Thread: Hunting with ya kid

After shooting a few goats my little girl was needing a rifle more her size rather than one of mine so I'd picked her up a 6.5 grendel. She immediately scoped herself with it and thanks to Vietnamcam on here I was able to grab a stock he'd cut short and set her up in a better position.

The previous weekend we'd taken it out and after spotting a mob of goats she'd manged to get her first billy of any real size. I added a nanny using it for the meat(which it turned out as extremely hard welhen you have a stock made for a little kid)
She was pretty happy and proudly carried her head back to the truck as her first 'real trophy'.

A week goes by and her school decides that as its matariki weekend, instead of learning they'd sings songs and visit each others classes. I made the executive decision that there was more learning to be done from home and asked would she like to fish, hunt, dive or what.

Simple answer... Sight in rifle for practice and have a goat hunt.
So the morning unfolded with some range action. She placed her shots pretty well and after an hour we were at the gates and into the block.

Up the road we picked up a nanny sleeping at the bottom of a slip but I wasn't keen so moved on to some better ground further along. Here we found a small mob with a bulky that was a little better than her last. Sure was keen as mustard however I wasn't so keen on the big crossing of the valley. Of course I was over ruled and some plans were out in place by the young Peter Hathaway Capstick.
She had tunnel vision on those horns lol.
As we made our way down hill the dog started winding below us and to my surprise a better Billy stepped out.
We changed plans again and moved in only to have him move off. Turns out he has a young nanny that him and since others are giving a few hassles to.
The stalk unfolds as her first really exciting long stalk. We get close but can't get shots. We bump other Billys. We have the nanny sit down and refuse all attention. The whole time we sat close and watched it all unfold.
All great learning for a kid(although there were a few uncomfortable questions re why the billys were being so mean).
https://youtu.be/0EbGAw261Es?feature=shared
I let her lead a good sneak on the nanny at one point for
practice and she got really close.
https://youtube.com/shorts/1w91JP0vr...l_NuCzn3rb8z5B
Eventually we followed them out to the cut pines where we continued our watch but still not able. To find the biggest one. Either way it was great for her to see everything and get the nerves sorted. Even theiugh they were seeing the dog, the hormones were convincing them they were safe.
https://youtube.com/shorts/5FdafPnio...vVRmYbdyWZPSUe
Eventually they move to a gully that will provide a shot and I set her up with a good rest. She keeps asking if she can kill the big one white one as he's beating up the nanny and some of the young Billys but we came to this point for the good looking one with the hairdo over his eyes.
Suddenly he appears and after soem good fortune turns side on. I give her fee range to do what she does and she slips the safety off and drills him through the shoulder at 50m. She is very proud of herself and rightfully so. It was 2hrs of stalking.


We snap some pics and I push her like a bastard to get
to the truck so we can get her to hockey practise on the other side of the city.

As a post note to this hunt. We sent the long weekend down taupo way and I was told I had to bring the hunting gear and rifle. On Sunday on the way home we called in at a farm. On the way there we had to do a couple of turn arounds when a fallow was seen on the side of the road.
Our hunt there goes well and we find 3 deer but just cannot position for the shot and eventually it all falls apart. She's disappointed however success is only measured by the difficulty and I'm kind of happy it unfolded that way so that she can continue to enjoy the pursuit.

That's awesome.

Well done, great to get the kids into it. I went through a similar process with my daughters.

Best day out.

well done she looks happy yes the fit is important worse case of scope eye I have seen was a stepson of 10 and my BSA air rifle nearly a complete circle and blood ohh so much blood and howling and all my fault

I try and get my daughters involved as much as possible, one of them is really keen + the other two aren't really into it which is fine.

Really rewarding though, quality time at its best.

Originally Posted by Sika 8

I try and get my daughters involved as much as possible, one of them is really keen + the other two aren't really into it which is fine.

Really rewarding though, quality time at its best.

Yeah. I've always said I'd approach raising a girl the same as with a boy. A bit of pushing in certain directions but generally just making it fun. We always have a donut and her choice of fizzy drink. When we get home we make jerky and eat what we kill.
She's found that it's a great life out on the hill.

That's brilliant Luke! Your girl is doing great. As you know, Alex didn't get the hunting/fishing gene. I wish he had it so we could have those experiences, but it's just not him and I don't want to push it in case it turns him off completely.

Originally Posted by MB

That's brilliant Luke! Your girl is doing great. As you know, Alex didn't get the hunting/fishing gene. I wish he had it so we could have those experiences, but it's just not him and I don't want to push it in case it turns him off completely.

Yeah fair enough. Find something he enjoys and run with that. I find that rock fishing is actually more fun for kids as they can see plenty of fish and rays etc and at in rock pools. If they need to have a dump it's no biggy. And the whole thing feels like a big adventure. I'd done almost no hunting at his age so there's hope yet. Maybe go to a HeliSika block for the full trout fishing/chopper/hunting/hut adventure. We do a family trip after Xmas every year just to get away from screens and the world. It's not about hunting but I usually put a few animals on the ground as I can't help myself.

Originally Posted by Cowboy

Yeah fair enough. Find something he enjoys and run with that. I find that rock fishing is actually more fun for kids as they can see plenty of fish and rays etc and at in rock pools. If they need to have a dump it's no biggy. And the whole thing feels like a big adventure. I'd done almost no hunting at his age so there's hope yet. Maybe go to a HeliSika block for the full trout fishing/chopper/hunting/hut adventure. We do a family trip after Xmas every year just to get away from screens and the world. It's not about hunting but I usually put a few animals on the ground as I can't help myself.

Seeing fish really helps. I coached my friends little girl to catch a bully on a homemade fishing rod the other day. We could see the bullies attacking the bait and Alex got really in to it. This is a kid that caught a 20lb snapper when he was 7 years old and now has very little interest in going out on the boat. We've talked about a HeliSika-type family trip. Definitely something to think about, but his only ambition at the moment is getting a football in to a goal. I hate football!

 I hear that lol. At least it's physical. He's a good kid when Ive seen him at jiujitsu. Quincy has realised hunting isn't so much about the animals as about the adventure. I'm lucky she's come to that conclusion early.
He's lucky to get a fish like that. When Q decides she's over fishing I usually knock it on the head soon after and she drives us round looking at the seals and stuff. Trying to keep the positivity. Some times I think she battles on just to please me tho.

Great write up, well done that young lady, so cool. And big thanks Cowboy for taking the time with the kids and letting them enjoy the outdoors. Gives me hope for the continuance of our passion.

She is doing better than me this week then.

One keen girl you have there, keep up with the hunting she will most likely become a top huntress as she ages and learns the art of hunting. She’s lucky you take the time to teach her, well done.

Fun times ahead,enjoy these young years,before you know it the teenage terrors will arrive.HOPEFULLY you two can keep your bond and go hunting together to ease the way through them. Your doing a great job.