Do you hunt with your kids?

[TNhobbyfarmer]

I guess living where I live, and being raised as I was, I always assume most fathers take their kids hunting. My daughter loves to go, and this is the first year she's gotten to try out my 30-30 rifle. She's a pretty good shot, 3 in a pie plate at 100 yards, and she's only shot it 10-12 times. She wants to try the 270, but it's a little much for her. I took her during our youth weekend before regular gun season opened, and while we didn't get anything, she had a ball. She's mad now because I'm stuck offshore and she's out of school all week. We also hunt with dogs. We are fortunate enough to have relatives with enough acreage to allow this. She'll kill one this year, or at least shoot at one. I believe I'll enjoy it more than killing one myself.

Am I right in my assumption that most fathers hunt with their kids?

The most memorable hunt I ever experienced was the day my son shot his first deer. I was in a treestand with him on a youth hunt. It was just a small 4 pointer, but we were both extremely excited. We both still hunt, me not as much, him with a passion. We have both shot many deer larger than that 4 pointer, but none is more important or memorable than his first one. Memories with family are to be cherished. The older I get, the more I understand that.

 

[CDsdad]

Safety is a big concern for us. We live near a hunting club, so I'm always on my toes when season is in. The neighboring hunters aren't a bad sort, some of them do mix a little alcohol with their firearms, though, and that's bad business. A DUI for one member last year has curtailed some of that. And they were told if it happened again they would lose their lease.

I try to teach my own safety from as young as possible. My two year old knows not to point his toy gun at anyone and not to shoot in the house. I thought that was pretty good for an extremely hard-headed 2 yo. My daughter is 9 and has enough fear of guns to be extremely careful. She would much rather let me load and handle the firearm and just be an aimer and trigger squeezer.

I'm getting off this rust bucket tomorrow, so hopefully the weekend will provide us with some meat in the freezer. I'll probably have to put the daughter on Ritalin if she gets one. That or Prozac for her Papaw. He's 60 and loves hunting more than any of us.

 

[WTA]

My father never once took me hunting. He was a career marine from the 60's to the 80's so no wonder he didn't want anything to do with guns in the house. He had as many purple hearts as I had stars on my sea service ribbon while I was in the service.

I was different with my kid though. I've been wounded too but it didn't stop my love of hunting and guns. My son started hunting coons with me in the mississippi river bottoms when he was still in Diapers. He went on his first deer and turkey hunt when he was 4 and actually got a turkey himself with my rifle that year. He started competing in trap and skeet when he was 5 or 6. He's really good now at 14. I'm retired military now and in the gun business working on military guns once again so it's sortof a way of life for us here. One of these days my boy will be going to camp Perry to whip up on Army shooters. I can't wait to see it. He's good.

I think everyone should teach their kids to shoot and to be responsible with guns as early as possible. The only thing dangerous about guns is ignorance. Kids that haven't been taught right are the ones that are real prone to accidents.
We haven't had much time to hunt in the last couple years because we have been so busy fixing M-14's and Garands for everyone else but we've been scaling back to have more tie for ourselves and we will start hunting again next season on a regular basis.

I don't trust many adults at all around me with weapons. I trust my kid though. When I was shot the first time it was a range accident in the Army. That's what they called it anyway. There is absolutely no room for mistakes or careless handling of weapons around me now. The last couple times we went hunting at a lease we had here everyone was drinking heavily and one idiot pointed a gun at my kid. Within a second he was wearing that shotgun around his neck.

I hope that all of you that do take your kids hunting will stay clear of people drinking with guns around. If you do find someone drinking with a gun in their hands then call the cops and have them arrested right after you make them eat it! Guns and alchohol can never be mixed. I don't know why so many people are stupid enough to do it though. It is way too common around here to have drunks roaming the woods with a loaded gun. We will never go to another lease with other people or on public land again because of my experience. I hope all of you are smart enough to keep your kids safe from it too.
You wouldn't let your kid get in a car with someone that has been drinking. Does it make sense to take them hunting when people are drinking?
I was a sailor so believe me, I'm not anti alcohol. Just anti idiots with guns and alcohol.

 

[N80]

I started hunting with my dad when I was 8. By age 9 I was hunting on the stand by myself. Killed my first deer at age 9. Been doing it ever since. My son started hunting with me when he was 7 or 8. Killed his first deer at age 9, on the stand by himself. He killed an 18 pound gobbler that my dad called up for him when he was about 11. He is 16 now and is not as passionate about it as I was at that age but he still goes whenever I go. He's killed 5 deer now. He killed two this year on opening day. He's a good rifle shot.

My daughter, who is 14 goes with me some. She missed a turkey that my dad called up for her about 2 years ago. She always wants to go but has been too invloved with horses to take the time to learn to shoot, etc. So I don't take her much. She's usually riding anyway and everytime we are down on our porperty my B-I-L drafts her for cowgirl duty. She is good on a horse and helps him a great deal when moving cows.

Without getting overly romantic about it, hunting is a great way for dads and kids to do meaningful things together. There are plenty of other things besides hunting that dads and kids can do together but few of them have all of the benefits of hunting. My son and I are not as 'close' as some boys and dads, but when we're hunting things gel nicely. And the experiences, particularly his successes, have been valuable to his self-esteem which like many teens can be fragile.

 

[Spiveyman]

My dad grew up on a farm and hated it, so when he got off the farm he never wanted to go back. He never hunted, but would keep varmits out of the garden, so that's where I first learned to shoot. I love to shoot, but don't really know how to hunt. I know, aim the business end at the game and pull the trigger - but all the details, and dressing the deer out. Just never done it. My wife's even been deer hunting. That's a little embarrassing. Now that I have a son (8 months old) and a farm (170 acres) with lots of deer, turkey, ducks, geese, squirrel, raccoon... on it I want to learn how so that I can teach my son. I envy the kids that hunted with their dads growing up. To all you fathers who are doing that, kudos. That is great. I want my son to have that experience, even though I may never be that passionate about the hunting, I am passionate about the relationship with my son.

Shooting is another story though. I love to shoot targets, skeet, that kind of thing and will have a gun in both my son and daughter's hands as soon as they are old enough (she's 3 now). I always tell the people I've taught to shoot, that I don't really care if they have a fun time, I only care that they are safe. I've had one close call, idiot friend almost killed me with a 12 gage slug. From that point on I am really strict about rules when shooting. When done right is a great thing. There's never any room for alcohol. I don't drink at all, so that's not a problem for me or my family, but there's always the dude on the next farm.

 

[RobertN]

Am I right in my assumption that most fathers hunt with their kids?

No. Soon though, I hope... My 13 year old has indicated interest, but I have not pushed him. I have been encouraging him to take hunter safety, but he has not yet. Well, he just signed up for a class next weekend!

He has not been out hunting with me, just didn't seem interested in getting up early in the morning, hiking etc. A couple of other kids in our Scout troop are in to hunting, having taken pig, deer, bear, and turkey. That peaked his interest a bit.

He has been shooting since he was 5 though. We started out on a Red Ride bb gun. Then moved to a single shot 22lr. Then, a bolt action 22lr. He did two years of 4H shooting program.

Last weekend, he won a turkey shoot. Friends of ours gather the weekend beofre Thanksgiving every year for a shoot(rifle/pictol/shotgun). For the turkey shoot, everyone chips in $3. You get two shots at a target with a black powder rifle, from a standing position at 25 yards. We don't count bullseye's, we count the closest two rounds. His two rounds tore one oblong hole! Mine were about 1/8" apart. He won the 22lb turkey, I took 2nd place and got the consolation prize, of two cornish game hens

We were talking about it last night. He said it was luck. I told him he is a good shot, and practiced what he was taught. He said no, he didn't think about trigger control, breathing etc. I explained to him that that was why I started him on the bb gun, and made him learn to shoot on a single shot and bolt action. I also explained that was why, this 1st half of each 4H shooting session was practice on paper, then shoot for a score. After that, it was "fun" shooting.

He didn't quite get it. I explained, that he learned how to shoot properly from the beginning. He controlled his breathing, trigger pull/squeeze, sight acquisition, and follow through just like he was taught; it was second nature now and he did not think about it. Then he went "Oh!".

At the same shoot, he shot a series of small groups with an SKS, was knocking hand thrown clays down with the shotgun, and shooting 22 rifle an pistol very accurately. I told him, if you have the basics down, you can shoot anything...

So now, he is looking forward to a trip or two for late duck season, and spring turkey season...

 

[WTA]

When we go hunting we usually do it a lot like I was taught in the service for hunting something else. No tree stands, no high tech anything, no heaters. We just go find a well used trail then get at least 200 yards out in a good shooting direction and suit up and lay down. When my son got his first turkey it was really funny. We were in our guilly suits and laying about 500 yards from a deer crossing on a river. It's wide open country here and flat as you can imagine so we were being especially still and trying to make like rocks. My son was fast asleep while I was on watch and I felt something touch my leg. Then it started crawling up my back, then another and another and then I saw one on my son out of the corner of my eye. He had a huge rio grande turkey standing right on his back! We were right next to each other and I flipped the safety off of my rifle as one jumped off of my head and about 20 of them walked around and over my son. I couldn't move to wake him up with birds in that close so I just took a shot on the biggest one in the bunch about 20 yards away. I hit that one in the neck instantly dropping it and My son woke up before the smoke had even cleared and within 2 seconds fired on one running away and we both got our birds. His was bigger than mine but that's ok. His shot was so perfect there was not even an entrance wound and his bird was about 150 yards away when he fired. That bullet went right in the turkeys butt and out right between the wishbone. It didn't touch a bit of meat! He's good! He sure was proud of that bird. We were only laying there about 6 hours or so. I know that made him happy too. We have layed in one spot for 2 days before waiting on a deer. That is not easy. Like I said, It's how I was trained but it sure works good on wild game too.

The last couple of years we haven't done any serious hunting but we do always carry a rifle and a pistol when we go trail riding on the horses. I can shoot off of my horse without a problem. He could care less. My son is still working on it. We've gotten several coyotes and hogs that way. My horse must have built in radar for hogs. He even turns broadside to where one is about to pop out of the brush giving me a clear shot so I don't ring his ears. Everytime he stops and turns like that for no apparent reason I know exactly what to expect now.

 

[Matt_W]

I have been hunting with my Father (Now 81) and 2 brothers since I was 13. I am now 46 and what a wonderful way to share time and to keep the younger kids out of trouble. My Father still deer hunts but small game now is too much for him now with all the walking.
Looking back I have so many fond memories of hunting and fishing adventures.

 

[mnbowhunter1960]

I have hunted with my father since I was 12 now at 47 I have a 14 year old son who has been hunting with me since he was 10 he has been fortunate enough to have hunted in 4 states already taking deer,turkey,ducks pheasants and grouse. it is quality time spent together where you get to have fun and pass down years of experience in safety and respect for the animals or birds you are taking and teaching him how to give back.

he is a great kid and I think personally spending this quality time with him in the outdoors is probably a better education in some aspects than he can get in school. we also enjoy fishing together and with his grandfather my dad.

 

[Reg]

I doubt that it is legal, in most of the Northern States anyway.

In any case they're too quick and too small to be easy targets- and b'sides they'd probably cheat and come up on Ya from b'hind.