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Post by larryhagmansliver on Nov 2, 2006 7:45:37 GMT -5
I have two daughters age 1 and 4. The older one likes to go walk in the woods with me. I don't know if she will ever want to hunt, or shoot a bow or gun. I wouldn't bother me if she said she isn't interested, but I would like to know how some of you introduced your daughters to the outdoors. What age did you start? what did you do? did it work? If you have a son, was he more interested? Any short stories would be welcome. Thanks
Larry Hagman
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Post by dec on Nov 2, 2006 8:35:34 GMT -5
I'm no expert at this, but I'm in the middle of this myself, so I'll give you input on what I've done.
I have 2 daughters, 5 and 7. Hunting is all they have known since they were born. Hunting has always been on the TV in some form of hunting show or DVD. They have been able to physically touch every deer, turkey, duck, goose, hog, javelina, coyote, bear, and any other animal that I've shot in the past 7 years. Come time to butcher animals, they have always been a part of it from simply watching to helping package meat. Hunting and being around wild animals is all they know. There is no shock factor in seeing blood.
As for introducing them to the woods. I live along a wooded swamp, so their swing set is literally about 20 feet from the woods. I take them into that small woods patch all year long. Any time we are in any woods I always try and turn it into a fun exploration. We look for tracks, acorns, bugs, anything woodsy. They eat it up.
I started taking them out hunting with me at the age of 5. First hunts always a Sept. goose hunt. I have layout blinds that they can slip into and the warmer weather is easier for them to handle. Goose hunting in fields is ideal for kids. They can get up and walk around, they can talk, when there is action it is exciting (calling, birds flying, sometimes some shooting, sometimes a bird retrieved by their dog). Deer hunting is a little different. It is hard for a 5 or 6 year old to sit quiet for long periods of time in the cold. I started my girls out in a ground blind with me, the first week of October. The weather is warm and I keep the hunt very short. The goal is not to kill a deer. My goal is to get them exposed and with any luck to see a deer.
When taking kids hunting with you, keep it mostly on their terms. Give them the option of going or not and let them know it is OK if they don't want to go. If they do want to go, let them call the quitting time. I usually let mine determine when we are done, even if I know that last hour of the day is prime time, yet they want to go. I do make them wait about 10 minutes extra after they ask the first time. Just a bit of discipline, but not too much.
Outside of that, just expose them to everything and let them take it in at their own pace.
As for weapons. I bought each of my daughters bows when they were 4. The love to shoot them. I bought my oldest a bb gun when she was 6 and will do the same with my youngest. I bought my oldest her first real gun when she turned 7 this year.
My oldest wanted to take the hunter safety test, so I let her at 7 and she passed with a 94 out of 100. She also wanted to hunt the youth hunt, so I took her out. She missed a doe with her muzzleloader and we had the best time of our lives. She claims she wants to go back out for the gun opener. I'll let her if she still wants to when she wakes up that morning.
Hunting so far has been a 1000% positive bonding experience for me and my girls. The are so in tune with wildlife it is amazing. They can pick a turkey or deer out of a field while we drive down the road better then I can. We laugh about so many outdoors related things. It is just a blast being with them doing what I love and seeing it passed on to them.
I'm not saying that my way of introducing my girls to hunting and the outdoors is the best way, but it has worked for me. Mostly, I let my girls pick the pace at which we proceed. Every day is different and some days are faster paced then others. As a father it is one of the most exciting things to watch.
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Post by Woody Williams on Nov 2, 2006 9:12:26 GMT -5
I think DEC has got it right.
I introduced my son through going with a friend to run his rabbit dogs for training. He like dthat.
The second weekend we were going to do that I woke him up and asked if he wanted tog run the rabbit dogs again. He said," What is the matter. Did they forget how?"
Make it fun and interesting.
I took him out the first time deer hunting when he 6 or 7 . He liekd that too as the very first deer he ever saw deer hunting was a white doe..
Being the president of an archery club got him interested in shooting a bow and along with that came bowhunting.
I never pushedf him, but I would ask him the night before if he wanted to go hunting in the morning. If he said yes, then I got him up no matter how much he protested. The hunt - no hunt decision wasn't made each morning. It was made the night before.
In high school he kind of got away from it and didn't hunt as much. I still never pushed him. A friend of mine did push his son and it ended up that he doesn't hunt any more at all now that he is grown.
After my son married and settled down he got back into it big time and now hunts more than I do.
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Post by Sleazy E on Nov 2, 2006 9:40:35 GMT -5
My daughter is only 3 (will be 4 next week) and she knows all about hunting. This was her first year going out with me on an actual hunt (tree rats) and she loved it. I started by intorducing her to it on TV and then letting her see the game before it was cleaned. I also let her be present when skining and butchering deer so nonw of this came as a shock to her. She has her own bow (a toy bow of course) and she has her own gun (toy gun that shoots plastic bb's) and I ensure that she treats both of them just like the real thing. Her gun is kept in my gun cabnet and her bow is put away in my hunting room. It is fun to come back from a day of deer hunting and have her waiting at the door asking me if I got one and if I did asking to see it.
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Post by hunter480 on Nov 2, 2006 11:41:00 GMT -5
It sure sounds like you all have the right attitude about bringing your kids to the outdoors-awesome.
Many years ago, I used to see bumper stickers, (I`m usually not a bumper sticker guy), but one said-Take your Boy Hunting instead of Hunting for your boy, I had that one, the other was for the girls. You just don`t see things like that anymore.
It seems all kids want to do today is sit in front of the television and watch or play video games.
You all have done it right by making it a part of their growing up-it`s something they know and are accustomed to, and it`s as natural to them as anything else.
I wonder if the scouts could be a way to get a little older kid interested-make it just about the out-of-doors first, then bring the game into the equation.
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Post by hotshot on Nov 2, 2006 11:51:49 GMT -5
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Post by dec on Nov 2, 2006 12:48:30 GMT -5
You'll have a lot of laughs with my girls when they make it to 7th grade, Hotshot. Man they are a riot when it comes to talking hunting.  You know, I've had several dads tell me that they are afraid that the blood and guts of hunting will scare there young child. I found completely the opposite. At a young age, kids (boys and girls) don't know that blood and guts are supposed to be perceived as gross. The look at it and go WOW, what is that! It is an entire mind set that needs to be installed from the time they are little. How we as parents react and handle situations (hunting related or not) deeply impacts how things are molded into their little brains. I know a fellow hunter that was so mad at me when I mentioned where the steaks and roasts come from on a deer that we were butchering when his 12 year old daughter walked by in passing. He did not want her to know that all the steaks she had been eating came from Bambi. We as hunters and parents need to drop the Disney World Bambi crap at an early age and share with our kids the facts and why what we do is important to the herd, the environment, and our traditions. My best advise to anyone is to simply get your kids or grandkids out in the woods, put a fishing pole, or bow, or gun in their hands. Let them experience what we all take for granted. Live hunting through the fascination in their eyes. You'll see it all again from a new and refreshing perspective. It is truly an awesome experience. Man just want to go pick up my kids from school right now and go hunting!  |
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Post by hotshot on Nov 2, 2006 15:20:16 GMT -5
Bingo DEC, another thing to add- take your kids fishing. No matter what the size of the fish the kids catch- clean atleast one. make a huge production over he or she catching dinner,(the fishes and loaves concept works- one tiny bluegill turning into a plate of fillets - they don't catch the discrepency in size). You'll have a fishing buddy for life. The best part- when they get about 13- like my oldest son, to him it is a big deal th GET to clean the fish. I just fish now, and get the grease hot.
Another secret we share, he starts the cleaning process, I go in and explain to momma why we're late. BTW, your kids got out of school at 11:20, what are you still doing on the computer!
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Post by cpaddock87 on Nov 2, 2006 15:34:06 GMT -5
I happen to have a Daughter that is 11 & one that is 8 years old. I tell you how I have done it. I Eat Breath & sleep deer hunting. I watch videos with people like the Kisky Family & Tiffany Lakosky & my daughters have really started wanting to go hunting after watching these women killing monster bucks that has made a huge difference. My wife has no interest in hunting so I had to do something to get them into it. I also take them to the woods every chance I can. I take them to listen to turkeys in the spring when they are young like your kids.
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Post by dec on Nov 2, 2006 15:39:55 GMT -5
BTW, your kids got out of school at 11:20, what are you still doing on the computer! Ah the power of the day care. They took the bus to Fairview. I have to pick them up in about an hour. The real question is why do I spend so much time on here when I should be working?  |
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Post by larryhagmansliver on Nov 2, 2006 16:32:19 GMT -5
Thanks for the great response guys. My wife doesn't care a thing about hunting. I hope my daughters will appreciate it. My oldest (4) ask questions when I come in from the woods. Last night she asked if I ate at the hotel while I was out in the woods hunting. I have no idea what she meant. I do travel quite often for work so it must have something to do with that
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Post by danf on Nov 2, 2006 22:52:38 GMT -5
I need to start thinking along the lines of introducing my daughter to the outdoors. She's 3, so I need to let her in on more things. My wife told me tonight that my daughter said that when she gets old enough she wants a gun to shoot a deer "like Daddy". No idea where that came from; I haven't pushed it on her at all. In fact it hasn't been discussed, other than she knows I'm hunting on some evenings. Maybe I need to get a deer hunting video and watch it with her with suction cup dart pistol in hand! She has been fishing, though not much and not too successfully. |
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Post by weasel1134 on Nov 3, 2006 6:22:16 GMT -5
I have two daughters 12yrs and 3yrs. My oldest daughter never really cared for hunting or fishing. I started taking her with me when she was around four.She likes to shoot and is a fairly good shot with a .22 rifle and pistol. As far as hunting goes, it just isn't her thing,and thats fine with me. It did upset me at first but she is heavily into sports.She plays soccer in the fall,basketball in the winter,track in the spring and softball all summer.I am hoping my youngest daughter will share my interests,if not that's OK as well.I have started taking my 12 yr old nephew with me and he absolutely loves the outdoors.My advice is to introduce them to it but let them decide if it something they wish to continue.Who knows one day my oldest daughter might just decide she wants to go with me.
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Post by hotshot on Nov 3, 2006 8:22:45 GMT -5
BTW, GAndder Mountain carries a .22 cricket rifle with a stock that is bright pink. Those of you in North eastern IN- the Gander just over the line in Coldwater MI, can't keep them in stock.
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Post by dec on Nov 3, 2006 8:51:09 GMT -5
I was up there a couple weeks ago and in addition to the pink synthetic stock one, they had a pink laminated wood stock one. It looked kick azz ... for pink.
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