Thread: Night hunting and kids

Heading out tonight for a hunt. We have taken our 4yo out with us numerous times during the day for rabbit, possum hunts and to have a stalk for deer.
Our babysitter fell through and I thought maybe we should take him. He’s pretty good and a real outdoor child. He loves being outside and adventuring. I’m just not sure if it’s a good idea seeing as we are going overnight. We will be camping and only have a small area of ground we plan on watching and covering.
Would it be ok to take a 4yo out for a hunt at night?
I think I’m more worried about other hunters mistaking us for something and him getting hurt more than anything.

i would not risk it if its not a private block, but if you do just hi viz to the max, wont bother the deer.

Get stuck in. I have been taking my boy's Bush since they were 1 and they are 7 and 8 now. Pays not to think like that or it will stop you in years to come. Put your son in bright clothes if you want. Take plenty of warm clothes as kids cool faster and harder for them to heat themselves up. Your son will love it. Not sure the deer will it can be a challenge with kids but worth every minute.

It’s public land, my only real fear is other hunters other than that I have no worries. We could get some high vis gear and he has a cap with little inbuilt torch lights too. Not too bright just enough to see his face or so he could read a book.

I hunt public land and I don't worry about other hunters. Its in the back of the mind but not enough to stop me taking my boy's.

You’ll be fine, at night he’s only going to be around camp anyway. It’s illegal to hunt during the hours of darkness on public land so neither you nor other hunters should be out shooting at night. It would be wise to be well away from roads etc out of view of spotlighters (also illegal but fairly common).

Thanks everyone, ended up taking him out and he was good. A bit moody and couldn’t keep quiet at times. Had a small look around in the afternoon and morning but no luck. About 1am had a few sika hinds come up to the tent and give us a fright before they bolted and a stag walked right by about 5am but it was far too dark to get to him. Can’t wait to head back again in a couple weeks

@Chelsea good on you for taking the young fella out! Yes it's hard to keep them quiet at that age especially when they get excited.

Try to avoid him getting cold bored or hungry. This will probably compromise your hunting but never mind...main thing is you're out there in the bush with your family.

Sounds like plenty of animals around your spot! Good hunting.