when it was a numbers game.

[nc recurveman]

My nephew was VERY upset when he ask, "So how much gun huntin we doin this year". I told him not a whole lot other then freezer stocking, in light of sunday bowhunting. I'm trying to make him understand that trad hunting is much more of a achievement then blasting away at anything within 200 yards. I remember the days when hunting succes was measured in body count and I am past that. Any advice as to how to get that across to a teen hunter?

[broketooth]

well this is what im attempting to do. stock the freezer with venison. if your nephew wants to see a body count, there is plenty other game to hunt , during regular gun seasonsquirrels, coons, rabbits, bear,fox,coyotes,bobcat.all can be done with tradgear.all the smaller game will give him great practise. last year all i took was a squirrel. this year im not eatin tag soup, and i plan on shootin anything else legal to take with my bow wether you can eat it or not.lots of game to hunt and the season is still young. good luck ruddy

[bucksdown]

brother you said a mouth full when you said teenager. my wife and i have been married about 4 years. she has a son that's now 14, when we first married he was really gung-ho about hunting, he has killed three bucks and two does in the past three years. i thought he was really hooked. well he's hooked alright, a cute little 14 year old doe, plus video war games. this day and time kids won't instant gradification. for most of us we just enjoy sitting in a stand or blind. it's my peacefull time to spend with GOD, giving him thanks for everything, no phones, no kids fighting, and no wife yapping and waving that honey do list. GOD knows i love them, but i'm like that old jerry clower "just shoot in here a mungust us, one of us has got to have some relief." you've showed him the ropes, and some day he to will look for that peacefull time. well it seems i've just rattled on, if you figure out your teen, let me know. my step-son has grown another two inches since i started typing this, and i find it hard to go buy him all new larger size gear just to gun hunt one week.

[ishoot4thrills]

Let the boy gun hunt. He's young and if you want to keep his attention, let him kill some deer. Otherwise, he may grow weary because of the lack of the excitement of harvesting a deer. You said you remember the days of taking deer in numbers but you're past that. Well, maybe he isn't if he hasn't taken many deer. Maybe it's something he must experience himself at his age, just like most of us here did when we first started out deer hunting. With the distractions and competition teens have today from other things in life pulling them away from the outdoors, it's important to keep their attention even if it means letting them gun hunt. Otherwise, you may just lose him to other things. Besides, maybe trad hunting is just a tad too tough for a teen. It depends on the boy, I guess. I know it can be very frustrating for us adults so I know it must be the same for youngsters.

Just keep it fun, or you just might be going hunting by yourself.    Heck, I still drag out my shotgun loaded with slugs when gun season comes in and hunt deer with it. Does that mean I don't enjoy hunting with my recurve? NO! It's just something different and, yeah, it's also exciting, just in a different way. There's nothing wrong with letting a teen use a gun to kill a deer.

[Mudd]

I got absolutely "nuthin" for you on this one!!

Sorry!!

I still see myself as a miserable failure in this area but my situation was compounded by the fact the teenager I was trying to deal with was also of the female gender.

After her filling my freezer, me giving deer to anybody who would take it I finally told her she had to stop... or at least stop calling me.

I was tired of dragging out deer, cutting up deer, packaging deer. I think she was just killing them because she could, 7 of them in a 2 week time period.(all archery kills with her techno bow)

Like I said.. "I got zip, Nada, nothing!!" for you except prayer and lots of it.

God bless,Mudd

God bless,Mudd

God bless,Mudd

[ckanous]

I'm with Ishoot4thrills on this one. I think if he is pumped to go hunting is a positive thing even if its with a gun. Keeping them interested in it is the name of the game. Oh by the way I prefer taking my bow myself but on occasion I take the muzzleloader because it does have a different excitment. I would just try and let him take a couple deer with the gun and go out with your bows and take a deer, mix it up a little. Good luck.

[mscampbell75]

I agree!  Let him gun hunt.  As a teen, there are alot of distractions for a young man.  Some good some not so good.  If a gun will help his desire to be in the outdoors. Then so be it.  It's NOT a bad thing to hunt with a gun.  Just not as challanging and thats a personal preferance.  Bow hunting is not erveryones cup of tea. And thats ok. The important part is your time spent together, it doesn't matter what is in your hands.(gun/bow)  I'm sure latter in life he will remember who was with him during this time in his life rather that a deer he killed.

Good luck to you both.  Happy Hunting!!

[Kip]

Great post I shoot4 thrills my thoughts exactly.It is his turn I bowhunt only now and my sons-in-laws hunt with a rifle and will show their kids in the future.Kip

[bornagainbowhunter]

I let my boys gun hunt.  They are too  young to hunt with a bow, they are 6 and 4.  I have got a fire started in that boy that would rival most anyone's desire to hunt.  Not with a bow, but they are still sittin' beside me in the blind any morning that is available.  It DON'T have to be trad or bows ro whatever, just quality time and a love for the outdoors.  The Bible tells us that God's work can be see and made evident just by the things we see around us in nature.  We all need to see that.

I take my wife and sons gun hunting whenever season is open and they want to go.  I don't even carry a gun or bow, its all about them.  If your nephew wants to hunt and you don't want to gun hunt, make it about him, or just take your bow.  Who knows maybe he will wnat to take his bow to follow in your steps.

[Greyfox54]

Don't forget a lot of bowhunters started out as gun hunters . Whatever keeps him in the woods will keep him out of trouble . When I started bowhunting it was all about how many I could take , then how many bucks , then quality bucks , now I'm picky and try to take a few eating does and a good buck . We all evolve with our hunting and sometimes try to get beginners to start where we are , not where we started .
 My son started bowhunting with a compound . Made me very uneasy but I encouraged him all the same , after two years and seeing the fun I have he switched to a longbow and has taken some nice deer and even pheasants on the wing . Just be glad he's hunting and spend some time with him . My thoughts , Fred

[HATCHCHASER]

Good advice here.  I'm a fly fisherman and not much on fishing with worms but my little boy sure likes it.  Whatever keeps them youngsters in the woods and is legal and fun is A OK.

[John Scifres]

It bugs me a bit when we, as hunters, say we are past some aspect of hunting.  It is way too multidimensional to feel like we have somehow evolved because our priorities have changed.  The "Stages of a Hunter" BS that's taught as fact when it is nothing more than philosophy is to blame in a large way.  But to think that selective hunting is better than taking your limit, or bowhunting is more evolved than gunhunting is arrogant and proud.

Let the boy hunt.  Take him hunting.  Let him kill his limit as long as he is using the animal.

[Bowwild]

I agree very strongly with the posts that recommend encouraging the youngster to hunt by any legal means he finds interesting.

I've been taking my son hunting with me since he was 4 years old. He started squirrel hunting at 9 and deer hunting at 13. We lived in KS when he was 10-12 and when we lived there you had to be 14 to deer hunt - dumb, but changed now. He's 31 years old now and my best hunting buddy. He has always been on a little different rung on the hunter evolution ladder because I had a 20-year head start on him.

I won't shoot bucks that he considers nice ones, again because I've gone through that. He is shooting traditional with me this year but so far hasn't left the compound home. I'm sure he was surprised how excited I was to kill a doe with the recurve two Saturdays ago. He knows it doesn't matter at all to me how he hunts as long as he hunts and does so legally.

I'm always very careful not to push my motives and goals on my son. He sees enough of what and why I hunt (and other of life's lessons) to get the message in his own time. His son (my grandson)just turned 7 and he's next on "our" list. I have to be careful in a different way with the grandson because my son deserves the opportunity to be the "lead" hunter for his boy.

My best friend (other than my son and daughter)of 35 years has one son. His son, now in his mid-30's, almost never bowhunts.  He and his dad get along great but I think Dad is such a bowhunting nut (as am I so I'm not being critical)that his son was sort of repelled by it.

[RC]

Let him hunt. As someone said if its fun he will keep at it. As he matures as an adult he will mature as a hunter.RC

[kbetts]

I'm with shoot4thrills.  Or buy him a compound.  The instant gratification comment was spot on.

Dear Mudd, my Dad told me very early that if you killed it, you clean it.  That didn't mean there wasn't plenty of help.......it was just of the spoken type.

[PEARL DRUMS]

I say let him count bodies as you did until he finds out for himself the real meaning of hunting.

[SteveB]

Originally posted by John Scifres:
It bugs me a bit when we, as hunters, say we are past some aspect of hunting.  It is way too multidimensional to feel like we have somehow evolved because our priorities have changed.  The "Stages of a Hunter" BS that's taught as fact when it is nothing more than philosophy is to blame in a large way.  But to think that selective hunting is better than taking your limit, or bowhunting is more evolved than gunhunting is arrogant and proud.

Let the boy hunt.  Take him hunting.  Let him kill his limit as long as he is using the animal.

Great post John. Too many believe in this hunter evolution stuff.

[longbowman]

First of all I don't believe you "train" sombody to be a bowhunter that uses traditional equipment but rather it's a process.  Encourage him to hunt, encourage him to explore different styles of hunting but lead by example.  I used to tell my son that I'd rather shoot a doe with my bow than a buck with a rifle.  As he progressed in his hunting he saw my enjoyment, and success, with my recirves and eventually that's how he wanted to do it.  On the other side of the coin I started another one out the same way and now he uses trail cameras, GPS, 4 wheelers and crossbows!  Be a good example and maybe he'll come around but if he doesn't I'm not sure that's a bad thing.  At least he's hunting and not doing drugs etc...

[Burnsie]

It's certainly not a perfect model and I'm sure most can point out exceptions,  but I don't think the "hunter evolution" idea is all that far fetched.
I know I've went thru most of the phases over my 48 years.  When I was a teen and early twentys it was all about getting that nice buck (does were for wusses who couldn't do any better),  now its about time spent in the woods enjoying some peaceful time. Don't get me wrong, the excitement is still there when I have the chance at a deer,  but if it doesn't happen I could care less,  one more dead deer isn't going to make or break love for hunting.

[BUFF]

I'm with the "Let him Kill um crowd