Nature or Nurture?

[Benha]

I have three children ages 20, 18 and 11. When my sons were small I took them fishing, scouting and hunting when I went and the conditions were suitable for them to be outdoors. My oldest son took to everything outdoors and never quit even when he was in rut dating my daughter in law. The eighteen year old loves to fish but has no interest in hunting whatsoever. My daughter who is eleven is absolutely obsessed with bowhunting and the outdoors but is take it or leave it when it comes to fishing.
My question is do you think children are born with the inclination to lean one way or the other when it comes to the outdoors? My two year old grandaughter will come into the room when her father is watching a hunting program and freeze in front of the tv like she is watching cartoons. So what do you think?

[Montana Slim]

That is a pretty big can of worms there Bowdaddy...  
My personal opinion is that both factors obviously form a person. It sounds like you have a family that appreciates the outdoors, maybe not in the same way, but appriciate it none the less and I feel that is a strong reflection of the environment they grew up in.  Good work    
-Ray

[Benha]

Thanks Montana Slim.

[IB]

BD... Looks like to me yer a very BLESSED feller. Got it pretty well covered any way you choose to go, ya got a companion to go with    

Good job of bringing them to where they are today          

[JStark]

Montana Slim said it just right.

[Stu]

Hmmm...good question. My personal story: I'm from a non-hunting family, no brothers, father, anybody hunted--but I remember wanting to hunt "bucks" when I was pre-school. I have no idea why, nobody encouraged me (nor discouraged me), but 50 years later I'm still a hunting fool. So I think part of it, at the least, is "nature". I had one grandfather I rarely saw or knew, he was a long-time hunter (I now have his old Model 94), so maybe that's where I got the "nature" part. He was not a nurturing guy!

I have two great kids, my son hunted with me for a few years and it was a lot of fun, but I know he really did it for me and to be with "the guys". He loves the outdoors, but he's not a hunter and eventually gave it up. My daughter never had any real interest in hunting, fishing, etc.. My grandkids are still very young, but I'm hoping some of them will hunt. They do get "nurturing" in our household, and my 3 year old grandson treasures a mounted rack we gave him.

Nature vs. nurture, an age-old argument, in my case it was "in me" from birth, and I don't think it's going anywhere.

[John57]

Speacking strictly for myself here.
My folks split up when I was 4 years old and I didn't meet my mother again until I was 16 years old.Well my father and his new wife have no interest in "anything",but I became a hunter the day I saw my first rabbit at about 6 years old,and I've been into fishing as long as I can remember.I have a real interest in animals in general and birds inparticular.
Anyway when I finaly got round to meeting my mother,we were both supprised to find we had the exact same interests.
Her family are all hunters and fishermen and she has a real interest in bird life.
I guess you can either be introduced to things or you can be born with the interest already there.
I know how it was for me.

[Sneakypete]

BD -- I don't know Kentucky, other than it's a lovely place. I do know that kids' interest in hunting and fishing is directly related to access, local culture, and peer pressure (the most powerful force around puberty, when friends start replacing parents as primary influence). If we grew up in urban NYC or Chicago, say, how much chance would we have to hunt? How many of our parents or other potential mentor adults, would hunt and/or fish? What would our friends in school think of it, if they think of it at all? Going beyond hunting and fishing to all life, psychologists generally agree these days that "nature" (that is, our genetic wiring diagram, or genome, or "instinct") defines our intellectual and creative limits and to some extent our interests ... while "nurture," the the individual environment and influences a child is brought up with, has a lot to do with which way and how far we go within our personal limits. More importantly, over a hundred recent scientific studies show that children who are exposed to real, hands-on, dirt-and-blood wild nature (as opposed to TV and petting zoos), generally have far more successful and happy lives, no matter whether or not they grow up to be outdoorsmen and women. While others are teaching their children to take the dumb and easy way--like ATV mania--you done the right thing. And that's all you can do. Moreover, it's obvious that you care. Applause!

[KyleAllen]

Both of my grandfathers, as well as my dad, were hunters. Mostly deer hunters and one of my grandpas did a little bowhunting. So i suppose that it is in my blood. However none of my relatives pursued hunting the extent that i do, to my knowledge. When i was about 16, out of the blue, i decided to buy a bow. Now here i am today. I like to think its a primal instict...but what do i know.
Kyle

[trashwood]

ya can't teach a pig to sing  

rusty

[KyleAllen]

Originally posted by trashwood:
ya can't teach a pig to sing    

rusty

You aint seen charlettes web yet?  

[Brian Krebs]

nurture by nature.

[Allan Hundeby]

Originally posted by Sneakypete:
BD ...psychologists generally agree these days that "nature" (that is, our genetic wiring diagram, or genome, or "instinct") defines our intellectual and creative limits and to some extent our interests ... while "nurture," the the individual environment and influences a child is brought up with, has a lot to do with which way and how far we go within our personal limits...

Wow!  What a perceptive insight!  

While I think that "outdoor activities" one's ...
 
While I think that some people have inborn desires which lend better to outdoors activities than other people (for example, some have a passion for perpetual learning/the need to know "why" -> i.e. Nature lore; some need to compete -> i.e. archery; some feel tremendous satisfaction in the "creative act" -> i.e. bowyering/arrow-making; some need challenges/puzzles -> i.e. hunting; some find solace in being alone, etc.), these traits are seen across the spectrum of life and NOT limited just to the outdoors (i.e. I don't think there's an "interest-in-Nature" gene).

However, if they don't have a grown-up who takes the time to expose them to the outdoors, it's a good bet they'll miss out on even the chance to decide if they like it.  

I know some of my uncles hunted while I was growing up, but they never offered to take me.  So it rarely even crossed my mind to try (other than gopher-hunting).  It wasn't until my twenties that my younger brother invited me to go along with him.  My latent interest was sparked, and I've been feeding the fire ever since.

When I see the excitement on my nephews' faces - simply in archery, I hate to think of how much joy I would have robbed them of if I had never showed them.

[NDTerminator]

I have two brothers, one older, one younger.  My older brother and I were hunting as soon as we could carry a bow and BB gun.

Of the two of us, I was the most extreme.  From age 5 through my Feshman year in HS I spent every possible minute outdoors with a bow, BB gun, rifle, or shotgun in my hand.  Rather than playing baseball with the other kids in the neighborhood, I spent my time poking around the riverbottoms.  This probably would have continued through HS had I not discovered wrestling, football, track, and girls.

Through HS we both continued to hunt & fish as much as possible, even though he was in a very popular band and I was a three sport letterman, both of which took up a lot of time. Now I'm in my late 40's, he's in his early 50's.  I've never quit living to hunt, and my life revolves around it.  My older brother still hunts but his primary outdoor pursuit is tournament bass fishing. He's highly successful at this.  We both settled in states which allow us to pursue our lifestyles.

Our younger brother never had the slightest interest in any outdoor pursuits, despite our best efforts to include him and get him interested. Essentially, his interests were (and in his mid 40's remain) comic books, drama, karioke, and over eating.  He's so far removed from us behaviorily that we've often joked he isn't really part of our clan, but was left on the doorstep by gypsies. He settled in a large metro area of Florida known more for crime & drugs than anything else.

Three brothers raised in exactly the same environment, in a family and extended family that spent a lot of time hunting & fishing, and in the outdoors.  Two became hardcore outdoorsmen, one developed into an oddball.

Go figure...

BTW, my son Jarad (AKA The Primate) was raised with a bow & rifle in his hand and has never turned his back on this heritage.  He was raised to embrace hunting, the bow, the rifle, the shotgun, physical fitness, and sports.  The skills he learned growing up now serve him as a grown man in his late 20's in the US Army, with one tour in Afghanistan under his belt and a second to Iraq on the horizon.

When my wife's grandkids visit us (they are from Spokane, WA), they practically overdose on archery, 22's, riding horses, gundogs, and fishing.  My son' newborn daughter will be exposed in the same way...

[Benha]

Great feedback guys. Thank you.