Youth Hunter Tactics, goals, ideas, etc???

[Matthewfox_45]

My son who is 15 has killed quite a few deer including a couple 130” bucks, and is starting to be more selective in the deer he harvests. His own self imposed rule is “no dink bucks”. We’ve talked a lot about age structure with bucks, but he’s 15 and I don’t want him to be a “trophy hunter” when he’s still a kid. So I’ve told him I don’t care what he shoots. I leave it up to him, last year he shot a beautiful 100” buck, best part of the hunt, my dad and I were in the blind with him! Not gonna lie, I teared up a little when three generations of Fox men walked up on that deer.

 

[Bucksnbears]

Nice!!

 

[muddy]

This will be year 4 for all 3 of my kids. I have no idea what their goals are, but whatever they want to shoot they can shoot. Alex has already said he wants a deer with 10 points. The girls don't seem to care, so long as it's not too hot or not too cold.

The only issue is that we're getting Alex a bow for his birthday this weekend. If he practices enough and gets to 35 or 40 pounds I have a slam dunk 12 yard shot stand I'll let him sit in with me. Probably have to throw a LW closer to the ground, but we'll deal with that when we get to it.

 

[meyeri]

Good thread, I'm not a fan of situations where youth hunters shoot big bucks from box blinds with guns hard mounted to a tripod. Set the kid up to succeed, but don't turn baseball into tee ball. I grew up with no youth season, I hunted hard for 2 yrs before I connected on something and when I shot a basket rack I was on cloud 9. I understand setting the kid up to be successful and I agree with that to an extent, but there's a lot to be said of letting the kid earn it too.

 

[Daver]

Good thread, I'm not a fan of situations where youth hunters shoot big bucks from box blinds with guns hard mounted to a tripod. Set the kid up to succeed, but don't turn baseball into tee ball. I grew up with no youth season, I hunted hard for 2 yrs before I connected on something and when I shot a basket rack I was on cloud 9. I understand setting the kid up to be successful and I agree with that to an extent, but there's a lot to be said of letting the kid earn it too.

I agree. ^^ Put your time and effort into the whole experience, that is what all of you will remember. Getting a deer is icing on the cake and it isn't the end of the world to put some time in and NOT have instant success. The eventual harvest will mean more in most cases if there was pain and suffering that led up to it.

 

[Sligh1]

My son Charlie sitting in blind hunting…. We sure had fun. Really interesting what he said & made me think….
We did NOT shoot anything & went out 4 times. It was hot but we had young bucks & small Does all around us. He loved it. He said “I want to shoot something older” which I said ok. Still some time & if we don’t shoot anything - it’s just fine by him.

HERE’S WHAT HE SAID THAT GOT ME THINKING….
“Dad, this is so much fun! Why doesn’t every kid want to do this?!?!?!??????”
“of all the kids in my grade, only 2 others hunt or talk about hunting”.

Very basic + simple thoughts & comments right???
Think about those comments. He has about 150 kids in his grade. Not many hunters as of 5th grade which I hope changes.
WHY are only a small portion of kids hunting?????
IMO as I thought about this…..
1) harder to find access to good quality hunting land. When the kids hunt over hunted land…. it’s likely not real exciting for them.
2) folks not bringing kids out. Which is our fault as adults & mentors. But- there’s also obstacles like access to good land.
3) electronics, guaranteed results, constant stimulation for “fun things to do”. A culture which is somewhat against “masculine things” - whatever.
A point I want to make!!!!! FOR KIDS!!!!!….. it’s NOT about how many weapons they have!!!!! How many seasons!!!! How guaranteed we can rig the system. We have our challenges and I assure you- SEASONS & WEAPONS ARE NOT THE ISSUE!!!!! Politicians will NOT change this by messing with the regulations- I assure you…. Make it worse??…. most likely.

One kid hooked (& several more we are taking). Listen to these kids when you bring them out. We talked about why I hunt & most the time dont shoot anything - he understood that to a deep degree!!! I was so happy. He had a blast & we shot nothing. These kids have some wisdom- They speak TRUTH. simple facts. Good luck everyone!!!

 

[marshall]

Can't disagree, but would add competition with other activities to the list. Youth sports are turning into a year round event, with many kids I know doing several at a time. Family calendars fill up fast. Wish our society would slow down and give kids time to explore and just generally be kids. We intentionally make time for outdoors activities, but we are also blessed with access. Likely would be much harder if we didn't have spots to go.

 

[CurtisWalker]

I completely agree I also think another thing is a lot of people never hunted as they grew up either so the kids never have an opportunity to go. I know I try to get a few youth hunters out every spring for turkey season (it’s the best kind of hunting, especially to get some one addicted IMO). I usually get a kid out waterfowl hunting every year too. Hoping to get two kids out for their first times this weekend for youth waterfowl. Don’t just stop at kids either, I know a lot of parents that would like to start hunting and I guarantee if they learned how to do it then their kids would be taken out too.


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[Buckhunter92]

I had the two guys in my life growing up besides my dad that got me involved in the outdoors and instilled the passion I have today for it. One was the best neighbor growing up that took me hunting for first turkey and deer. I think he was more excited than me when I shot that first turkey. Some things I'll never forget and Im sure he wouldn't either an that was 20 years ago. Agree with the above statements with everything needs to slow down everything is so scheduled now a days. I've got a 3 year old daughter that absolutely loves crushing the gravels looking for deer. Makes me one happy dad seeing her excitement for something most kids won't experience. Her words are "dad let me out of my car seat I wanna see"

 

[kelcher]

I grew up learning the hard way too, but like some others have said, with everything the boys had going on all of the time I am sure that they would not have gone at all if they had to put in as much effort as I did.

Who knows if they will go out as adults, but I wanted to make sure that we had some hunting experiences together. My son passed on quite a few does, fawns and small bucks this past weekend, but he sure enjoyed watching them at anywhere from 5-100 yards.

 

[2.5YR8]

My daughter ended up shooting a doe Friday evening. We sat 4 different times and she had chances to shoot a deer every sit. She had the time of her life, and I probably had the most fun of any hunting I've done myself. She's already talking about next year. When I get some time I'll post up some pics.