To young to go hunting?

[Meridian]

I'm going to take my boy out hunting tomorrow he'svery exited and wants to leave right now. Normally we just feed the ducks and now were going to shoot them. Is this to much for a three year old. My daughter of 7 years did'nt mind seeing dead ducks on the garage floor but has no interest of going out and shooting them. I asked if she wanted to go,"No way dad". So my question to you is what is the right age to get a youngster into hunting?

[BlueWater]

Meridian-
It is nice to see you get your boy involved with hunting. I have young ones as well and besides the just make sure they are warm and dry thing I think it is the noise of the gun shoots that make them startled and unstettled. This in turm makes them unsure of the killing. Have him have ear muffs ready and on before you shoot. I notice a difference with my girls when I do this while after grouse. The sudden blast of a 12 is hard on little ears. crayons and paper or colloring books are also a life saver when stand hunting to give them something to do. Lastly don't be afraid (sp) to let him touch and "play" with the birds. Kids are very courious and tactile. My girls did better when I involved them with being able to explore more about the parts of the birds.
Again my experience is with girls and walking for grouse but mabey this will help.
Have fun tomorrow!
:smile:
BlueWater.

[Mr. Fisherman]

Hey Meridian,
It quite simply depends on the kid.
I just got back from a trip with my 8 year old. It was his first time out and was anything but typical.
The Plan:
A friend meets us in the reservation line at Suavie (sp) Island with his tent trailer, decoys, dogs, buddies and social party materials, i.e. food and beverages. The social event is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
We would split up decoys and dogs and work together to set up two areas for up to 7 hunters.
What happened next?
Wife takes a trip out of town. I decide to take my son on his first trip knowing that in the company of my good friends he was sure to have the time of his life.
I rush to get essentials for the trip, rain gear and new boots for the young one. A few (8) more decoys for our spread. I also bought some more camo material, snacks, breakfast supplies, adult beverages, doughnuts, bagels etc for up to about 10 folks.
The boy and I roll up at about 9:00 after going to 6 stores in search of a decoy bag. No bag translated at the time to no problem, just stuff a few more into all the other bags.
The Dilemma:
Nobody home. Much to my surprise none of my buddies are there. We walk the non-reservation line. Same deal. Called the wife who called long distance to get the story and then the cell rings and my buddy ain't coming.
My son’s first trip, 8 decoys, (no decoy bag) a mallard feeding call, no dog, heater or stove to cook with. PRICELESS!
I asked my boy if he wanted to stay or go back home so we could drive his mom to the airport in the morning instead. I explained that this would be a tough hunt at best and that we didn't have very good odds of getting into the ducks like I had planned. He says lets tough it out and give it our best! (did I mention that I raised that boy? ) He goes on to tell me that he is "...gonna kick "my buddy" in the butt..." I told him not to hurt himself and to aim for a lower target, like the shin.
We sleep in the back of the rig and get up at 4:300, share doughnuts with anyone who wanted one and a few that didn't and headed out for parts unknown, in the dark. I had never hunted this area before and didn't know much about it, I figured that my buddies knew the drill and everything would be just fine. Well, we used a G.I. Joes shopping baag and a couple of buckets for decoys, carried the blind material and everything else as best we could. I had to turn around three times cause my boy didn't have waders and I didn't know for sure where I was going. The folks at the check station were more than kind in giving directions but it's difficult to judge distance in the dark in new surroundings with a boy who isn't used to walking in the mud little on carrying that much go into whiner mode. I'm glad I was the only one who heard what he said an dI won't repeat it but we did have a come to Jesus meeting and I know for a fact that he grew about a foot on this trip. Once we got set up on the first puddle of water that would float my "spread" of decoys he started getting into it. He got pretty cold and was wanting to leave when A flock of Pintails flew over the top of us and I was able to get a shot off. Saw feathers and feel confident that I would have brought him down if my auto wouldn't have jamed. "Sorry Dad, I think I laid it in the mud..." I know grown men that wouldn't fess to something like that.
Well, we stayed till about 9 and to my surprise he wanted to give it another 20 minutes. Then HE suggested that we go exploring. I have rarely been as proud of him as I was right then.
We scouted around and decided to pack up and head out. He didn't complain one time on the trip out. We went to the check station then to the overview on Sturgeon Lake to look at the ducks and geese. Then we picnicked at the boat ramp and went to look at the geese at the Fish and Game office. This turned out to be one of the best trips my son and I have had to date and to tell you the truth I didn't think he had it in him as his mom is a little soft on him. What a pleasant surprise it was to have had this screwed up trip turn out to have been such a rewarding experience.
No, my buddies are not off the hook. We know where they live and if they don't come by in person to get their Christmas gifts we will make a special trip to deliver them in person. My boy wants to show off his new boots .
I know I rambled on but the timing was perfect and I hope you find an answer to your question somewhere in the reply,

Ray AKA Mr. Fisherman

[ 12-07-2001: Message edited by: Mr. Fisherman ]</p>

[Bait O' Eggs]

I think the answer to your question depends on the hunting objective. I have a 4 and 2 year old, and if I wanted to fill a limit of what ever I had better leave the kids at home. If I want to spend the day with my kids I would take them hunting. The 2 are not mutually exclusive, but after the kid gets bored with looking at an empty sky, they immediately become mutually exclusive.

I am learning how to be a good dad, while my kids are learning how to put in some time trying to accomplish a goal.

Keep the trip short and keep the kids comfortable from the elements and you will all have a good time no matter how many ducks you get. I am learning that is all that really matters. Before I had kids I would be there daylight to dark or the limit was filled. That is how I scored a good day. Now I am learning to be content with spending some time with the kids and bringing home a partial bag limit, no limit, or a whole limit.

A month ago I took my 4 year old clam digging at longbeach for razors. When I would start digging, he would dig along side of me,usually tossing sand in my hole, or on the lantern. Once I made my couple scoops with the shovel and got down on one knee to reach for the clam, he would do the same. Once I got ahold of the clam I would ask where grandpa was, He would look up and point to grandpa, when he would look back down he would find a clam in his hole, right on top. :grin: He would pick it up and want to know where my clam was. He filled the entire limit of 15 to my 0 and located grandpa 15 times without exception. He talked about how many clams he found until he fell asleep on the way home. He now wants to go back and take mom. I would call that a very very successful trip.

I hope your duck hunting trip turns out great.

[Meridian]

Thanks for the input guys. The trip turned out well. I guess we would have to call it a nature walk more than anything. Saw lots of geese and not many ducks. Geese were pretty much flying high. We were standing out in the open most of the time not to concerned about actually getting birds. But when they would fly our way we would crouch down and the boy would start blowing on the duck call (goose call was a little hard for him to blow). I should of had the thing on video. Snuck up on some decoys and the boy got muddy head to foot. Lots of fun.