Took My 2 Year Old Son Bear Hunting/Scouting

Camp Cook

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My wife wasn't very happy late yesterday afternoon so to avoid making things worse I grabbed a rifle/kit and my 2 year old son and vacated the residence to give her some much needed space/break... :D

Yesterday morning I had found a new logging cut about 30 - 40 minutes drive from my place that looked very good for bears so we headed there to do a bit of bear hunting/scouting for the evening, it was absolutely good humour to hear my little guy saying to his mom "goin beeaar huntin" while he lifted up his binoculars to his eyes...

When we got onto the back/logging road he had to get out of his car seat and help me drive which was even more good humour because he had us all over the road or was fighting me from steering us back onto the road.

Then when he got tired of driving he had to get up onto the center console and sit there looking thru his binoculars for water falls and bears. :cool:

We made a few stops to check out some water falls it was amazing how he had to check them out, the water coming down fascinated him.

We got out to do some glassing in a few cuts when we finally pulled up across the raveen to the very steep logging cut that I had hiked around yesterday morning, right away we spotted 2 bears 1/2 way up the cut and about 150 yards apart one was a fairly good sized black/brown colour phaze and the other might not have been as big and was chocolate brown both had excellent coats.

A rock slide in the road made it so I couldn't drive any closer so I parked the truck and we got out, the wind was good so we were able to get to within 100 yards of the bears before the black one finally spotted us and decided to vacate the area.

I don't normally shoot black bears because I don't eat the meat myself and it was around 7:30pm so I decided not to shoot but then I didn't really go to shoot a bear I went to have fun with my son and to save my marriage.

So my son's first bear hunt/scouting trip was a success and his first words to his mom (who had by now cooled off a bit) when we got back home was "2 bears 2 bears"...

I'm going back Sunday morning with either my 24 year old son who needs a little stocking practice for our grizzly hunt later this month or my buddy to see if the bears are still there... :D

edit to add the video link don't know why the video is so grainy :( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__LOeryNYJE&feature=channel_page


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Sounds like a great experience, I have 3 young kids myself and value anytime I can get them out in the bush. Sad to think of all the kids that never get those experiences, to drive a truck (slowly on a logging road with there dad) or get close to wildlife in it's natural state
 
Sounds like you spent some quality time with your son. Awesome I did the same thing with my boys while they were growing up. Thanks for bringing back some memories that I had.


Straight Shooting

Budweiser2
 
When living in MB, I took my boy scouting deer when he was about 2. I wrapped him up in blaze orange so he would always stand out against the underbrush. I ended up carrying on my shoulders for most of the day. On our way home, we stopped by the Narcisse snake pits (just after their mating season). What boy doesn't like garter snakes, right? Multiply that by the zillion snakes crawling around! What a great day.
 
Fantastic!! Looks like a great day and kudos for being a good parent. It is sad that kids grow up without the joy of the outdoors, getting to do cool stuff, learning to drive on dad's lap etc. Its amazing how as a kid in the 70's I got to do all that growing up and no one even blinked. Today I'm surprised some safety nazi hasn't posted how your child should have been bubble wrapped and 5 point harnessed into his kiddy seat....... :kickInTheNuts:
Keep up the good work!
 
Fantastic!! Looks like a great day and kudos for being a good parent. It is sad that kids grow up without the joy of the outdoors, getting to do cool stuff, learning to drive on dad's lap etc. Its amazing how as a kid in the 70's I got to do all that growing up and no one even blinked. Today I'm surprised some safety nazi hasn't posted how your child should have been bubble wrapped and 5 point harnessed into his kiddy seat....... :kickInTheNuts:
Keep up the good work!

its fuuny because it is soooo true, good points.
 
Just got back from taking him back to the same area again long weekend people on ATV's/dirt bikes/4X4's everywhere...

We did a lot of digging and clearing rocks from creeks he was in his glory and when we pulled into the driveway he had to get into our boat because he saw one going up the Fraser River on our way out.

He's screaming now because his mom took him out of the boat and brought him into the house...

I'm thinking I'm going to have a hard time keeping up to this guy... :D
 
My little guy isn't even a year and a half yet but loves being outside, even if just to pull the grass out of the ground for a few minutes. I love reading posts like this as it gives me lots of ideas for getting him interested in spending more time outdoors. Cartoons are all well and good before bed or on rainy days but there's nothing like spending time in the field with the ones you love. Good post! Thanks for sharing!
 
CC, Good on you! There is no better way to teach our youth about real values! My first family [3 girls, one boy] all were more at home out in the sticks than in a city. My older son, is still my hunting partner, although he lives 700 KM away. My second family consists of a 7 YO son, and he is already my constant "shadow" when I go out in the woods for any reason at all. He's starting to shoot his 22 rimfire and is a keen student. He has fabulous "spotting" skills already, and that will be an asset, I'm sure. Regards, Eagleye.
 
This is my second family as well I have a 24 year old that was my hunting/fishing/outdoors partner for years until he went away to college he went hunting with me last spring for the first time in years I had a grizzly draw and he wasn't at school so he joined me.'

It was great having this powerful young man along to share with our successful grizzly hunt and we're leaving again in a few days for this years grizzly hunt.

Taking my new little guy along now is bringing back many memories and to think I have a new partner until he goes away to college in 16 years or so is great.
 
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