I have a question my son 8yo and I have hunted on the ground and a few times and haven't had much luck (the usual kid type problems)was thinking of hanging a stand in the same tree as mine. Any ideas on the best way to hunt with a little one would help. Oh and my daughter 6yo has the bug and is anxious to go as well.
I am going to have the same problem soon. My three year old son is already wanting to go and I have taken him a few times hunting on the ground, but I think I'm going to invest in a two man ladder stand so he can be right beside me on a big stable platform and I can ensure he stays properly tied in etc.. Of course he's only three and I'm still in the paranoid overprotective stages.
My experience with my two kids (now ages 10 & 11) is to go with the two-man ladder type stand or with a "double bull" type blind.
We have used both with much "success." One thing I learned early on was to go with a different set of expectations. Make sure they stay warm, don't expect them to stay too still for too long, and leave as soon as they want to.
I have made every effort to make sure they have fun. More important at an early age for them to enjoy themselves than anything else IMO.
FYI: with the two man ladder stand invest in the safety rope system that attaches to the tree and then extends down to the bottom so they can strap in as soon as they step foot on the ladder. Keeps them safe and helps keep Mom happy too!
I take my kids out one at a time, they're 8,6, and 4. I use a DB T-2 blind, take lots of snacks and try to make it as "special" as I can. Seeing game is helpful but there's always a lesson to be taught about the environment. I believe the key is to keep fun for them. It must be working because they're always debating over who's turn it is!
Me and my son, which is 10, soon to be 11, have hunted on the ground all this year and let me tell you he is the king of fidget! but believe it or not, we've had deer so close we could spit on em! one nite we went in and set down by an old wood pile and had a big ol doe walk right beside him at about 6 yards, his eye's wre big as saucers!! just build little ground blinds and have at it!! :thumbsup: Good Luck, Jason
The biggest problems with hunting with the little ones is that their attention span isn't very long, and they become bored. Shorter stays in the stand makes it more enjoyable for the kids, even if it isn't what WE want to be doing.
Keeping it fun, and enjoyable for the little hunters keeps their interest in the hunt. That may mean quitting early, or "doing something else" to keep the little ones interest piqued.
And though most of us realize this, watch the little ones for signs that they are getting cold. Their little bodies don't have the mass we have, and they get colder, quicker.
By all means, take your little ones hunting whenever you can. You WILL end up with a life long hunting partner, as long as you keep it fun while they are young.
Yup as mentioned above make short trips, take lots of snacks, disposable handwarmers, and Make it fun! I take the boys when the weather permits anytime they ask to go! One of the things we do sometimes to help keep there boredom at bay is play tic tac toe in the dirt inside our brush blinds! As soon as there bored or ready to go we pack it in and head home, you have to make it fun for them!
some kids can hunt as long and hard as any of us / but like you guys say the best thing is make it fun for them
R.W. nailed it. If you take them along, the trip is about them and getting them interested. Their having fun is job one, anything else is gravy.
When my grand son was a small child, I would take him with me, hunt some, play some. I would carry him on my shoulders when he got tired. Stop and hunt a while then play. My first bow kill he was 3 and right beside me. It's not about the kill just the hunt.
3 thing's that I found best when taking little one's.
1. FUN
2. FUN
3. FUN
doug77
My kids are now 18 and 21 so let me tell you what used to work for me. Go only on warmer days, take plenty of snacks and a gameboy you can turn the sound off of. I prefer a ground blind because it hides alot of movement.
a pillow and a blanket would help also.
We found a double trunk oak in a good spot, hung a stand in each trunk, and had a great time. Pay attention to thier comfort (cold), don't be to hard core, and know when to go home.
Hunting with my boy's, especially Danny, was and is the absolute best part of my hunting career. There are a few moments...first deer, first turkey, first good buck, that will be etched in my mind forever.
When they are little, don't expect much. I ignored a lot of so called "trophy hunting" to spend time with my kids in a tree, laughing and not being real serious.
Don't forget small game...because some easy success is important.
Last week Danny (he's 19 now) killed a forkhorn all on his own. I went to check on him and he was sitting next to a fat little buck. I have to admit I was kind of sad. He obviously had his "woodsman" thing figured out, and didn't need the old man anymore (except maybe to pay for the gas) Now if I could just get some grandkids to put through "basic"!! ;)
Gunther has been hunting with me since he was a few months old. Started out in a front carry style baby carrier then a back pack carrier now he walks on his own. Every time I hear "you can't hunt with a kid" Gunther and I know we are dealing with a genetic donor we don't need to know any better. No he can't do every trip, bear, Dall sheep and mountain goats are a no way now but that wont be the case for long.
1) Make sure they have adequate gear and don't get too cold! This is a major pain since the outdoors gear manufacturer's figure no one under 14 ever goes outside! I've actually had to make him stuff.
2) Stay active you guys would be miles ahead on the ground walking, the kid will stay warmer and better entertained....didn't we stat bow hunting to get in close anyway, kinda hard to do that 30 feet in the air. No I won't accept you can't kill a whitetail that way, stop by my place in Palmer sometime and I'll show you 2 photo albums full of bucks taken in Michigan via spot and stalk.
3) Bring tons of snacks include a few Momma would have a cow over. I'm a stay at home dad and the most startling thing about kids is how much they eat!
4) Bring a small comfort toy or two, you'd be amazed how well a familiar toy can calm a scared, cold, unhappy child. DO NOT TAKE HIS/HER FAVORITE STUFFED ANIMAL. Loosing it will cause more turmoil than you can possibly imagine!
5) Remember this needs to be fun or your child or he/she wont want to do it! Don't push them till they are ready, don't expect them to do as much as you can and for the love of whatever you consider holy don't loose your temper! I see one more sperm donor raging at his kid about him "ruining his hunt" I'm personally going to give him a escort out of the woods with my size twelve boot!
Best Way to Hunt With Children? - I've found they make great beagles for flushing game!
Get a blind, like a Double Bull, bring along snacks, quiet video games, coloring books, whatever he's in to that will keep him occupied and quiet. Bring a sleeping bag so he can take a nap if need be. Another thing to get them into it is to let them help you bloodtrail an animal that you shoot. Hunting small game is also a good way to get them started and being active is part of the hunt.
You're out in the hunting woods with your kids - what do you mean you haven't had much luck? :)
Heh - when my son was too little to walk very far, I hunted with him in one of those kid backpack things and we rarely saw anything. Tomorrow he has the day off work so he's going hunting without me (whatta brat!) and here's a picture of him with last year's buck (his first deer)...
(http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff187/GingivitisKahn/20081107_ac_dylans_first_deer_02_sm.jpg)
My daughter has been out with us (she doesn't want to hunt but she's a good photographer) rabbit hunting, deer hunting, etc. Here they both are on an early season deer hunt / scouting trip...
(http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff187/GingivitisKahn/20090901_ac_04.jpg)
I think the point is - just get them out there with you. If you see stuff or get shots, that's a bonus but the objective is to get them in the woods with you.
I have taken my foster son hunting the last 4-5 years. It is amazing how well he does - he wants to see deer.
My only concern with it is the safety factor. He can climb a ladder to an elevated stand, but getting him back down safely is a major concern. He is getting big enough where I can't hold him/lift him anymore.
I think we will concentrate on just using a ground blind from now on when he comes with me.
I just put up a ladder stand and hang a lock on beside it. It is easy for them to access. You go up first and get everything situated then let them come up and secure them in. Make sure they have their own flashlight it makes them more comfortable when walking out in the dark. I also think it is better to take them in the evening the first few times, they usually don't have to sit as long to see game.LCH
Well I once had a crazy old redneck (great friend and fellow redneck mind you)tell me this about taking kids fishing and I believe it applies to hunting as well. "You can go fishing or you can take your kids fishing... You cant do both!" Thats not to say you wont catch a fish or two yourself but you certianly wont be fishing like you would alone and thats OK as long as they have fun. I guess the point is if you want to go hunting seriously go alone and set aside some time for your kids on a day when you can make it about them.
Personally I take my boys (ages 11 and 13) out with me in the early seasons and use 2 man ladder stands. The weather is nice, we can have plenty of snacks and we see lots of calm deer. I put camo material on the blinds to cover rookie mistakes and I help to spot deer to keep them interested. I will say this, there is no better feeling and I mean none better than seeing your kids take their first deer and Ive watched both of my boys tag out on 8 pt bucks for their first. Absolutely priceless.
Duck tape and some rope. :biglaugh:
Just kidding my 6 yr old girl is driving me crazy to take her so im trying to come up with a plan myself. Im lucky we have some big fields with some great shooting houses. Im going to take her video games and coloring books and maybe a I Pod so she can listen to Hanna Montana rock while i try to down the buck of a life time. :biglaugh: :biglaugh:
They're great to have along on bear hunts. I like to smear them with honey and tell to stay close to the tree stand. Man do I miss those days. I need some more kids.
This was my second year hunting with my two daughters. A DB blind works great. A mp3 player was very helpful. One thing I discovered this year was having an extra set of binoculars was a lifesaver. Those binocs got alot of use. My oldest daughter, who is 9, spotted more dear than me. It was very nice too have an extra set of eyes.
Make sure they have fun. Take them to hunt things like squirrels and frogs and gophers. Shoot a lot, even if only stump shooting. Ever hunt grasshoppers ?
The ground blind idea allows the kids to move a bit and still keep busy but participate.
Do not take them out in freezing or otherwise nasty weather.
Keep it fun and busy.
ChuckC
I have taken my 5 yo since he was about 2. We used to go squirrel hunting, but last year I started letting him shoot a .410 shotgun. He loves it. To top it all off, he killed his first deer this year. When he shot that doe, I was shaking so bad I could hardly help him out of the blind. I was trying to put another shell in his gun and realized (when i barely could get the shell in) that I was haveing more fun watching him then I ever had on my own. PRICELESS!!!!!!
bornagain thats a great story, one you will never forget.
Like others have said, don't forget going scouting or small game hunting with them. Long distance scouting helps avoid the noise and fidgeting problems. Small game has more action and that helps keep them occupied and focused.
When bear hunting I like to cover them with honey and tie them to a tree within 20 yards...
O wait I guess You to have them sit with You...Sorry.. :banghead: :banghead:
Any kind of pop-up blind will be your best way to do this, till they can sit still for hours and not make noise.
When my boys were little, 3 and 6 (they're 28 and 31 now) their mother and I took them turkey hunting. We moved in on a gobbler, and I sat in a ditch with both boys in my lap. I did the calling, and mom hid about 10 yards in front of us. They could just see the gobbler when she rolled him. The thing they remembered the best, I found out much later, was the cow that was licking the truck when we came out. Go figure.
I think a blind set up is better than a tree stand for taking young children along. They are more comfortable in a blind. I used to bring a small propane heater for them in cold weather. They have to stay comfortable and safe to have a good time. If they get tired they can lay on the ground in a blind.
If you do use a tree stand set up climbing ropes with prusick knots to make sure they are safe going up and down the tree.
The main thing is to keep it fun. When they have had enough for the day end it and go back another day. When you hunt with kids their enjoyment and comfort comes first and the hunt is second, otherwise you may turn them off to it.
Good luck and enjoy it now, because you are going to blink and they will be 25 years old.
Gil
Now you're onto a subject I can really get into!
I also suggest a pop up blind like the Double Bull but there are cheaper alternatives. The cheapest is the camo cloth type blind where you just drape it over brush around you. If using a pop up, the bigger the blind the better if you are taking a kid and hoping to shoot with a bow.
I started out taking my daughter when she was 4 or 5 years old during gun season and just used the Walmart camo burlap or the other synthetic leafy cut stuff that you can get for about $15 and it worked fine. We'd find a deadfall or some brushy area and drape the camo over the branches in front of us and set up a pair of Niff-T-Seats. I'd set mine with the tall leg and hers with the short leg and put hers right between my knees. That way, she could lean back against me and if it was cold, I could kinda put my arms around her to help her stay warm.
Another tip, if you take two of the camo blind cloth pieces, you can drape one over a couple deadfall branches like you are building a fort and most likely, the first instant your kid gets bored, they'll be inside the "fort" like a dog into it's house. They can play, fidget, take a nap or whatever and you can stay on your stool and keep an eye on the woods and your kid at the same time. If you really would like to hunt for a "grown up" length of time, making the little fort and taking an old blanket along will help a bunch. Put all the blind cloths and the blanket inside a soft backpack and when you get set up, build your blind and fort then open the backpack up and lay it flat like a ground cloth and fold the blanket like a sleeping bag and put it on top. When your kid gets cranky, 9 times out of 10 it'll be because they are tired or bored. Just let them lay down and take a nap. Nothing like fresh brisk air and a soft blanket to make an enjoyable nap. I shot a doe with a 45-70 when hunting with my daughter while she was asleep in her little "nest" right beside me and she never heard the gun go off!
Be sure to clear a big area of leaves around you when you set up. That way if something comes in, your kid can move off to the side quietly. In fact, regardless of the type of blind, do a couple "pretend" scenarios. It will help them get into the whole hunting thing and it makes it a lot less likely that they screw up a situation for you if a deer comes in for real. I know we all think we wouldn't get upset if our kid spooked a deer but for some people it happens, if only for a split second before they catch themselves and tell the kids "it's okay, we'll get him next time". For me and my boy, we found that in my Double Bull, about the only place he could stand and not be in the way if I was trying to shoot my bow was to my right and kinda back in the corner. He could still see fine from there and was not in danger of being hit by a bow limb.
Gotta agree too on the snacks and drinks already mentioned, but I'll add that food and water inevitably lead to another result.... Daddy, I gotta go potty... Don't forget the TP!
I started carrying a little plastic garden trowel when blind hunting. You can dig a little hole about 6" deep about the size of a small flower pot and they can pee in it and you just drop the plug of dirt back in and tamp it down. They think it's fun! I honestly started carrying it for myself when I'd sit from dark to dark in my blind. The plastic ones only weigh an ounce or two and cost next to nothing. Of course, it goes without saying that if they have to go number 2, you either need a deeper hole or ya gotta take them downwind about 50 yards...but it's all part of the adventure.
Lastly, be sure to take your camera! Take lots of candid pictures. Get goofy and do "pretend" stuff. When you get them home and have them developed, pick one or two of the best ones and make an enlargement like a 5X7 or 8X10 and start hanging pics up an a wall in your house. I have a little section of wall in the den that is nothing but hunting/kid pictures in 8X10 wooden frames. You'd be surprised at how proud your kids will be to show people the pictures of when they went hunting with Daddy.
Tim, I just re read your original post and noticed that you were thinking of getting your kid up in a tree stand. If your boy is only 8 and your daughter 6, I'd probably recommend against it. It's just about impossible to find safety harnesses that small and the worst case scenario could be pretty bad. I'm sure that is why almost everyone that answered talked about ground blinds and hunting from the ground in general.
Certain exceptions might be made depending on the kid but it's the getting into and out of the tree that presents issues. Ladder stands of course are about the safest option but you still need a safety of some sort. An elevated box or tree house type stand is probably the absolute safest thing for hunting with a kid from an elevated position but if you don't own the land, they really are not an option.
I have an 8 year old boy and I think that if I used my rapid rails and two hang on stands I could get him safely in and out of a stand but then I'm back to trying to find a harness that fits him. I'm really not willing to use one of the old style waist/chest strap types for him and have never seen a vest or harness small enough.
If you do elect to try hunting from a tree stand, I recommend a drop line safety rope. Basically, you set up your stands yourself using normal climbing safety stuff but then attach a rope (about 1/2" will work if it is properly load rated) around the tree about shoulder high above the platform and drop the other end all the way to the ground. The bottom end gets tied around the base of the tree so the hanging rope is just barely taught. This is your safety line. Next, you need to tie a prussic hitch onto the drop line with a second piece of rope and leave a loop to hook to. The prussic knot will slide up and down the drop line if you move the knot but if you fall and pull on the loop, it locks up tight. Seat-O-The Pants brand harnesses use this knot and that is where I first saw it.
If you do a search on the internet, you should be able to find instructions for tying it. It's really easy. Basically just a piece of rope maybe 1 1/2 to 2 feet long of about 1/2 to 2/3 the diameter of the drop rope with the two ends tied together. It gets wound about 3 times around the other rope and the end pulled back through the middle and that's it. Of course, without seeing it, my description will never get it done. If I get a chance, I'll try to post a picture of it.
Good luck!
I just googled "prussic knot" and the second hit was for a site called "instructibles.com" and it shows exactly the knot I'm talking about.
The only difference is the number of turns they show. Their picture shows two wraps on each side and I'm used to seeing three.
Dave I did rock climbing in the Marine Corps(Assault Climber) and figured if I take to the trees their will be more safety ropes around him that he may look like the Michelin man in a tree. I am going to try a ground blind from some natural material and see how it works. What sucks in Jersey is he wants to carry a bow and if your not 10yo u cant get a license and that means you cant carry a bow even know it wont be shot at a deer.
Well Tim, if you did rock climbing, maybe you know how to do the old fashioned rope body harness? Perhaps you could even do a how to?
You also said "What sucks in Jersey is he wants to carry a bow and if your not 10yo u cant get a license and that means you cant carry a bow even know it wont be shot at a deer."
I guess if he's not 10 years old, doesn't have a license and only has some blunts, then he ain't hunting eh?
I'd double check on the regulation. Find out if stump shooting is legal in NJ maybe and if so, he could stump shoot while you hunt.... There's got to be some sort of common sense way around it if he truly is not hunting and just wants to carry a bow. I know guys who had their kids follow them in gun season with their BB guns to teach them some basic hunter safety. The game wardens thought it was a great idea. You know how they are about safety and all that. Maybe he could just carry a bow and no arrows so that he could learn some bow safety. You keep an arrow or two of his in your quiver so that if you get somewhere that maybe has a nice dirt bank you could take some practice shots at he could shoot a couple arrows too. If that fails, stick a couple suction cups on the ends of his arrows. There's just gotta be a point of "duh" factor where anybody with a brain would know he's not hunting.
Throw up a popup blind in a good squirrel spot and they won't even notice you and the kids. They run right in front of the blind and you can shoot them with your bow. Did that last month with my two girls. My youngest was even sitting there playing a nintendo game! Squirrel hunting is a good way to introduce them to hunting.
-Charlie
Dave the rope seat is very easy to do and can explain it to you or I can draw it out and mail it to you.We don't do a full over the shoulder harness we just use the seat.so pm me your address and i will send you the directions.A 100ft 3/8 static line and a rappelling seat can come in handy when traversing some slopes while hunting.
Tim, sent you a PM.
the fun is in the preperation let them help you pack.keep the hunt simple even if you hunt the ground.they just really want to be with you.I t cant be about always getting something.it is about showing them the importance of how to get ready its the excitement of being apart of.it is a pacitcance builder over the years.let them know you expect more from them each year.Its like fishing. when they are 2-3 I didnot put hooks on there line just a bobber.they run around have a good time they dont know the differance.when I hook a fish I give it to them.nobody gets hurt an we all have FUN.