Teaching the kids to hunt

[Airic]

My family just moved back to Oklahoma a couple months ago and my daughters (9yrs & 4yr) are starting to get obsessed with hunting. They see my buddy and I leave out every weekend to go and they keep asking and asking to go. It's gonna kill me to break it to the girls that they can only go watch, and not "hunt" since they need a hunter safety course first. They want to get one bad!

I also participate in competition shooting (USPSA/IDPA), and I want to start getting the girls used to shooting regularly.

I guess my question is: how would you guys handle this situation? I'm thinking that the girls are just gonna go and watch this season since I need to get them some time on the range and teach them gun safety and markmanship (I'm a TCLESOE cert. LEO Firearms inst. in Texas). Maybe I can get them in on some small game later this season.

 

[larkinmusic]

My nephew was happy just holding the binoculars the first time he went hunting with me. Maybe you could give them a camera to "hunt" with?

 

[300WSM]

I agree with the camera thing. My dad didnt let me have a gun in the deer woods until I was 12 and had completed hunter safety. Take them out and show them how its done a few times without the distraction of them having a gun. After that they will know what to expect when going into the woods so they can pay more attention to gun safety.

 

[surjimmy]

Take them, they will have a ball. Let on you need their help this year and next year you can help them. Dewayne up at the gun store in Edmond taught my son and nephew, great guy and great with kids.

 

[Red Earth]

Get them involved! There are lots of things they can do with you.

Official call or antler holder, Field scanner with the bino's, camera person like mentioned above, etc.

Get them a small back pack, start adding hunting implements slowly for them and teaching them their use. Hunter safety as well as gun safety doesn't have to be completely taught on a firing range.

Have fun and make it interesting for them. Teach them respect of the animals and the outdoors while the brains are still a sponge for information!

Have fun!

PJ

 

[Airic]

That all sounds great, and I think you guys have given me a plan of action. The camera idea is especially good b/c my wife is into photography.

This whole thing kinda perplexed me a little because when I thought back to when I was a kid and learning how to shoot/hunt....no one taught me. My grandpa dropped me off at the farm and said he'd be back at noon...lol

Self taught....

 

[ez bake]

If they do get to the point where they want to shoot, take them shooting and teach them the fundamentals long before you get them with a deer in their sights.

I know plenty of Dads who saw their sons and daughters shake like a leaf when trying to get that first deer because they never shot a rifle other than to sight-in for deer season.

Once they can shoot a rifle with confidence and the fundamentals, the deer part isn't nearly as nerve-racking.

 

[YankeeMN]

I was following my old man with a Red Rider in the woods for years before I was able to get my gun safety. I learned to shoot squirrels, chipmunks, porcupines, ect.. with the pellet gun. By the time I was 10, mt dad carried the 22 and was letting me shoot squirrels and such at longer ranges.

Teach them shooting safety and fundamentals long before they ever have a classroom session.

 

[bigcountryok]

Get them out there and get them involved. Make it fun for them. When they are with you, the trip is no longer about getting an animal as much as it is mentoring and having fun. If you focus too much on the kill, you'll ruin them.

Go out be safe, have a blast, and good for you for getting them in the outdoors!!!!

 

[Airic]

Get them out there and get them involved. Make it fun for them. When they are with you, the trip is no longer about getting an animal as much as it is mentoring and having fun. If you focus too much on the kill, you'll ruin them.

Go out be safe, have a blast, and good for you for getting them in the outdoors!!!!

Yeah and they are real focused on "getting something" right now. I love the hunt, I spent years without killing anything during certian seasons when I was young.....but my wife is so focused on "where's the deer?" that I think its influencing the kids that its all about the kill.