhunter safety.

If you don't have kids you might want to think about mentoring one. I led a 4-H archery team for a couple years and took one of the kids elk hunting when he was 12 and again when he was 13. This 'kid' is now 22 and has several huge bulls to his credit now and he tells me that I taught him a lot during our trips. He killed a cow on our first trip and then missed another on our second trip. He then went home and hunted with his grandfather and ended up killing a 302 inch 6 point. I can't take credit for that one, but he still comes by my camp each year and talks about what he's finding and asks for advice.

[Freebird134]

Mentoring a kid would be fun/rewarding. I love introducing people to hunting, but it's usually 20-somethings. Still rewarding, though.

[shooter21]

Nice read its nice to see other parents who take the time installing a great way of life (hunting) in their kids .My oldest son is 5 and has been with me and mom on our last 3 deer kills and is my elk scouting buddy .

[elkchaser503]

I'm taking my 4 year old on a couple day hunts over labor day weekend. My wife and kids are coming up to elk camp to spend my final 3 days with me. My 4 year old has been bugging to hunting with me since she was 2 and my wife finally gave me the okay to take her on a walk. My oldest isn't a bow hunter but she turns 15 in Sept and she will be going on her 3rd rifle hunt.

[hornart]

I will be having a busy hunting season this fall,,sucks to be me,lol, first off,,I will be taking a disabled Vietnam Veteran on his first ever elk hunt with a Muzzleloader,plus myself,,then the next hunt is the wife and daughter,,with tags for bull elk with a rifle,,the third hunt is the son with a muzzleloader for a buck mule deer and the fourth hunt of the season will be 4 of my grandchildren with cow elk tags I friend of the grandaughters with her first tag and the son with a cow tag,,Nothing is more exciting than hunting with the kids,,The wife and I have 7 children and 16 grandchildren,,we all go hunting

[Bullnuts]

I will be having a busy hunting season this fall,,sucks to be me,lol, first off,,I will be taking a disabled Vietnam Veteran on his first ever elk hunt with a Muzzleloader,plus myself,,then the next hunt is the wife and daughter,,with tags for bull elk with a rifle,,the third hunt is the son with a muzzleloader for a buck mule deer and the fourth hunt of the season will be 4 of my grandchildren with cow elk tags I friend of the grandaughters with her first tag and the son with a cow tag,,Nothing is more exciting than hunting with the kids,,The wife and I have 7 children and 16 grandchildren,,we all go hunting

Looks like you'll need a new freezer this year! Best of luck to you and your family!

[bullrub]

I will be having a busy hunting season this fall,,sucks to be me,lol, first off,,I will be taking a disabled Vietnam Veteran on his first ever elk hunt with a Muzzleloader,plus myself,,then the next hunt is the wife and daughter,,with tags for bull elk with a rifle,,the third hunt is the son with a muzzleloader for a buck mule deer and the fourth hunt of the season will be 4 of my grandchildren with cow elk tags I friend of the grandaughters with her first tag and the son with a cow tag,,Nothing is more exciting than hunting with the kids,,The wife and I have 7 children and 16 grandchildren,,we all go hunting

Steve, you are going to be one busy fellow this fall. The best of luck to you.
And as you told me be safe my friend.

[hornart]

I dont have room for another freezer,,I have 4 already, LOL