taking a survey out of curiosity

[EYJONAS!]

My son wouldn’t like your plan. He’d killed 50 whitetails and an antelope by the time he was 12.

Well that's my belief..... congrats to your son he's killed more deer and antelope in his 2 years of hunting than most will in their lives i guess.

 

[MNElkNut]

I don't agree at all that you start them out with a series of miserable hunts, especially under 10 years old. I will give an example. My two boys have been hunting for 3-4 years now and that just happened to coincide with poor pheasant hunting in our area. Duck and deer hunting, on the other hand have been good to really good. Guess what? They don't want to pheasant hunt nearly as much as duck or deer. Twelve years of failure before any success is not a recipe for hunter recruitment IMO. One of my boys put in some long days in horrible weather before he shot his mule deer at age 12. But if he would have been forced to do that before he was ready, he would not be a hunter I don't think. Every kid is different. YMMV.

 

[2rocky]

Kids should be along unarmed on your hunts LOOOOONNNNGGGGG before they ever hunt for themselves. You can introduce "The Suck" incrementally and not have them associate it with toting a weapon.

I recall as a 6 year old a full body case of Poison Oak I came down with following my dad down a canyon after a buck. Didn't dampen my enthusiasm. I was fortunate we had an 8 week deer season, and they were all day hunts so I could go run brush in the easier canyons, or sit on a stand with grandpa on the nasty ones. I heard all the stories from the old timers about their out of state hunts throughout the Rockies in the 60's, and 70's. I looked forward to the cold pop and Salami and cheese back at camp. I was honored when I could bring my BB gun and shoot rabbits in the afternoon. And when I did have my license for the first time at 12, I was paired with Grandpa on a stand. Sitting still that long really sucked!

My point being, give kids a taste and make them hungry for it themselves and the transition to the reality will be easier. I think it makes kids a better team player to watch other people have success before they do.

My dad did a better job of this than I did with my kids. My eldest was kind of one and done on a Turkey , Pig and Deer. My Middle daughter is ok with hunting birds, but no big game. My youngest has shot a turkey but doesn't want to shoot big game. I've accepted the fact that they are not going to be my backcountry hunting partners. I'd be happy if they would just ride into elk camp and hang out...Though the likelihood of that is next to nil.

 

[Dougfirtree]

When the opportunity comes it'll be a mixture but I'm not looking for either of my kids to shoot the first thing they see either. I want them to see that it's good to let things goplus that way we can go more as well.

All depends on the circumstance of things.

Here's a curve ball for the youth deal in Montana, I'm not a huge fan of the "mentor" program that's offered today. I don't believe anyone should be in the field especially that young of an age (10) without a hunters safety course under their belt and plus i don't think they should be able to hunt if they're less than the age of 12. My kids have tagged along on many hunts over the years and while they're starting to pickup and understand more they're not ready yet. I don't believe many kids are at that age either.......

I'm so grateful for the mentored hunting program in Vermont. We don't have it here in NY, but I've used Vermont's with both of my hunting sons. In Vermont, the kid is hunting off your tags and you have to be within arms reach of them the whole time. I wasn't ready for my kids to do all kinds of hunting at 10, but it was a great way to get them out into a duck blind and begin their education, while getting them really excited.

In general, I appreciate special youth opportunities. I don't think they need access to the most sought after tags, but having a special weekend, additional antlerless opportunities, cheaper fees, etc. have been great for my kids. If you haven't raised kids in this digital era, you may not completely appreciate how much competition there is for their interest and attention. Getting them out to hunt is a bigger lift, I believe, than it was for previous generations. I'm glad I started pretty early and tried to set them up with the best possible hunting opportunities. My youngest is still too young, but my older two seem to be hooked, for now.

 

[dcopas78]

Kinda goes along with this thread....pics my dad sent me today of my 6 year old dismantling a deer head after dad caped it for a shoulder mount. He took the eyes out (without popping), tongue, jaw bone, etc. I think dad has his apprentice in the taxidermy biz lol. He's at least ready to break down anything he shoots!

 

[Irrelevant]

Let me provide some examples.
6 miles in for the 3 yr old. I forgot snacks she made it about halfway out before I had to pack her

2 hrs of grouse hunting (just brushwacking). No grouse see or heard.

Scouting, he was fine.

chukar hunting... now that's a joke with little kids. Cold and blowing. Little guy had to walk at the back due to the snow depth, I broke trail in the lead. Twice I looked back and couldn't see him, he'd fallen over and couldn't get up. I think he just turned 2. No idea where the dog is...

 

[MTLabrador]

Let me provide some examples.
6 miles in for the 3 yr old. I forgot snacks she made it about halfway out before I had to pack her
View attachment 163003
2 hrs of grouse hunting (just brushwacking). No grouse see or heard.
View attachment 163004
Scouting, he was fine.
View attachment 163005
chukar hunting... now that's a joke with little kids. Cold and blowing. Little guy had to walk at the back due to the snow depth, I broke trail in the lead. Twice I looked back and couldn't see him, he'd fallen over and couldn't get up. I think he just turned 2. No idea where the dog is...
View attachment 163006

Your kids are like the Spartan children that just didn’t get to survive if they weren’t tough enough. Pretty great adventures.

 

[EYJONAS!]

I'm so grateful for the mentored hunting program in Vermont. We don't have it here in NY, but I've used Vermont's with both of my hunting sons. In Vermont, the kid is hunting off your tags and you have to be within arms reach of them the whole time. I wasn't ready for my kids to do all kinds of hunting at 10, but it was a great way to get them out into a duck blind and begin their education, while getting them really excited.

In general, I appreciate special youth opportunities. I don't think they need access to the most sought after tags, but having a special weekend, additional antlerless opportunities, cheaper fees, etc. have been great for my kids. If you haven't raised kids in this digital era, you may not completely appreciate how much competition there is for their interest and attention. Getting them out to hunt is a bigger lift, I believe, than it was for previous generations. I'm glad I started pretty early and tried to set them up with the best possible hunting opportunities. My youngest is still too young, but my older two seem to be hooked, for now.

My kids have been along on all kinds of adventures and hunts. No I have not made them endure the death marches that Mr. @neffa3 Has put his through looks like. But, they have been on some good ones. As for my comment about the mentor program I'm sure it's a good deal to get kids out but you can do that without kids shooting something. At age 10 I don't believe most kids are ready or understand what's really going on. It's not some click boom deal. I think every kid and really every one should have to take a hunter safety course and lots of adults could use a refresher as well. So until they complete that and they're not hunting with a gun. They will always want to tag along but until they complete a hunter safety course they're not pulling any trigger on a big game animal.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

@TN2shot07 and @lpshunter29 Do you want me to provide a list of suckfests my kids have already endured? At the end of the day they always have fun. But you can't throw them into it at 9 without training. We took our daughter, our first, out fishing in a February snowy windstorm at 11 days old. I wanted to set the expectations early, LOL. It would take me hours to complete the list of badass shit my kids have done that most 20 somethings couldn't.

I joke, but I'm serious. If all your kids ever know is that "fun" involves long stretches of hot/cold boredom and misery, it makes those short fleeting moments of excitement and joy that much sweeter. You don't need to have grey hairs to recognize the experience is enriched by hardship.

Huh... pretty succinct summary of my childhood.

My parents weren't trying to raise Spartans they just weren't going to let having kids slow them down. I think my dad carried me up my first peak at 18 weeks old, and took me skiing in his jacket when I was 13 months old. (He had paternity leave and hell if he was going to miss a season sitting on a couch with a baby)

I can remember doing a 12 mile hike with my sister when she was 4 or 5... I did a 18-20 mile peak with a crap ton of vert with my dad when I was 12. Point being we were got tired and cold and hungry and whined, but my parents just had good attitudes and were like well this is what we do for fun. Everything was type 2 fun... also they weren't hunters, my dad just thought bushwacking was a riot.

I really have nothing against guaranteed success hunts.

I just don't find 100% success hunts particularly fun, and you don't really learn anything from them so I'm probably not going to take my kids of a lot of those type hunts.

 

[Irrelevant]

Huh... pretty succinct summary of my childhood.

My parents weren't trying to raise Spartans they just weren't going to let having kids slow them down. I think my dad carried me up my first peak at 18 weeks old, and took me skiing in his jacket when I was 13 months old.

I can remember doing a 12 mile hike with my sister when she was 4 or 5... I did a 18-20 mile peak with a crap ton of vert with my dad when I was 12. Point being we were got tired and cold and hungry and whined, but my parents just had good attitudes and were like well this is what we do for fun. Everything was type 2 fun... also they weren't hunters, my dad just thought bushwacking was a riot.

I don't know him, but I like your Dad.

 

[rwc101]

Don't assume kids want easy success. The first animal I shot was a farm raised quail one of my dad's friends released to train his dog. It just sat on a tree limb and wouldn't move, so the guy insisted I shoot it. I knew it was bullshit and not how hunting should go then, and I regret that was my first animal now.

 

[Irrelevant]

Don't assume kids want easy success. The first animal I shot was a farm raised quail one of my dad's friends released to train his dog. It just sat on a tree limb and wouldn't move, so the guy insisted I shoot it. I knew it was bullshit and not how hunting should go then, and I regret that was my first animal now.

At about 6 I had my parents set the 3-wheeler up next to the bird feeder, I sat on a small bucket and waited for the quail. When they came, I shot one, and instantly felt terrible. But, and this might come as a surprise, while it was flapping on the ground our cat bolted out from under the deck, grabbed the quail, and took off. I guess I can thank the cat for saving me from the even worse grief I would have had picking it up out of the snow. Probably the only good thing a cat has ever done for me.

 

[2rocky]

I'm sure all of you have read the story about Coach Scolinos and the Home plate "Seventeen inches" if not, Here is a link.. https://www.sperrybaseballlife.com/stay-at-17-inches/

But we let younger kids pitch closer (44 ft, then 48 ft.) until they are about 12, then when they are strong enough they pitch full distance (60ft, 6 inches). The target is the same, we just PUT THEM IN A POSITION for success.

Youth stakes are closer on the Archery range, Young kids shoot closer in rifle matches. We try to let our kids have higher percentage opportunities at game because at that point in their life confidence is fragile. We are building confidence as much as we are teaching skils,and better skills certainly result in more confidence.

 

[mtmuley]

I didn't use "the suck" when getting my kids into hunting. Plenty of my childhood hunts were that way. There's better ways to do it. mtmuley

 

[MNElkNut]

Many private land hunts are not 100% success (exhibit A is my MN deer tag soup). Many private land hunts can be as hard or harder than public land. There may be better ways to categorize hunts for youth than public vs private land. There is a fine line between too easy and having enough success to keep them motivated. Each kid's line will be in a different place.

We can talk about what has worked for our kids or we can talk about what works in general across the board. Given that we are posting on Hunttalk, we are probably not representative of the hunting population in general. When implementing youth programs, state agencies are targeting youth that are new to hunting or on the edge. They are not (nor should they be) targeting my kids. My kids are hooked (as my wife often says to me when my kids show some type of hunting addiction, "Look what you created!).

What is important, is that each of us introduce kids (and adults) to hunting in a manner that resonates with them and optimizes their recruitment into the world of hunting!

 

[HSi-ESi]

To the OP - Both Private and Public.

I definitely do the incremental approach. I do wait until they whine and then push them a little further. Then switch gears. Sometimes it's having a snack or water. Last year I tossed snow-shoes on both of them and we went for a little "backcountry" ski. Climbed about 500 feet, and the 7 y/o (at the time) was really complaining after about 300 feet of vert. Complaining stopped on the way down. We get to back to where we started and it was "can we do it again??"

It's going to be at the point where I am the one complaining soon. Which will be good because my body weight could use a bunch of suffering.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

I'm sure all of you have read the story about Coach Scolinos and the Home plate "Seventeen inches" if not, Here is a link.. https://www.sperrybaseballlife.com/stay-at-17-inches/

But we let younger kids pitch closer (44 ft, then 48 ft.) until they are about 12, then when they are strong enough they pitch full distance (60ft, 6 inches). The target is the same, we just PUT THEM IN A POSITION for success.

Youth stakes are closer on the Archery range, Young kids shoot closer in rifle matches. We try to let our kids have higher percentage opportunities at game because at that point in their life confidence is fragile. We are building confidence as much as we are teaching skils,and better skills certainly result in more confidence.

I competed in mogul skiing growing up, my first run in a competition was in steamboat. Moguls just has one division, it’s not divided by ages so you literally compete with everyone.

My first run in a competition ever I had to ski immediately after Travis Mayer who had the season before won the silver medal, I fell 5 times and had to basically walk across the finish line... I competed into college and the best I did was 7th place.

Loved every minute of it...

My family doesn’t do that be nice to kids crap, you want to play cards with the adults you are gonna get smoked over and over again, if you cry you don’t get to play until you can hold your shit together. I didn’t beat my grand father in gin until I was 18.

 

[Irrelevant]

Climbed about 500 feet, and the 7 y/o (at the time) was really complaining after about 300 feet of vert. Complaining stopped on the way down. We get to back to where we started and it was "can we do it again??"

That describes every sledding run I've ever done with my kids.

 

[Irrelevant]

I competed in mogul skiing growing up, my first run in a competition was in steamboat. Moguls just has one division, it’s not divided by ages so you literally compete with everyone.

My first run in a competition ever I had to ski immediately after Travis Mayer who had the season before won the silver medal, I fell 5 times and had to basically walk across the finish line... I competed into college and the best I did was 7th place.

Loved every minute of it...

My family doesn’t do that be nice to kids crap, you want to play cards with the adults you are gonna get smoked over and over again, if you cry you don’t get to play until you can hold your shit together. I didn’t beat my grand father in gin until I was 18.

My Mom played college BBall. BBall was our family sport. I loved it, but I was well into my teens before I could hang. Nothing quite like getting stuffed by your grey hair mom in front of your friends...

She still beats me at chess. "To give less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." Doesn't matter who you're playing against.

 

[Bambistew]

I would guess that around 70-80% of kids start hunting on private land. Not a lot of public land back east... Is that the reason for fewer hunters? I never considered that. I would rather take my kids on private land where I know some D-bag isn't going to screw something up. I'm all for difficult, but not at the expense of lost interest. Each kid is different in their drive.

I'm not really sure that private land really equals success anyway. It may mean less competition, and I think there is a perception that its easy. There are a lot of easy public land hunts too. I've seen some pretty "epic" DIY, OTC, Public Land hunts recounted where I know the actual story was about as exciting as shooting one off the mirror in the hayfield. I certainly wouldn't take my kid hunting somewhere with low opportunity of success just so they can learn to "embrace the suck." I wouldn't hunt there either.

I think each kid is different, and keeping one engauged can be a challenge. If you want to drag your kid around on public land and let them learn the hard way, go for it. The best thing is just to bring them along. I really see very little connection between making it difficult or easy. and their enthusiasm for hunting or anything for that matter. I can think of a dozen "kids" I grew up with who hunted, and none of them really do much of it today. It wasn't because it was hard/easy for them, they just weren't that interested and most importantly didn't have much opportunity to go.

I laugh at people who have to caviat their hunt brag by letting everyone know how hard it was right off the bat, ya know... OTC, DIY, Public land, etc. It must not have been that hard, you killed one...

I've also seen a fair number of people change their minds on youth hunting opportunity when it came around to their turn with kids. I was one of them. I didn't see any reason for kids to have more opportunity than I did. In retrospect, I learned that had more opportunity than most all adults do today so it wasn't a fair comparison.