Hunting with kids

[longbowben]

As most of you know that i hunt for really mature bucks and small deer just dont excite me at all.But when hunting with kids boy do things change.I get so cranked up that its worse than me shooting a 170 class.My son really brings me back to when i was a kid.Brown its down  :D  He is only 8 but he might be ready to bow hunt next year.With his new Thunder stick Mag that santa is bringing him.Hayden has been shooting longbows for about 4 years now.I cant wait to se him take his first deer with a longbow.I dont know if my heart can take it.Kids are the future of our sport.  

[ishoot4thrills]

You got it right brother! I hope my oldest son(13 yrs) will be ready to hunt with his Browning recurve in the next year or two. But in the meantime, I get very excited when my two sons kill deer with any legal weapon!

[FerretWYO]

I do not have kids of my own yet but, I can attest to being the kid. I have also had the awesome oppertunity to take several kids hunting for there first animal. I have had so much seeing the excitment in there eyes.  

It has been great to see the people on here care so much about getting and keeping kids involved.

Great post Ben.

[Archer Fanatic]

Our son is not as young as yours but he is coming home this weekend on leave from the Army. He just got back from Iraq a couple a months ago and we are going on a deer hunt next week together. I am so excided the days are going to feel like weeks for him as well as for me. I don't care if I don't see a deer. Just to have him home and safe is a God Send to us in the family.

[Erick S]

I have been taking my son since he was 5, this year I took him and let him carry his own weapon (not a bow), but when I hear and see a deer coming I get more excited about the possibility of him taking the shot then I do myself. Last year when he killed his first squirrel I think I was more excited than he was.

Erick

[bornagainbowhunter]

My oldest is 6.  He has killed 2 deer, not a bow of course.  But this year I had the opportunity to see him with the worst case of buck fever you could imagine.  I thought he was going to hyper ventelate.  It was awsome.  I shake worse with my son trying to get a critter than I do when I am in the drivers seat.  I love taking kids hunting.

God Bless,
Nathan

[GingivitisKahn]

Keep him in the field and enjoy every moment you can with him.  You'll be glad you did.  

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

My 5 year old is always asking to go hunting, and likes to shoot targets.
Whenever she sees a deer, she says "That one looks juicy ! "

[Onestringer]

I agree I have taken my daughter hunting the last two years with her gun.  She is 8 and has now killed three deer.  During the youth season this year she shot a doe that would not have weighed 50 pounds sopping wet and I was a nervous wreck during the whole experience.

Scott

[longbowben]

We need to spend every minute we can with our children because you never know when its our turn.Archer Fanatic your son needs some stress relief,I was thier during DS.Tell him thanks for serving  

[Covey]

My boy just turned 12 in Nov. He's been shooting recurves sence he was 6, and going to the woods with me for a few years now. Been packing his own bow the last couple years. He's not to keen on the real cold weather, but who is! HA! I take him every chance I get. There's nothing better than spending time in the woods or on the water with your kids! Jason

[YORNOC]

I'm more excited now than ever in my life. My 7 year old is out of control, its all he wants to do. At a deer check in station this year he overheard the biologist say no one can hunt under the age of twelve. He burst into tears and ran for the truck! The guys lab came out and saved the day, he's also a dog nut. My 13 year old son is ready to go. I refinished a 1960's Bud Hit Special bow for him with total camo and my special Grizz tracks walking up the limbs. He shoots constantly. My daughter is going on 16. I currently lost her in shooting the bow (or anything for that matter)  But she would hunt with me any day. She loves adventure, but not into actually killing anything. She'll video for me though!  Here they are a year ago with a cow elk...the top bow is my little guy's with a python skin taken in Africa in 1954 backing the limbs!

 

[longbowben]

Yornoc you should check out some other states,In Ohio there's no age limit.My son started hunting at age 6 for deer.With great success.He took his hunter safety course this year.

[longbowben]

This is my little man at 5 years old.

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Ben,

I couldn't agree with you more about the fun of hunting with one's children. My daughter has been involved in my hunting in one form or another since she could walk. I'm pretty sure she was the only kid in her kindergarten class who'd helped pluck birds, butcher deer, and build her own longbow.

She's now 13, and earlier this year she told me that she wants to deer hunt. I decided that she should tag along on stand this season just to be sure she knows what she's getting into. Seeing a dead deer, or one get shot on TV is one thing; watching an animal mill around unaware, get shot and die in person is quite another.

So I redid my stands to accomidate both her and I, and accepted the fact that I may not kill as many deer (if any at all) with her along. But some things are more important than pounds of venison in the freezer. I got lucky, and so far this year she's watched me shoot a turkey (opening day) and a deer in mid-October.

Now she wants to hunt next year more than ever, and it's hard to tell which of us is most excited.

 

[longbowben]

That's cool.Nice picture.At first Hayden didn't like to see them gutted or cut up.Now he is helping and enjoys cooking his animals, and this weekend we are going to make summer sausage and jerky.When he opens that new bow at Christmas that he has been asking for 56" 40@28 Thunderstick mag we cant wait to see his face.That will be his first hunting bow.And after that he will be taking mine.He already has is eyes on my HH Wesley special.

[gobblegrunter]

Great post! I love seeing and hearing about the kids. I'm brand new to trad archery myself, and haven't even taken my longbow out huntin' yet, but have been bitten hard by the trad bug. I have to say, the reason I've been bitten hard is my 4yr old boy. I see traditional archery as an amazing way to bond with my son in an activity that we can share for many, many years to come. Not only that, but the trad world is one thats made up of so many solid people and positive influences to surround ourselves with. Trad is about so much more than a bow and arrow in my mind. It's about my son. I'm sure I'm not alone here. If I never kill a deer with my trad equipment, and my son does, then I'm the happiest guy around! Hopefully your son'll put one down next year! Thanks for sharing.