Introducing children to hunting!

[Mike Fontaine]

I have 2 young daughters and was wondering what would be an appropriate age to indroduce them to deer hunting. My oldest daughter (11) enjoys shooting at the range and has expressed a desire to join me this coming season. Should she be a spectator or join in on the hunt? She is able to handle my 7mm mauser with a min load of varget and a 150gr BT. Her groupings are pretty tight at 75-120 yards.
Mike

 

[FOTIS]

I introed both my kids to shooting at the age of 5. They both love it. From there they will work themselves into hunting. 22's and reduced loads with Unique work wonders!

 

[furn7r]

introduce kids as soon as they want to go out my son has had his chipmunk 22 sence he was 5 and now he is 13 and is writting articles for hunt'n biz he has gone out in the fireld huntting sence he was a week old and hasn't missed a season yet. here i wyo the youth has to be 12 to hunt big game and he has killed 3 elk 2 deer and 3 antelope sence he has turned 12. my daughter has owned her cricket sence she was 8 grandpa didn't think she was ready till then she now has her 223 and her chipmunk and she gets to start big game next year so i gess the answer to your ? in my opinion is get kids out as young as you want or you feel they are ready my son now at 13 owns his 25-06 223 20 gage and his chipmunk . here is what a 5 year old stock looks like next to his chipmunk

 

[JD338]

Mike,

I have had both of my girls hunting for many years, starting when they were 5-6 yrs old. They have helped me field dress deer by holding a flashlight or a leg, and helped me drag deer from the back 40.
Always try to make time for them to satisfy their curiosity.
You are in a great position to make a lifetime of memories with your kids.

JD338

 

[Guy Miner]

Mike, glad to see that you're taking the kids hunting - they're the future of the sport, and it's a great thing for them to learn. My boys started tagging along with me when they were pretty young, five or six as I recall. We did a lot of plinking with .22's, day hikes into the hills out of season and general messing around with guns.

Heck we even watched some of those hunting shows on television and read books & magazines on hunting, just to keep 'em fired up about it.

The oldest boy turned out to be more of a target shooter, and not real enthused about hunting. He's actually one heck of a shot, just doesn't get real worked up about hunting.

The youngest boy is more of a hunter, and does a fine job. Took his first deer at 13, which was about right for him. Kids are all different. I have seen guys drag their kids afield when the child just wasn't ready. Miserable experience for everyone.

Also - I changed my hunting a bit to accomodate the kids. When they got started, I backed off from the high mountains and got access to some farmland w/plentiful deer and quail. It's been a good move. We can wander the fields, hunt hard, and never be more than a mile or two from the truck, warmth, shelter, lunch and hot cocoa! Actually, I kind of like it too! My usual method before that was to drive to the end of the road, then hike/backpack way back into the boonies, up high in the Cascades and generally work myself hard. The more gentle approach to hunting is working out well - and heck I'm a little older myself now!

Again, it's nice to see others taking their kids afield, and passing on the hunting tradition! Regards, Guy

 

[roysclockgun]

My suggestion would be to let them do the gunning on deer as soon as they want to and can handle the deer rifle at the range. Of course, for at least the first year, I would not carry a firearm, except as back-up and would hunt with the novice as mentor and guide.

 

[rick smith]

Both my girls hunted with me but didn't take to it. Both my boys have hunted with me since about 5 yrs old. My youngest, 19 now, killed his first deer at 10 yrs old. I have worked with our DNR on youth hunts and women in the outdoors. Keep kids and ladies involved and our sport will last.Rick.

 

[aulrich]

My guys have been tagging along in some form, for a while now but I have three sort of criteria , thier interest, phyisical size and maturity

thier interest - is a funny one you can't really push it but if you don't introduce it they probably won't say. Though the big thing is to nurture thier interest. Last summer I almost blew it I had a trip to the range planned for after a weekend of camping. well the range was crowded and for various reasons mostly me we had a horrible experience. Had that been thier first time out I doubt they would have gone again.

Phyisical size - they have to be big enough to handle the gear. I when I see on the hunting shows where they take a kid hunting and all they do is pull the trigger and the host or dad works the action and puts it on safe makes me twitch. If the kid can't operate all functions of the gun safly they should not be hunting. I have a small single shot 22 but in retrospect that has been a waste of time sure it's small enough for them to shoot they just did not have the dexterity to operate the thing safely. At 10 my one son who pretty tall can handle my old mosberg 22 and he can handle it all by himself and still be safe.

maturity - They need to be mature enough to understand all that comes with guns and/or hunting.

So in contrast to that horrible day at the range, this last winter I had introduced all theee of my boys (twins 10 and an 8) to archery. It was after the season so there was no rush to get sighted in or tuned, the gear fit them properly, success was measured by "hitting the paper". And it turned out to be truly a hoot I introduced one boy at a time and even the one son who has not liked any sort of shooting likes archery shooting.

So I guess the answer is yes take your kids along but just remember to keep it to kid sized at first and work up. If they have fun they will do it again.