wanna have some fun? Take a 3year old deer hunting!!!!

I try to take my nephews (4 and 6) but my sister is an Anti so they arent allowed to be around me.

Chad,

I'm referred to as the "bad influence uncle" too

Those are the best kind of kids to get into the game. My sister-in-law is the same as your sister but my brother(like the rest of the family) hunts and shoots. When Grandma brought all the old G.I.Joe toys that my brother and I had when we were kids for their daughter, she couldn't say much.

It really rubbed her raw when I sugggested to my niece that her Barbie would make a good hunting partner for G.I. Joe since she(Barbie) already had a jeep. Last time I was over there I saw Barbie she was wearing some of Joe's camo and carrying a rifle.

In a year or two one of those little single shot .22's with the pink stock is going to mysteriously show up as a birthday or Christmas gift. Like I said "bad influence uncle"

oops

My eldest daughter married a lib with an extremely anit-mom. This MIL is a whack job from the word go, but because she is school psychiatrist, she has the power to rip kids from parents with a word and my daughter is terrified of her.

I believe it is vitally important to teach my 2 grandkids, a girl age 6 and a boy 4, gun safety, as I have guns in the house. Besides, I want a couple little hunting buddies. I'm not even allowed to talk about guns around them. Needless to say, my efforts to teach gun safety to my g'kids is flustered with the old "MIL won't like it" line.

So, how do I get around the crazy MIL? I have a pellet rifle hanging on the wall above the door... I have a locked gun rack on my bedroom wall... I have skull mount muley racks in the living room... I leave hunting magazines, with pics of kids holding guns and game, on my coffee table.

I can't teach my kids 'gun' safety, per se, but I have permission to give them little archery sets with rubber tips as a go around. They will learn the 4 Rules with arrows instead of BBs. They will learn gun safety the long way around.

And the other day my g'son piped up out of the blue, "Granpa, I want to go hunting with you!" His dad's eyes looked like saucers. MIL can kiss my rosy cheeks. I told him he can go with me next time.

There is hope. My daughter-in-law thought fishing and hunting were "dumb and stupid". After she went on a canoe trip and had a shore lunch of fresh-caught fish, she became a fishing nut. Then she tasted grilled wood duck and deer loin. Now she wants to help skin and gut a deer. It takes years but you can go the 'backdoor' route and ease them into it.

Was thinking about cleaning guns and starting to get ready to shoot tree rats, but think I will go just to spend time with him.

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1st off, as a parent of a soon to be 4 year old boy I applaud you for taking your grandson. My dad takes my son often doing stuff like this, HE will remember pawpaw taking him hunting and talk about it, and someday in life cherish it and hope to do the same with his son/grandson.

2nd, as a parent of a soon to be 4 year old boy I take him out hunting often. Sometimes I sneak out without him, but for the most part I DO plan days to take him specifically. Often these are squirrel hunts, dove hunts (where we are sitting in a fence line or cornfield), or quail hunts where we are walking and noise isn't an issue. 2 weeks ago we went on a deer hunt that included a long walk in the woods, it had rained the day before so I knew noise wouldn't be a big issue. He LOVES it, still talks about it, and wants to go everyday.

3rd, successful hunts and the harvest of game are not equal and taking a 3 year old sometimes means your chances of harvest are decreased. However the boy you took was glassing, listening, noticing sounds, etc.... all of what a successful hunter does. In addition IF you have any old binoculars or other gear laying around, make them his. My son has his equipment to use when we go and he either decides to take them or not, but he has to store them in a place and take care of them. his binoculars are an old, cheap ($10) small pair I picked up a long time ago but he uses them, you can actually see stuff fairly well in them, and he takes care of them. He likes the experience more because he has 'his stuff.' And if grandpa gave it to him then he likes them even more.

4th, both of my grandfathers died before I was born, one of my grandmothers remarried not long after I was born so my actual step-grandpa was grandpa to me and I was grandson to him, none of this 'step' stuff was ever involved or mentioned. It was awesome having a grandpa to do stuff with and I am fortunate that both of my kids grandpa's do stuff with them. I have my grandpa's Marlin 30-30 rifle that my son will get to hunt with someday. Sadly my grandpa passed 3 days before my son was born.

PS... My dad also takes my son out doing this stuff. And I also have a daughter almost 2 that will be going and doing in another year. Also my wife and I are pro-hunting and fishing and outdoors so there will be none of this 'not safe to hunt or be outdoors' business.

I have a 3 1/2 year old step daughter that is showing interest in shooting. It is amazing what they understand at that age. She knows to ask to hold a gun but to never touch one without asking and we've tested her. I have been wanting to get her out in the woods but have not yet. I'm afraid I may traumatize her by shooting an animal in her presence. How do you guys prepare a small child for that? I've already taken her fishing several times and she loves it. It will only be a matter of time before I have her hunting as well. I just want to ease her into it right and not scare her.

Properly prepared, kids won't be traumatized by seeing animals shot.

I started this with my kids at an early age, not only by serving game meat but explaining them in simple terms where it came from. Getting them to understand the idea was easiest with birds, mainly capercaillie, black grouse and wood grouse, ie. something you rarely if ever see in childrens' books. Ducks were a bit harder but when they had already grasped the concept with grouse, not really a problem. Surprisingly, moose and wild boar were neither, but some deer had the bambi-aspect to them and kids were used to seeing them all the time at our summer place. When they've learned about food chain in school, everything is much easier if they still have any doubts.

I really hate it when cartoons feed the kids an idea about animals being metacognitive, talking beings. Kids must be able to be kids and live in their fantasy world as long as they like, but getting a grasp of reality has to come sooner or later. Chicken McNuggets have been live chickens, burgers have been cows, sausages have been pigs and so on. Hunting is just dropping the industrial, artificial aspect of what food is all about. I've taught my kids that refusing to do something yourself that you approve of having done for you is hypocritical (it is) and none of them even remotely resembles a vegetarian.

In any case, my kids have accompanied us on hunting trips since preschool. Sometimes for just one afternoon, sometimes a whole week. My wife hunts (only birds, no mammals - her choice) so there's not just one role model in the family but two. Many of HER friends hunt, so there's no shortage of hunters of both genders among our friends. My son has grown up to be an avid hunter and we've spent a lot of quality time together. I wouldn't change the memories for the world. My daughters have fully accepted the fact that we hunt (the only time I had some explaining to do when I shot a giraffe ) and enjoy game meat without prejudice. If they want to go hunting, I'll be glad to take them with me, but that might still take a while. They love target shooting as well as training our hunting dogs so it might happen sooner or later, but choosing to actually hunt is one of those decisions that are completely up to them.

I've thought about getting my oldest, teenage daughter a hunting dog puppy of her very own, just to nudge her in the right direction...

Passing a tradition of hunting on to the next generation is priceless. I should know, the paper trail of my ancestors hunting (not for a living) goes back at least six centuries and that's not about to change anytime soon.

Congratulations on having a great time with your grandson!

best email I got from my younger daughter this year...

"I have no idea what the fishing season is, but is there any way you can take your grandson before the summer is over?
Also, Where does one get a bow & arrow set for a 4 yr old???"

funny thing is I'd asked a month or so earlier about taking him fishing and was told he was too young. And I had already bought him a bow and was waiting for it to arrive. Well, by Thanksgiving he'd caught his first three fish, ate them and learned to shoot his bow and arrows... (hit the deer in the butt and he thought that was pretty cool...) We'll work on aiming next time...

My grandfather on my Mom's side died before I was born. He was an avid hunter. My other gransfather was a WWI vet and as far as I know never owned a gun after that.

My Dad was not a hunter so I had to go thru the school of hard knocks. I made it a point to take my 2 sons hunting and fishing. Both of them are better hunters than I ever was. I taught them firearms safety from about age 5. I also taught a lot of their freinds firearms safety too.

I didn't take them hunting much on public property as I just considered it too dangerous except for small game, but when my parents bought a home with 37 acres we did a lot of shooting and small game hunting. Lot's of memories. Their first deer/first fish. I found some pictures last year of my oldest with his first fish and his first fishing pole. Priceless.

awesome story I hope to do the same one day

My dad told us a couple of years ago that he took us deer hunting when we were little because we were so noisy that he knew he would never have to clean a deer, and if he did shoot one, it was deaf or too brain damaged to stay in the population.

In my family, I'm considered a little odd, but in a cool way. We're planning a family shoot over Christmas vacation. I've loaded up 100 or so trailboss rounds in both 7.62x54R and 8x57 so the younger nieces and nephews can shoot them without getting knocked over.

I'm still worried that I'm looked at like Uncle Si from Duck Dynasty.

Matt

That is soo cool.
You are one heckova grandad.

I only knew my maternal step-grandpa and he taught me fishing. Its weird tho, for years after his passing I did not have any interest in fishing until around 10 years ago I suddenly found myself with a brand new fishing rig and license and away I went.
Now when i'm sitting on a bank drowning worms or floating in my 'toon I often find myself thinking of my grandpa even tho its been 30ish years since he passed. I remember teaching my younger brother how to fish often saying, "grandpa said" or "this is how grandpa did it" (he was much to young to go fishin with grandpa and he passed before he could pass on his knowledge). I remember one family camping trip I overheard my brother teaching his son "this is how grandpa did it".

These memories do last a lifetime. I am quite sure your grandson will treasure those memories all the more later in his life.


I think I'm going to toss some lures this weekend and remember my grandpa and my little bro.

my 4 year old wants to go hunting with me. didnt take him during the shotgun season here(he was in school), but i told him that when we are at the farm at xmas we would go sit in the woods with the xbow see what we can see. never seen a smile so big in my life. i dont expect to get anything. but it will be fun to sit with my boy out "hunting"

Yeah gramps wating on mine to get a little older and granny and momma dont have a problem with me taking him with me!!!! ( notice the uzi? Lol) he has 4 long rifles and 2 .45 long colts with dual holsters( yeah baby!!!!) thats my little man!!!!

I'm 24 fixing to be 25. Me and my wife just had our first child.(a little girl) I can't wait until she is old enough to join me in the woods. Great story kids sure can surprise you.

Taking them for short 'hikes' in whatever passes for wild lands near one's community is a great way to start them off.

Most 2 year olds are good for a 200 yard hike. Of course, because the pace is agonizingly slow, we have to get into the moment and start looking at the world at their level. Which often means sitting down on the ground next to them as they root around the forest floor.

Having a bag of treats to fuel their little bodies is a good idea. So is having lunch by a pond or at river's edge.

This approach worked for us and later on paid off at 10 to the 6th power with a string of amazing full-blown high-stakes wilderness adventures.

I took my son on a quail hunt last year, he was 1 month shy of being 3 and he went a good 3/4 mile before I was carrying him. Yes that is no exaggeration because I remember quite well lugging him that last 1/2 mile to the truck.

enjoy taking them kids hunting and fishing early and as often as you can. my son was stuck tite to me like a tick whenever i went hunting or fishing and he loved it and was good at it.we started when he was about 7 and got his first deer.at 15 he shot the biggest deer id ever seen.id never seen a more excited kid.

then he discovered girls and cars.pfffttt now i hunt by myself.but we have them memories. i really cant fault him cuz he straight a student and mvp football stud at his high school.but we did get to hunt a lot and he is a good shot, knows how to reload,knows where meat comes from and knows how to get it.

ridgerunner1965 said:

enjoy taking them kids hunting and fishing early and as often as you can. my son was stuck tite to me like a tick whenever i went hunting or fishing and he loved it and was good at it.we started when he was about 7 and got his first deer.at 15 he shot the biggest deer id ever seen.id never seen a more excited kid.

then he discovered girls and cars.pfffttt now i hunt by myself.but we have them memories. i really cant fault him cuz he straight a student and mvp football stud at his high school.but we did get to hunt a lot and he is a good shot, knows how to reload,knows where meat comes from and knows how to get it.

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Don't worry Ridgerunner its just a phase. You two will be hunting together again soon.