When is a child old enough?

[BuckStop]

I have mentioned it before, but we have been blessed with 3 boys of which the oldest is 5. I am slowly introducing our oldest to the outdoors and he's enjoying everything. So far he enjoys fishing alot as long as we can fry them up. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif

Assuming he and our other two really get into the hunting thing, there will be a time which I will tell them how to kill an animal. My concern is that they understand that hunting is not only about gun safety and confidence in shooting, but also that its about respect for the animal.

I was wondering how any of you went about teaching the ability and the respect and at what point you determined that he/she was old enough to hunt?

 

[Iowabowtech]

Great question and one I've pondered myself. My son just turned 7 this month and this is the first year I'm going to let him shoot a pellet gun and join me in the blind for spring turkey. His attention span is still really short though so there'll be a Nintendo Gameboy making the trip as well just so dad doesn't have to pack up the Double Bull after a half hour! As far as him actually making a kill, I'm looking at some time yet, not sure when. A friend of mine took his son into the blind at age 3 but then again he has the ultimate setup where his blind is about 200 yards from his house overlooking a food plot with timber all around. He also mentioned something about him not being particularly quiet. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

 

[NWBuck]

For our son, the right age was 9. He's been tagging along with me on hunting and fishing trips since he was 4. He watched me fill a late muzzleloader tag when he was 4, and now routinely outfishes me during both open water and ice fishing seasons. All the while I wondered the same thing...what age is the right age. Turns out, it was pretty easy to tell. I started letting him target shoot with a 22 when he was 7. He loved that, and cost me a small fortune in ammo /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif When he was 8, we thought maybe he could try the shotgun and/or muzzleloader. One shot and he told me himself that it was too much for him. A year later, he had no trouble handling the muzzleloader with 150 grains of powder. That year wait was definitely the right thing to do. During youth season this year he was very confident. He'd spent a bunch of time shooting at the range, and grouped them nicely out to 75 yards. We had a cherry spot to hunt...elevated enclosed blind overlooking food plots...timber all around. We'd decided that his most effective range was 50 yards, and found landmarks around the blind at that range so he would know when they were close enough to shoot. We had no trouble getting him shots in that range, but he missed the first three chances he had. He learned first hand about buck fever, or "the shakes" as he called it. After that, we took a few days off...got back to the shooting range, and convinced him that it wasn't the gun. Then, in early October this fall, he did it. Dropped a nice doe in her tracks at 40 yards. What a hoot! He's hooked now, talking about next year and holding out for a nice buck, etc.

So, I think if you spend time taking your kids to the blind and the shooting range, it'll be easy to know when the time is right. And it will likely be different for every kid...no magic age when they'll all be ready. Good luck, and have fun. These really are the times of your life /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif

 

[River1]

My oldest daughter grabbed the first beer out of the fridge for me when she was 2. She will sit in the turkey blind with me this year at age 5.

Seriously though, if they are asking questions about how things work in the outdoors it's time to take them with IMO. I'm fortunate to have a place that's easy to hunt with a young kid along. Looking forward to all the questions she'll have when we get there.
I can't imagine a better way to spend a day.

 

[Skully]

I started my boys out shed hunting and fur trapping. Shed hunting teaches them a lot about the outdoors and that you don't always get to come home with something. Trapping teaches them a little more about managing animal numbers and how the death of an animal can actually help the living population thrive. This is where you learn if your child is ready for the reality of taking an animals life. Show compassion and teach them its not about killing. Explain how coons eat turkey eggs and can be damaging if their numbers get to high. I always release the smaller coons and all of the rabbits and such. Only the larger "mean" coons get harvested. I have even had my boys say, "This coon isn't growling, he must not be mean." Let the "nice" ones go and the children will learn something from it. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif My oldest son took his first deer at 8 years old. My youngest son is six and I'm not sure if he'll be ready by 8 but we'll see. He is not nearly as patient as my oldest which shows how every child is different. Time spent outdoors with your child is priceless. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif

Here are a few pics of our adventures.

 

[gundog870]

My little bro started at eight. I think it really depends on the personality and understanding.


There is a big difference in a kid that "Killed a deer" and a kid that "was able to go deer hunting with his dad."

 

[teeroy]

alot of good examples here. i know my nephew(6) is "ready" to go now (just ask him). but i think taking them along, and have them seeing dad fill a tag, and their reactions, and the discussion that follows, will tell you alot

 

[BuckStop]

If my dad was still living, I'd ask him this question but unfortunately I did not think about these things before I had children of my own while he was still living. My dad started me out by letting tag along on his hunts when I was about 8 years old. I think he did a pretty good job but I never remember the talk about what hunting is meant to be, everything just kind of happened. Maybe that is just the way it is from a child's perspective.

As a christain, I will probably approach the respect issue from the stand point that everything is God's creation and that we must be good stewards or conservationists of what he has given us. Actually putting that in the simplest of ways that a 8 year old can understand will be challenging though.

I think too, showing and explaining to them the little things in nature will go along way to make the times with dad in the woods times they will remember.

As long as I am being a good example to them in showing respect to other hunters and the animal I guess they will be fine because if dad isn't doing it right than we can not expect much better out of them.

Recent pics around my household.

First archery lesson.

Who would of thought Disney World could be about fishing.