How to Teach Kids to Hunt Everything I did wrong over the years

the do's and don'ts of teaching your kids to hunt there's lot of them and if you mess it up they'll hate you forever and possibly end up in cult what's up guys it's Eric from late to the game outdoors and okay may have overstated what's at stake when it comes to helping your kids learn to hunt mean they probably won't end up in cult new and better life awaits you on our distant home planet plastonia makes sense but over the past few years I've been welcoming my boys into the world of hunting as they've gotten old enough and the learning curve for me has been steep now quick disclaimer here am all about teaching your daughters to hunt as well obviously happen to have one daughter she's eight and the way things are going now she'll probably be the president of pita when she grows up think Betty White is in Peta that doesn't even make any sense she has zero interest in hunting so I'm not gonna force it on her all that to say most of this advice will focus on Sons simply because that's what have experience with though I'm positive that the principles that we're going to talk about will apply to sons and daughters so if you have youngsters coming up and you can't wait to share the joys of hunting with them or you've already had them out and they just haven't had any success yet here in no particular order are the lessons I've learned with my boys number one cater the hunt to their interests and physical ability early on made the mistake of taking my boy on low probability hunts mean the tags just weren't great didn't put in the time should have to scout the area and so we didn't have great experiences it turns out that sitting on hillside looking for javelina that never appear isn't what every 10 year old boy Longs for to make matters worse also had this young kid carrying pack and an old wooden rifle up hills and through terrain that just didn't realize was going to be as tough on him as it was we take for granted kind of the early mornings the long hikes the stuff that we're able to endure and it's easy to forget just how much that can ruin kid's day so as my second son just turned 10 and is just beginning his hunting Adventure I'm going to be so much more careful in how plan his hunts I'm going to prioritize opportunity over the ease of drawing the tag so in other words I'd rather the kid have to wait couple years to get great tag and have great hunt then to get him out there right away and have him just hate the experience and when think I'm going easy enough on the physical side I'll probably try to find way to make it like 50 easier than that my oldest actually told me couple years ago he hated hunting turns out he just didn't like hauling heavy stuff up mountains to not see any animals now that he's gotten older he's in better shape and he's had some success the kid is hooked numero dose prepare your kid for the Moment of Truth some of that preparation will be practical right like like getting your kid plenty of time behind the rifle in likely shooting positions but another key aspect is helping him prepare mentally you know watch some hunting videos and talk through with your kid what the hunters are doing right or wrong as the case may be it's coming right for us help them has pre-thought through what they'll need to do when they're the one behind the trigger my oldest just harvested his first elk and was absolutely thrilled with how he passed on multiple marginal or unethical shots and he waited for the perfect opportunity and fully attribute his ability to do that to time that we spent going through hunter safety sure but even specific conversations we had just talking through potential shop scenarios even though this was his first kill he was behind that rifle evaluating each and every possible shot like an old Pro speaking of shots shots no not those shots number three shock setups are difficult for new Hunter if you're an experienced guy you've probably committed the steps to getting into any number of decent shooting positions to muscle memory at this point your kid hasn't had that chance and when you dump bunch of adrenaline into the system it only makes it harder for them to get comfortable behind the rifle the elk my son harvested was actually the second elk he shot at on the trip the first was clean mist the day before so you don't have to call anybody and Report us but on that first opportunity we were in thick bedding area and shooting lanes were hard to come by so we ended up in four different shooting setups just trying to get clean shot on an elk it was ridiculous obviously you should spend as much time at the range with your kid as possible but if you're able to at the range that you're at you should also let him try different positions different rests let him experience some of the less than ideal shooting situations he might encounter your kids ability to get settled behind the rifle quickly could very easily be the difference between missed opportunity or worse wounded animal and harvest all right number four give them some ownership over the hunt it can be so easy to slip into guide mode and just direct every aspect of the hunt for your kids but what sort of stumbled into is that that can rob them of some of the excitement they could have well my son and were loading up at the truck that first morning told him all right buddy know this area and there are alcohol over it but this is your hunt so I'm happy to give advice but want you to direct where we go and how we hunt let him look at the maps obviously he got to decide if we rested or if we kept moving he got to pick direction and we went there mean we even stomped out into lake bed to chase elk that knew we'd never get shot at but he had been talking about that strategy all summer and didn't want to Rob him of the opportunity to give it try and for the record the entire herd busted when we were still 400 yards away anyway the point is that wanted my son to feel like he was the one hunting not that he was just along to pull the trigger while hunted these elk most of the time he would ask what thought or what would do and obviously gave him advice but waited for him to ask before just telling him like Hey we're going over here it was actually so much more fun for me to let him strategize and try different things and really believe it helped him enjoy the hunt so much more than previous hunts where basically just drug him along to wherever wanted to go number five and and this one is specifically for sons all right make the moment count we could have an absurdly long conversation about the struggles of boys in our culture which are very real and we should talk about them actually but believe one of the major missing components are these key moments where boys take large concrete memorable steps towards manhood I'm not saying every man needs to hunt but hunting does lend itself very naturally towards these types of moments and Rites of Passage that boy so desperately needs so if you're the father of sons or the uncle or family friend or whatever look for and intentionally create Rites of Passage throughout their childhood and Adolescence to help them feel like they are actively crossing over from Boyhood to manhood in that moment when your son is standing over his first harvest resist the understandable urge to you know snap few pictures and start quartering it up let him soak in that moment speak encouraging words into his life and impress upon him just how much of big deal This Moment is mean if your son just shot his first animal well he just entered into tiny minority of men in the west who can and have done that he is now one of the few he's legend he's provider for his family tell him those things and obviously tell him how insanely proud of him you are all right guys could keep going but it's probably best to cut it off here thanks so much for watching and if you want to see the film of my boys elk hunt it's right over there and if you're dealing with much younger kids actually made video years ago about how taught all of my kids about gun safety from very young age and that one's right there of course like And subscribe really appreciate that hit that Bell if you're into that sort of thing and I'll see you guys next time