Youth Hunt with niece and nephews

[cactusjack]

I had the opportunity to go help my niece and 2 nephews hunt last weekend.  My 22 year old son went along also.  We had a blast.  Glassing, hiking, roasting in the sun, camping out, laughing and we even got lucky enough to pack out some deer.  

A couple of take aways. 

Practice, practice, practice shooting, suppressed if possible. 

Dont wait until the day before you are leaving to see if the clothes you bought them last year still fit, they probably wont. 

Kids need gaiters, socks full of stickers make hiking and sitting and glassing unbearable

Carry extra headlamps, kids lose them.  

Carry extra batteries, some adults forget to check those too.

Carry sunscreen and extra lip balm, kids lose their hats and moms get upset when they see pics of red faced kids.

Carry extra water, kids and adults sometimes forget to check their packs prior to leaving camp.

Treking poles save knees, more for old guys than kids.

A lightweight tarp makes glassing nicer, another use for those treking poles

So does a can of bug repellent.

Tripods and binos for all, kids involved in finding their deer feel like they are part of the hunt. 

Buy all the snacks and soda their mom's do not let them have at home.  

Pack more ice and ice chests than you think you might need.   

Relax and let them have fun and send pictures of them having fun to their moms.

Now some pics......

 

I have handed down my kids old hunting clothes to them.  It makes me happy to see them wearing them and takes me back to the days my kids went with me on youth hunts.  Really the best of times.

[rossislider]

Nice! Congrats!!! 

From hunting with my kids, I may have learned more about patience than from any other single activity I have even done.

[cactusjack]

"Hold still" "Quit banging sticks/rocks together" ect  

[rossislider]

4 minutes ago, cactusjack said:

"Hold still" "Quit banging sticks/rocks together" ect  

• Stop chewing your candy so loud. 
• Stop crinkling wrappers.
• Quit kicking every stick, rock, etc on the mountain.
• It is right there in the middle of the scope, what do you mean you can't see it?!?!
• You just peed 5 minutes ago!

Looking back I can laugh, not quite so funny in the moment. My youngest son (just turned 10) is going to have it easy now that big brother and sister have broken me in and taught me to just go with it.

[cactusjack]

I'm in the same boat.  My oldest 4 are done with the youth hunts (youngest being 17 and involved in school stuff).  We adopted and I cant wait to take my youngest son hunting.  He is 8.  He will definitely benefit from them tempering me.  I currently take him on hunts where we do not have to sit still or glass for hours.  One of the things I have learned is once they get bored, pack it up and do something else.  That way he will want to go the next time.  My dad loved going to auctions, I went to one when I was 6.  I never wanted to go with him again.  I've applied that to doing things with my kids.  They have a good experience and want to go the next time and the length of their attention span grows.  

[Roosevelt Mark]

That's awesome,  Way to go!

[AzDiamondHeat]

Big congrats to all! Sounds like a great time and a good "learning experience"

 

 

1 hour ago, rossislider said:

• Stop chewing your candy so loud. 
• Stop crinkling wrappers.
• Quit kicking every stick, rock, etc on the mountain.
• You just peed 5 minutes ago! 

 

This sounds more like my BROTHER than his daughter....lol

 

 

 

 

 

[Chef]

Love it!  Congrats on their success!

How many times did they SLAM the truck door?!  LOL

[Will K]

Great Job.

[Big Browns]

Fantastic job, Congrats!!!!

[muledeerarea33?]

56 minutes ago, Chef said:

Love it!  Congrats on their success!

How many times did they SLAM the truck door?!  LOL

That doesn’t stop with age!

[muledeerarea33?]

Good read cactusjack, thanks for posting it. Reminds me of what I did as a kid and what I see adults doing now.

[Delw]

Congrats to the kids

[Flatlander]

The best. Thanks for sharing.

[cactusjack]

Update, we had a 4th tag.  My nephew that recently tore his ACL, and has surgery next week opted out of the hunt until he saw the results of his brother's, sister's and cousin's deer.  It is his last year to hunt as a youth.  Im glad he changed his mind.  I wasn't able to go out with them but they changed tactics and chased mulies.  Success, although his choice of headgear is suspect.

I'm proud of how hard all these kids worked.  I was talking to my oldest son about hunting Coues in Az compared to my hunting Nebraska Whitetail in my Air Force days, and how different the hunts are.  The hardest part in tree stand hunting for me was getting permission,  picking a good spot, and sitting still for hours on end without falling asleep or falling out of the tree. In my opinion you don't hunt Coues as a meat hunter, a desert Coues hunt tests your mettle.  Sure it's delicious and we enjoy it, but the price per pound is ridiculous.   We talked about the quote by JFK about going to the moon, and as cheesy as it sounds I feel it applies.   Switch Moon with Hunt Coues....

“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills.”