Raising the Next Generation, a Couple Questions

[Brauee20]

We let our son choose his bedtime book and for the past few weeks now it's been A Sand County Almanac. Well we are just about through it. I've got the and sketches here and there version and it's amazing seeing him light up as we stumble across the sketches, and flip back to ones we've already seen. Do you guys know of any of the other classic conservationist/naturalists books with either sketches or pictures? I've got Rinella's American Buffalo on deck for bedtime, and The New Hunters Encyclopedia that we found at a garage sale that he likes to flip through.

At 23 months this kid loves the outdoors. His first three words were deer, turkey and fish. He's got my dad's old OLT duck and goose calls that he likes to harass the dogs and his mom with. We were able to wait out a group of toms as they worked right to us this spring to about 15 yards while looking for morels, and sheds. I was able to snap a picture just as they took off running.



I plan to keep nudging him into the outdoors like my father did for me. Never forced me into going, but always offered me to come along and never mentioned being disappointed when I choose to sleep in. His eyes always told a different story though.

Any tips you guys have got for me as he gets older? I'm worried about once I've got to start competing with our technology soaked world. A couple buddies are struggling getting their kids to come along and I can see the pain on their faces when we talk about it.

 

[JTHOMP]

Sounds like you got him on the right track. Only advice I can give is keep the outings short, active, and don't burn him out.

 

[BearFoot]

Your on a good path. Encourage his interests.

 

[Brauee20]

Thanks guys, we welcomed #2 into the world last night just after midnight. Going to be a hectic couple months before heading to Wyoming in October.

 

[HighDesertSage]

Keep it fun.

 

[Mully204]

Little Jake and the Three Bears - its a good book for that age. Its about hunting and conservation, I would recommend it

 

[Brauee20]

Little Jake and the Three Bears - its a good book for that age. Its about hunting and conservation, I would recommend it

Awesome! Thanks man, there looks to be a handful of Little Jake stories.

 

[JEL]

You are doing a lot of the same stuff I did with our boys. Now I just try to keep up!

 

[dirtclod Az.]

First book that had me hooked was "Where the Wild Things Are" I then found a book in my Moms library,"Desert Plants and Animals".Moved on to "Trees" and "Nature of Arizona" I can now name most every bird or animal in Az.and frequenty go back to them to show my Nieces and Nephews.
Find books on or about your region,it makes "nature"walks more enjoyable and educational(Always Bring a Camera)

 

[onelionhunter]

I still remember flipping through my das birds of north america book, were two volumes, a western and eastern, spent hours looking at those book and packing them around growing up, think they may have been from teh Audubon Society or something like that. He also had some large hard covers, Big game of north america, an African version. Also always had lots of magazines around to read from a young age, Fur fish and game, outdoor life, field and stream, PA game news, etc, I bet he had a dozen or more subscriptions for my brother and i to read when he was done.

Some of the things that got me hooked, as well as my daughter later were finding a pond with a large population of pan fish, lots of action, size never mattered. and a bucket, if action was slow, craw dads, worms, a small fish in a bucket, a lot of entertainment, that could be released after, sometimes its the simplest things in life, how I miss those days.

 

[VAspeedgoat]

As the first post said, keep it short, simple and low pressure. Id also say take plenty of snacks and make it as comfortable as possible. Not sure if you're east or west but get him going with you early and a gun as soon as pracrical and legal. Every kid matures differently. I read an article 14 years ago when my first was on the way and its best advise was to eat what you kill or catch as soon as possible. I don't know why but this is something that seems to really get their attention more than anything else at younger ages. By the way, all of my kids still think hunting = snacktime.