AND MISTAKES TO AVOID
by Contributor
(Jun. 6, 2018) — There are many reasons to teach your kids how to hunt. Just as your generation was taught how to hunt for small and big game alike, so you will want to help pass on those skills to the next generation, and specifically to your children.
Besides that, hunting is a great opportunity to spend time in the outdoors, get plenty of exercise in, and develop excellent life skills such as shooting, responsibility, respect, teamwork, discipline, and sportsmanship.
In this article, we’ll discuss the biggest mistakes to avoid when introducing your kids to hunting, and then the top tips to follow when doing so.
Top Mistakes To Avoid When Introducing Kids To Hunting
Here are the top mistakes to avoid when introducing kids to hunting:
NOT MAKING SAFETY A PRIORITY
Safety is always the first and most critically important priority when it comes to hunting. Having fun and catching your game are second. This means your children need to understand gun safety, basic first aid information, and navigational skills should they get lost.
YOU DON’T TEACH YOUR KIDS HOW TO SHOOT FIRST
A hunting trip should NEVER be the first time anyone shoots a gun. Instead, you need to teach your children how to shoot before you embark on your hunting trip or team how to hunt.
There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, your kids need to learn how to become comfortable with firearms, so they will feel less pressured to take the shot when the time comes.
Secondly, your kids need to learn how to respect firearms as well as how to use them. Your child should know how to operate the shotgun or rifle on their own and have plenty of experience with the cartridge you choose. It takes time to adjust to the recoil of a caliber, but starting out with a less powerful one is usually a good idea.
YOU SET EXPECTATIONS TO BE UNREALISTIC
Do you expect your children to be fully quiet on their first hunting trip? Do you expect them to not ask a lot of questions? To make mistakes along the way?
You need to make sure that the expectations that you set are perfectly reasonable and realistic. Be patient as well. This is your child’s first time hunting, and you want to make sure that the experience is positive and memorable for them.
YOU’RE NOT PREPARED
There are a variety of things you need to have with you on your hunting trip: your firearms, ammunition, proper equipment, rain gear, food and water, first aid gear, and so on. And remember, being ill-prepared also sets a bad example for your children.
YOU GO HUNTING DURING HARSH CONDITIONS
There’s nothing necessarily wrong with hunting in harsh conditions, but when you’re taking your kids out for the first time, you’ll want to take them during a time of mild weather and temperatures.
Freezing cold temperatures, heavy rains, or high winds (or in a combination of those things), are a recipe for disaster that will leave your kids with a desire to end the trip rather than continue. Remember, you want their first hunting trip to be memorable and positive, and to do that, you’re going to need to go during a time of good weather.
Top Tips To Follow When Introducing Your Kids To Hunting
Now that we know the top mistakes to avoid when introducing your kids to hunting, here are the top tips that you’ll want to follow:
GIVE THEM A GUN THEY CAN HANDLE
You shouldn’t expect your children to use a gun that produces too much recoil for them to handle. If the highest caliber that they can shoot is a .22 LR, then that’s what they should use for their first hunts…and you’ll have to hunt game that can be taken with that caliber.
SQUIRREL HUNTS ARE GOOD FOR STARTERS
There’s no need to start big game hunting first. In fact, smaller children especially will likely have a much more fun time starting with small game such as ground squirrels in an open prairie. If you’ve ever been squirrel hunting before, you know how fun it is, and it’s a great time to teach your kids the fundamentals about hunting as well.
GO BIRD HUNTING NEXT
After you’ve established ground squirrel hunting with your kids, you’ll want to move onto bird hunting next, such as hunting grouse, turkeys, pheasants, or other upland game birds.
For one thing, this gives your kids the opportunity to use a larger caliber gun (a .410 bore, 28 gauge, or 20 gauge shotgun works best for youth). Plus, bird hunting is much faster paced and requires you to react fast by raising your gun quickly when you hear a ruffle of features and opening fire.
DEER HUNTING LAST
Finally, the best time to go big game hunting such as deer hunting will be after you’ve taken your kids squirrel and upland bird hunting a few times. A good age to go deer hunting for the first time will be between 12-14.
Again, choose a caliber that your kid can manage the recoil of (.30-30 Winchester is a good option for most youngsters). A deer hunt gives you the opportunity to teach your child the value of patience, since the most successful deer hunters usually hide and wait at a strategic area rather than go trampling on through the brush.
Conclusion
It’s important for you to teach your kids hunting just as you were taught by your parents or grandparents. Be sure to avoid the mistakes that we discussed earlier in this article, and follow the tips that we outlined as well.
Start out by hunting ground squirrels, then move onto upland game birds and then deer, and again, avoid those mistakes while you’re at it.