how early to bring your toddler with you?

[adkmountainken]

my boy is 18 months old and shows great interest in the outdoors. from the minute he is up he is pounding on the door to be outside. he also LOVES to be in my baby backpack to hike and walk fields looking for critters and birds. I have 15 acres by my house that is strictly posted except for me and bow only I feel very safe with him there. I plan on setting up a couple natural ground blinds and taking him with me this year. I already KNOW he will be loud and want to play and chances are I will not get a shot but I am SURE we will see deer and turkeys as they are plentiful here. what tips and suggestions can you give me to help him enjoy it and stay occupied?

[SELFBOW19953]

I started fishing with my father when I was 18 to 24 months old.  He'd take a blanket for me to nap on, always wore my life jacket. I started hunting with him when I was about 4 and shot my first rabbit when I was 5.  I took my young ones squirrel and dove hunting with me when they were about 4.  At 24 months, they have a very short attention span.  They will talk, play, eat, sleep, and may even look when and where you tell them to, but they will enjoy the time spent with you.

[LBR]

Pop-up blind with a toy or two, coloring book, etc.

My son shot in his first 3D tournament when he was 2.

[adkmountainken]

I have thought about leaving him in the backpack he is quiet as a church mouse but sitting with him in pack may not be all that easy...

[Wandering Archer]

Does he have any toys or activities like coloring that keeps him the most occupied and quiet? For instance my daughter had these little princess dolls with removable plastic dresses. These keep her occupied the best if she gets restless when we're fishing. Just keep reminding him "Shhh, you have to be quiet if you want to see the animals. You might scare them." He might still be a little too young for that to sink in, but you'd be surprised how quick he will catch on if he likes seeing animals.

[adkmountainken]

good idea he loves pegs and blocks and they might keep him occupied for a bit! also loves his books.

[Lefty]

My daughter started turkey hunting with me just before her 4th birthday and then deer hunting from a blind with me the following fall.  Best advise I can give is keep it fun and when they are ready to leave, then leave.  Don't plan on shooting an animal as your primary goal, that's just a bonus, if and when it happens.  The main focus is the child's introduction to hunting and nature.  My daughter is now 14 years old, just killed her 6th turkey this spring and her 13th deer last winter.  She loves to hunt and we both cherish our times together in the woods.  I have killed a few deer and turkey when she was sitting with me in a blind or stand, but the things I remember the most are all the one on one talks about all kinds of things in nature and life in general, that we shared.
  Another thing I highly recommend to do with your child is small game hunting.  When I was a kid, it was how we learned to hunt.  Seems now a days kids often skip that step in developing outdoor skills.  My daughter and I spent many great days chasing squirrels and rabbits and honing are stalking and shooting skills with gun or bow.  They make great table fair as well!

[durp]

i second the small game hunts...the kids can be active and learn a lot more than setting in a blind trying to stay quiet...BUT time together is time well spent.

maybe im old school but i think saving some adventures for later just might keep them interested...give it all to them at once they may end up playing video games later. (just a thought)

[CRB]

I started taking my kids when they were 3 to 4 years old, made a ground blind and they found plenty to do playing with small sticks. I didn't worry about noise they made, because the main purpose was to have them out with me. The deer most of the time didn't pay any attention to what little noise they made. Always had a snack bag of raisins crackers, etc with us.

[wingnut]

Yep snacks and something to keep them busy.  Don't plan on taking game with them along.  IF it happens it's a bonus.
When Jason was 2 Connie had a 3 wheeler Honda that we built a roll cage on and she traveled the forest service roads morning and evening with him.  Stopping to glass at longing sites.  She took a few deer and lots of small game.  He loved it.

Mike

[smokin joe]

Its been a long time since mine were that young, but I suggest giving all of your attention to your boy and the quality of his experience when he is in the woods with you. The point to having him out there at that age is to show him that being with you is fun and interesting -- and working on solidifying the bond between the two of you. Just let that be the focus, and concentrate on him and on just seeing animals when he is in the woods with you --- and then concentrate on actual serious hunting when he can't be with you.

[adkmountainken]

I am not worried about the "hunt" at all it will most definitely be abut father and son time. he shows a lot of interest in the outdoors at a very young age. LOVES bird watching and loves when I call crows in with the crow call. if you ask him what the crow says he will tell you CAW CAW ! had a deer jump out right in front of us a few weeks ago while walking in the field, all he did was point and slap my head....

[monterey]

My daughter was about 18 months and I put her in the baby backpack and went on a hike for mule deer.  I told her to be very quiet and she was but about one hour in she suddenly blurted out "deer, daddy, deer".  Sure enough there they were bouncing away on their pogo sticks!    

I never regretted that day and now remember it with more clarity than some "successful" hunts.  She is 45 now and not really into hunting or fishing but she has four boys that she is happy to turn over to their grandpa.  

Go ahead and do it.  No matter how wrong it goes, in the end it's all good.

[rraming]

His rules, when he is done, you're done. Kids have such an inept ability to not care about time or commitment. You may spend two or fifteen hours getting there and ready and in 5 minutes, they are done. I was never good at it but you can do it!

[PeteA]

I started taking my son fly fishing when he was about 5. In the summer months I would bring a step stool in the stream and set it next to me and stand him on it. He was casting a fly rod and catching brown trout on a dry fly at that age. He loves the outdoors. Never took to hunting or archery though. But loves, fishing camping, canoeing, backpacking, plant life and animal life. Today is his birthday. He's 23 and working as an Environmental Educator for a nonprofit named Nature's Classroom in NH.
Organization named Nature's Classroom in NH.

[Hot Hap]

Rattling horns to keep him busy-Hap

[twigflicker]

My dad carried me through the hills of East Tennessee when I was about that age in a trapping pack basket... squirrel hunting...  His favorite quote from me was after shooting a squirrel, "Scared my ears dad!"

I regularly took my son and daughter squirrel hunting either in the child carrier or or big wheeled stroller... my buddies always got a laugh out of me wheeling them around...

Good times...

Jonathan

[adkmountainken]

he has been in the pack every weekend now when I walk the fields with the dogs and carry my bow and a stumping arrow. also took him to the local stump shoot last weekend and he loved it, was great the whole time.

Once, out side of Osseo Wisconsin, i carried my daughter along deer hunting on my shoulders.  I hunted by some shrub pines she was messing with stuff in the grass.  Then she said, "So cute, here you can have it."  I reached out for what she was handing me.  She put a live shrew in my hand.

[gregg dudley]

Every kid has their own level of interest and enthusiasm and you have to plan accordingly.  When Reed was that age I used to wear him out walking around and looking at cool stuff, playing in the creek, skipping rocks, etc. and then settle in to "hunt".  Using this strategy, he was usually asleep within ten minutes.  I was good for about an hour or two of legitimate hunting while he slept.  Then when he woke up I continued to sit for as long as he was interested.  When he tired of it (snack and coloring book strategies on full throttle)we packed up and snuck out.  When you take a kid that young it has to be all about them.   If it is fun, they will keep coming back and their endurance will increase with their enthusiasm.