Kids in the stand with you.

[Dbl.throat_patch]

I have a 6 year old daughter, who I want to take to the stand with me some time this year. What do you guys use for a safety harness for someone who is that small? Is there anything on the market? or is she just to small to be sitting in a treestand?
Thanks in advance for your replies.

 

[Shredder]

I would just use a ground blind if at all possible. Mine is going up this week for when my daughter wants to go with me or the wife.

 

[Ghost]

As Shredder has suggested, blinds are great for kids whether deer hunting or turkey hunting. I also would recommend a "buddy ladder stand". Both of my kids and I have had some great hunts with all three of us sitting in a "buddy stand"! It has a railing around it and you can always just put a saftey belt around them for extra safe measure.

The important thing to remember with kids is, they have a totally different attention span than you do while hunting. Keep it fun,...when it's not fun anymore it's time to finish up the hunt.

You can't get them out there too soon.....

This was Ghost Jr. at age four.

 

[NebraskaWhitetail]

Like Ghost said, if you ever have kids up in a stand, make sure they have a safety harness on. You've gotta ask youself: "How much are my kid's lives worth?" When you think about that, it makes the cost of a good harness seem inexpensive!

 

[okla hawkeye]

I'm taking my 10 yr. old out this fall for the first time. I think we'll be on the ground sitting for a while, and move a little, then sit, then move. I know he won't sit still too long. I'll take him up the tree when he gets a little older. I shoot more deer from the ground anyway.

 

[Daver]

I think it depends on the kid, I have one semi-hyper personality and one laid back personality in my two boys. I was able to put the easy going one in a treestand with no sweat when he was 8 and could have done so sooner except that I was worried about him physically being big enough to climb the sticks, the hyper one was 9, but BOTH were belted in something fierce. I could not bear the thought of one of those guys tumbling out of a stand and it being my responsibility. If that wouldn't be bad enough I don't think I would live through the "opportunity" of explaining to my wife what happened. Safety first!

Keep it fun, don't make them "hunt hard" at this stage. There just may be a few giggles, snorts and guffaws at inopportune moments and you will have to expect that. Take a camera and take some pictures of them there in the stand with you too. Let them pick up sticks, acorns, feathers, etc, they think that is pretty cool at that age. I let them name the deer they see and they come up with some dandy names too.