Taking my 6yo girl for her first proper hunt tomorrow.
What are the things you take to make it a good time for them? So far I have lots of food:D
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Taking my 6yo girl for her first proper hunt tomorrow.
What are the things you take to make it a good time for them? So far I have lots of food:D
Patience, lots of stops, explain whats happening and why. Enjoy!
My kids drink lots of water, and man can they eat!!!!
snacks,lollies
warm cloths,
PATIENCE
willingness to go home if they start to flag too much.
TIME
footwear they comfy in.
thermos of milo???
spare set of binos,dont have to be too flash,just good enough they can "join in" look out if they spot deer first,you wont live it down.
baby whipes and small shovel....for #2s
let her know its OK to tell Dad she needs to stop for wees
PATIENCE.
have fun and take lots of photos,they dont stay little for long.
Nailed it right there, lots of treats :thumbsup:
Patience, there own pair of binos (quality is not important just so they feel included)
Be prepared to stop when they want to, rest when they need to and be prepared to finish early when they have had enough...been doing all the above with my daughter and she's keen as to keep coming.
I think I pushed my boys to hard in too bigger country as they both lost interest very quickly. Hunt easier country it's not about coming home with a deer it's about making it fun and working with their shorter attention span.....at least that's my experience
Kids love gadgets and their own stuff .
The binocular suggestion is a great one , as is letting them use a range finder .
Their own little backpack ( make sure it’s not heavy and overloaded) with a lighter/ torch/ pocket knife/ snacks .
Take heaps of photos of them and make them pose and feel special, then get them to take photos of you ( it makes them feel like they have a job and purpose) .
The photos serve a second purpose because after the hunt you can relive the adventure and they can show family and friends, positive feedback from others about what they did goes a long way to them wanting to do it again.
Animals or target species :thumbsup: every kid likes it when Dad or Mum shoots a animal. No pressure
Yeah i feel it already:DQuote:
Originally Posted by bigbear
I never target the under 10s, it's just to young imho. But then I guess the meat is pretty tender.
Get your kid a pocket size book of native trees, I did this for my boys and they love looking for and identifying trees and bushes. You can also get pocket sized books of native birds.
Oh and don't underestimate binos. I need to get my kids a pair as I don't get to use them when taking the boys. They both have 10x25 but naturally they grab my 10×42 as they can se more.
Bananas are good to have for kids to chow down.
Ear protection?
Be lucky to let off a round but yip good call, fingers will do if we get lucky ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Shamus_
Bino's is definitely up there. And never doubt them when they tell you they see one! When I take kids I make sure they have a small backpack with snacks, a torch or headlamp, a warm jacket and hat and gloves.........in fact I never take anyone that wont/cant carry the basics on their back. And as Dad, a sleeping bag cover or bivy bag as well as all the other essentials.
Also from experience with my kids .
They don’t like to sit still for extended periods of time , so watching a clearing for 3 hours is a real task .
I learned the hard way of trying to get my son to sit quietly and still for hours Duck shooting .
Personally I found Spotlighting rabbits where the action is frequent and you are moving alot was my kids favourite.
warm clothes, plenty of snacks and dont make her walk too far. Maybe take a cooker and cook up some noodles at lunch.
have fun.
if you going to take a cooker......hide a bag of marshmellows in bottom of your pack,,,stop alongthe way and pick/cut a couple or four toasting stakes and give them to little miss for safe keeping without telling her what they are for...then after your noodles n hot milo...toasted marshmellows!!!!! you will be superDad for months.
All good replies. I'd wager, your girl will be way ahead of boys of the same age.
I would suggest a spot with a bit of variety. obviously the excitement of seeing an animal is going to be a big driver of her coming again but if the trees look the same i doubt it will be stimulating
All above, plus Glassing mat, spare gloves, bag of cranberry & nut mix plus a bag of 'special' lollies like mini chocolate nut bars that daughter never normally gets- special 'hunting lollies'. Dog - if you have a dog, take dog. Rifle bolt ammo and knife.
Bolt, shit, nearly forgot :D
And we want to see the pic's and report soon after you get home. Its great to see parenting done right.
How did you get on? What went well and not so well?
The hunt with my 6yo was more like a mobile snack fest. The attention span just isnt there yet. So I just let her call the shots with a little bit of advise like ‘ shall we have a look over that ridge’. We did a couple of hours before she decided she wanted to go.Quote:
Originally Posted by Grantn
Went for a walk with my 9 yo a couple of weeks back in the same place and she was unreal. She is dead set its her turn on the trigger next time.
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Looks semi civilised walking country, ideal.
Took me a few secs to spot the bambi down.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gibo
Good work. 6 year olds and 9 year olds can be worlds apart.
Yep i did this with my kids when i first took them up the hills. We were walking along in the middle of the bush and i said to my daughter (about 5 then) how would you like a hot choc/fluffy, she looked at me oddly, then said yeah sure dad i'd love one, but how?Quote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck
So we stopped, I pulled my gas stove from my bag, and proceeded to boil up some water and make her a hot choc, even had choc sprinkles and mashmallows. She was blown away, and absolutely loved it.
I also take a piece of closed cell foam mat cut to fit down inside the back of my pack, i use it for sitting on when sitting glassing etc, so i gave her that to sit down on. Sometimes it's just the little things that make it all that much more enjoyable for them and make them feel special.
Attention spam is pretty short at that age, so need lots of other things to break it up and distract them from the boredom ;-). Lots of stops for snacks and water and take the time to stop and look at things along the way that normally we would simply walk past as we have seen them a million times, but its all new to them.
Ie funny fungus growing on trees, any odd weird little thing that catches their interest, take the time to stop and talk about it (if they want to)
We had some funny experiences with my kids, and i managed to get plenty of pics and some video footage of some of it, and its so precious looking back at it now.
Enjoy.
Yeah its lots of fun regardless. Izzy spent a fair bit of time considering the saplings for suitability come Christmas time :DQuote:
Originally Posted by GWH
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