How young is too young?

[Guido]

For those of you that have kids, how soon did you start them out hunting? My nephew is wanting to hit the woods with us and his mom is not too keen on the idea, since he's only 9. I've tried to convince her that it's better to teach him gun safety now and let him enjoy the outdoors, but I'm not having much luck. Heck - by 9, my dad had walked my boots off in the woods.

 

[MaterDei]

Depends entirely on the kid. If you don't know him well enough ask his father, he should know.

 

[TrapperReady]

I had my oldest boy out with my walking for pheasants when he wasn't quite 5 years old. I made sure that he had good-fitting ear protection and appropriately sized shooting glasses. Mostly, it was a stroll through the field while talking about safety and all sorts of outdoor-related stuff.

We did end up with one bird, which he thought was really cool... until it came to cleaning it.

He's now 7 1/2, and he's gone out for dove with me a couple times this year. His brother is nearly 5, but doesn't have the interest. That's fine with me. He's got an open invitation any time he wants.

The important thing is knowing the kid and how well they follow rules/instructions and their level of interest. Here in Wisconsin, they can't hunt until they're 12 years old, but I'm all in favor of getting them out in the woods well before then.

 

[scout26]

My daugther has been turkey hunting since she took her Hunter Safety ed class when she was 9. (She's 11 now.) After practicing trap and skeet all this summer, this will be her first year for Pheasants and possibly a Goose Hunt.

Bambi, on the other hand, is just to cute for her to shoot.

My 5 year old son will be going out with me for Archery Deer, Rabbit, Squirrel and Pheasant. (He'll be the non-hunting ammo and cookie bearer !!!)

I would suggest getting both Mom and Son to a Hunter Safety class.
(Should we ask about/where's Dad ???)

 

[pax]

There's a difference between traipsing along with someone else who is hunting, and actually hunting yourself. Kids can start coming along surprisingly young, in my opinion and experience, though being a mom I completely understand your (sister's? or sister-in-law's?) reluctance to let her little boy head into the woods when people are shooting there.

My oldest son went deer hunting with his grandpa at age 4, during bow season. I was shocked to hear, when they got home, that the kid was still enough & quiet enough that grandpa could have taken a shot (he instead deliberately spooked the animal, judging that the gory aftermath on the kid's first outing might be a bit too much).

As my other four sons have gotten old enough, each of them have been invited along on various hunting trips whenever their adults decided they could be trusted not to spoil the trip. That's ranged from 4 to around 10 years old, depending on the kid.

My five year old nephew has been deer hunting with his daddy since he was three, same deal, nothing kilt in his presence yet but my bro in law says this is the year. He "helped" his dad skin & cut up last year's deer, asked a lot of questions, and gave every indication of understanding the gravity of what they were doing. He didn't go giggly/silly or act callous, both of which would be bad signs, and did understand that they were getting food for the winter.

I started traipsing along with my dad when I was five or six, I think, though of course big brother always had dibs so it was rare thing. I don't remember trying to kill anything myself until I was at least 10 or 11. Got my first deer tags at 12, first (and so far only) deer at 13.

All these kids get dressed pretty well head-to-toe in blaze orange, are outfitted with water, warm clothes, and whistles, and know what to do if they get lost. And the hunters who take them out have as the first priority having fun with the kids, and getting a deer as a very distant second.

If your wife isn't comfortable letting the boy hunt with you, suggest she comes along for the class, too, when you enroll him in hunter's safety. An adult has to be along for that, anyway, and it might lessen some of her anxiety if the class is good.

pax

 

[TrapperReady]

he instead deliberately spooked the animal, judging that the gory aftermath on the kid's first outing might be a bit too much

A good friend of mine took his 4 1/2 year old daughter out to sit in a two-person tree stand last week. Before they left, I asked him if he'd take a shot. He said, "No. I don't want to freak her out."

Then he thought for a few more seconds and added...

"Of course, if it's a big buck, she'll get over it."

---------------------

BTW, when I took my son dove hunting this year, we played a lot of the "Dove. Not dove." game. After a couple hours, he (with his young-person vision) was spotting and calling birds (usually correctly) often before I could see them.

 

[MDHunter]

I Started When I Was 4

Was born in Alaska, and started going with my Dad on a 10-day hunt every Fall starting at 4 years old! We took our Jeep, tent, and haul trailer up the Denali highway, and my Dad shot three caribou.....the ONLY way he was able to talk me into going home a day early (he was worried about the load if he also shot a moose), was because we ran out of strawberry jam.

My Mom had stayed up late every night for a week, sure that I'd get homesick or scared, and want to come home - no chance! I got a Remington single shot .22 for Xmas that year, and after carrying a toy gun for two years - treating it like a real gun to show I understood the responsibility, I was allowed to start carrying it on hunts when I was 6.

To get back to your question - I think each child is different, and will understand the opportunity and responsibility when they're ready. It may be at 4, at 8, or at 12 - no way to tell for sure. I'd say start taking him with you, and see how he responds to the environment and to harvesting game.

Good luck,

Michael

 

[killzone]

Mine is only 1 year old

My son is only one year old. I just can't wait to take him out there and show him what I know. I think age 4-5 sounds reasonable for him to go out....

 

[Art Eatman]

I think pax put it together quite well.

I went out and about in the back pasture and woods with my grandfather, from around age six or seven. Disremember, perzackly. I do know I was on my own with his .22 rifle from age almost-eight. I guess I've been a brush-bunny ever since.

Folks really oughta take the kids out during the off-season, just to get them used to the outdoors. At most, just take a .22 rifle along for some casual plinking. It lets you teach the kid the reasons for not shooting game animals during the off-season, which is a start on ethics in general. It's not an "obey the law" thing; it's the reasons behind those game laws.

Art

 

[Michael Courtney]

It depends a lot on the disposition of the child, how much time can be put in teaching safety and practicing skills, as well as the hunting conditions.

I've got a couple hunting set-ups which are shooting out of the window of elevated, enclosed platforms. The hunter shoots off of a bench or a table so it is possible to start shooters out on the young side. This set-up also maximizes comfort for the youngsters by keeping them out of the wind and maximises safety and control by allowing the firearm to sit (pointed in a safe direction) on the bench/table until the deer shows up.

By practicing with my own children regularly through the summer, I've hunted with them safely and effectively with the above set-up, and some of my children have successfully killed deer before they could read, and all of them have been able to read by the time they were six.

This, of course, it the extreme of what is possible. I don't think I would have my kids stalking deer on the ground or driving deer until considerably older. This would depend on their judgment and ability to shoot from a variety of improvised field positions likely to be necessary. My plan is to work through the NRA sport rifle qualifications with them, and consider them to be ready by the time they reach expert qualification, perhaps sooner.

I've helped a number of other kids get their first deer also, and the assessent of the child's father on the child's readiness is always my paramount consideration. Of course, I always do some level of training with marksmanship and safety, but the father's assessment that the child is ready gets the ball rolling.

Michael Courtney

 

[rust collector]

This is a hot issue among hunter safety instructors locally, as our state stats show that young hunters aren't turning out in previous numbers. One theory is that by the time they can legally hunt (12 in SD) other pursuits have grabbed their attention. We are reviewing the appropriate age to permit hunting.

I've got mixed emotions. I don't think it's ever too early to take kids on field trips of limited duration. I also think being trusted with a firearm is a bit of a rite of passage that says we trust you to act responsibly and do the right thing. Sadly, I don't trust most parents to make an objective call here. They know their child, but peer pressure, wanting them to bag the big buck on the back 40, etc may interfere with parents' judgment. The answer may be to flex the age requirements, but require extra training/testing and precautions to insure that youthful exuberance doesn't set the stage for injury.

How do you tell when a youngster has what it takes to be a safe and responsible hunter? You have to be able to evaluate her emotional maturity, physical ability, knowledge re firearms, laws and regs, and support system. That's not a 15 minute process for me.

 

[Dale Taylor]

I went out with my grandfather at age 6 during WW2. Used 20 guage on both ducks and pheasants. No red(ration) stamps and we had meat to eat. Remember rationing???

 

[TrapperReady]

I took my oldest son (7 years old) out for an afternoon duck hunt yesterday. We took out the canoe and went to some public land about 40 minutes north of here. We didn't see any ducks, and the only geese we saw were out of range (although the were directly overhead). However, the trip was just perfect IMO. Here's a (probably incomplete) list of what we did experience:

- We spent about 1 1/2 hours travelling, during which we visited and talked without distractions.
- I taught him about using the canoe, from how it's secured while travelling, to boating safety and how to row.
- He helped me paddle out to the area in which we were hunting.
- We put out decoys together, and talked about how they are constructed and the different kinds of birds they emulate.
- We got rained on a couple times.
- We saw an awesome rainbow.
- The fall colors were still vibrant, and we spent time talking about the different colors and shades we could see, as well as the types of trees.
- I explained how animals tend to move early in the morning and late in the afternoon... a pattern he was able to see for himself.
- We both used goose and duck calls.
- Quite a few sandhill cranes came by our location.
- He started to get an idea of ID'ing songbirds by their size and flight patterns. He also got used to listening for geese and figuring out just how loud and irritating cranes can be.
- We had several thousand blackbirds which had landed in the wetlands near us (they came in a steady stream for almost an hour) take off en-masse. He thought that the loud noise was thunder, and was amazed when I explained that it was just all of their tiny wings moving all at once.
- A large "V" of geese formed directly overhead, from smaller bunches coming together. I didn't shoot, as they were too high, and explained at length about why I didn't take the shot. It was a good lesson in ethics for him.

So, it was a GREAT day!! By the way, at one point, I asked my son how he was doing. He replied "Well... I'm cold, wet and a little bit bored." I laughed and said "Of course you are. You're hunting!"

 

[rbullom]

Depends on the Kid and the Type of Hunting. Started taking my boys along on duck, goose, varmit type hunts when they were 7 or 8 when the weather was mild and the hunt was not too strenuous. Need them to understand there is more to hunting than pulling the trigger or releasing the arrow they don't have to be the one with the weapon to be part of the experience. My oldest son (now 13) is a full party to most of our hunts unless it's just a group of my long time hunting buddies for some time away from all and not to impede my boys on their time away from their kids too. My younger son is 10 and going through the progression of carrying a gun on the small game and participating by observing on the the big game for a couple more years. I brought him along for a couple days on our elk hunt last year (9) and had mom meet us to take him back to school while we continued for the rest of the week. I think you want to leave them wanting more without over doing it and putting them in a over physically demanding situation that may dampen their future desire.

 

[Polishrifleman]

My four year old (5 in two weeks) wants to go bear hunting now. My comment to him is that when he can keep his mouth quiet for long periods of time and not be carried after about a quater mile of hiking I will take him that should last me until he is about 8 or 9 I figure. As far as carrying his own gun goes it will be about the same timeframe too. The problem is that I might not be able to wait that long. It will be great to get him out of the future hunters club.