Your first time hunting

G

gwes2003

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
50   0   0
Location
Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Well my daughter saw her first harvested deer when she was 2. Shes now 4 and talks about going deer hunting with me this fall (She'll be 5 by then). Now it wouldn't be a difficult hunt, just a walk on private property on vancouver island where there are many deer. If anything Id just like to spend some time with her and hope that she gets a chance to see some animals in the wild and if Mr Wonderful walks out then......is 5 to young to see a deer shot? My mother was in a goose blind when she was 5. It was her job to collect the geese and she turned out fine I guess.
So CGN'ers how old where you when you went on your first hunt and is 5 to young?
 
My niece was about 4 I think, possibly 5, when she came out into my brother in-laws garage as we were having a beer as he just finished skinning a deer.

Her: "Mom is this going to give me nightmares?"
Mom: "nope that's just dinner sweety"
Her: okay, that's a lot of dinner"

She never had a problem.
Depends on the child I guess, and if they can fully understand why the animal is being harvested.

my $0.02
 
Last edited:
5 is a fine age IMO, as Tim said make sure she understands why you are hunting. one piece of advice though make sure the deer is dead and not just injured, my cousin went with his father when he was 7 or 8 well the old guy made a bad shot and just injured the deer, it was crying and thrashing around when they walked up to it which scared my cousin so bad he never hunted a day in his life past that.
 
5 is about right, depending on the child. I was around that age when I started goose and duck hunting with my father and grandfather. Turns out they don't need a retriever when they had a kid there. I started deer and moose hunting with my father shortly after. I was carrying my own rifle deer hunting at 12
 
TimKruitbosch said:
My niece was about 4 I think, possibly 5, when she came out into my brother in-laws garage as we were having a beer as we just finished skinning a deer.

Her: "Mom is this going to give me nightmares?"
Mom: "nope that's just dinner sweety"
Her: okay, that's a lot of dinner"

She never had a problem.
Depends on the child I guess, I guess it depends on if they can fully understand why the animal is being harvested.

my $0.02
Click to expand...

Same kind of experience when my son was 4, he seems to have no issue.

OP,
The key is explaining it, and answering every question they have simply.

The only thing with bringing a 5 year old in the field is they tend to get bored easily, so hopefully you see some animals to keep it exciting.
 
I took both my 4 and 9 year old for a few walks this year. They saw a ton, asked a bunch of good questions and got into it 100 percent with the dressing, planning, etc. Both just walk by carcasses and birds in the garage with little more than a sidelong look now.
 
Start when they get out of diapers. Make it a normal part of life.

I was way too young to remember my first hunt, trapping, etc... Shot my first deer at 9, or 11, can't remember anymore. I was taught to respect every part of it, including the dangers of being "out there" alone.
 
I was not much older than that when I first went with my father. Little did I know i was just the dog to chase squirrels to his side of the tree but hey you have to start somewhere.
My daughter was 4-5 when we first started cause as a single parent it was that or not get out. A few tricks that I found was a popup blind or permanent will be your best friend. Expecting a little one to sit for any amount of time is unrealistic so in a blind they can mess about with little or no effect. Bring lots of snacks and little things to keep them busy. Keep the time you are out realistic. Take the time to enjoy nature and their company cause they don't stay little and fascinated with everything for long.

My brothers and I still cringe talking about the days where Dad took us fishing in a tin boat from daylight till dark with a sandwich and a coke all good and warm of course. If you make it about them enjoying a new experience that may end with a successful hunt they won't tire of it and want to pursue it as they grow. As far as the gore my buddies would all do a double take when my daughter insisted on gutting a turkey at 6 so I guess it never to early.
 
If the kids express an interest, start them off with varmints (squirrels, gophers) and then move to deer and so on. Explain everything and how to hunt safely, but keep it interesting for them. If they are seriously interested they will learn very quickly and challenge themselves to succeed.
My kids always turned hunting into a competition trying to out do the old man. I was always quite happy to see them making the shots followed by the proud grin and cocky statements such as "Beat That Old Man".
Makes a parent proud.
Now I am waiting for the chance to get my 5 year grandson shooting this year. He is quite excited!!!!
 
Last edited:
5 isn't too young. I think both my daughters came along at that age, or a bit younger. Every kid is different though.. first daughter went to the duck blind but said we should leave the gun in the truck. Had the dekes, the dog, the gear and McD happy meal. Ducks flying everywhere.. dog was very confused about why we weren't shooting. The same daughter we couldn't call a cooked chicken (or nugget facsimiles) chicken. For a long time it was just 'white meat'. Second daughter, different story: same blind, gun & ear muffs brought along. She blew on the duck call and closely examined the dead birds in hand. Also came grouse hunting with me and loves to eat fried grouse! Direct connection from bird in woods to dinner on plate! No need to deny / hide / sugar coat anything.
 
I recall being 3 or 4 and being in the duckblind on the fields and marshes. Couldn't see much from the canoe due to the cattails, but I sure enjoyed being the retriever when we were on the stubble.

My son was 2 and wanting to be out in the garage helping me skin the deer and pluck some birds. He was busy trying to pull the tongue out of my whitetail. He started joining me on the hunts at 4.
 
we managed to get 2 good size moose on the same day in November and ended up meeting a hunter who had his 5-6 yr old and his 8-9 yr old brother with them who were looking for deer. This 5 yr old jumped out of the truck, pulls out his switch blade and wanted to start gutting the moose for us.

The father kept em around long enough to see what needed to be done.
 
I think the answer to this depends on the style of hunting that you are doing. My 4 (almost 5) yo daughter doesn't have the patience to hunt in a stand. She would be pretty bored. If you are talking about upland hunting, I think she would have a blast walking and talking (she is always talking) to me. She is now into fishing because I took her last year and she enjoyed fishing but she definitely didn't sit with me the whole time. She did a lot of playing at the park and coming back and periodically checking on her line but that was in the Summer when it was warm, I doubt she would have had a good time in the cold. I recently got her into archery - she and I spend a lot of time shooting her compound bow into a box in the garage. It is a great activity!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom