5 yr. old!

[Jason Lyman]

My wife and I are avid Turkey and Deer hunters and truly enjoy taking our youngest son with us. I have read many articles concerning youngsters and which game to start their hunting careers on. I have read that taking them to the woods for deer and turkey may turn them off because you do not always harvest a kill.....whereas if you start them on squirrel or rabbits....the odds of success are better therefor they will enjoy it more. I have taught all 3 of my sons that winning isn't everything.....any reccomendations or advice on this matter?

[Hunting Man]

I say whatever you do, with regards to hunting and the outdoors, as a family is the right thing. Involving kids and teaching them the proper ways of hunting/fishing/camping is a great part of being parents. Do what you feel is right for you and your family and things will work out for the betterment of everyone. Good luck and you're on the right path as far as I'm concerned.

[tator]

One thing you have to understand about kids is that they love doing what mommy and daddy do. They love to immitate. They'll get excited about hunting just because you take them out, but what I do (with my nephews b/c my son is only 2!) is explain to them that we're not always going to see deer. But I teach them how to find trails and how to find scrapes and rubs. They are amazed by this! They get so excited looking through my binoculars at a deer 400 yds away! I've never harvested a deer w/them by my side (for various reasons) but they still love it.
I would say that squirrel hunting would also be a good entrance into a world of hunting. In my case, my nephews love being with thier uncle and I with them. I make sure that when I take them I'm not planning on staying much longer than 2 hours in the field... because longer than that, it does get boring for them.

[on_the_fly]

not meaning to make anyone mad this is my opnion on young kids, and my opnion is 5 is too young to be in the woods with

a gun and most of the people i know that take kids that small are only using their kids to hunt in youth only seasons. now

for the right age i think if you can take a young kid to a rang or were ever you normaly shoot for sighting in your scope

and just target prictice and they can shoot 3 to 4 shot grouping shots then they are able to hunt. then it all comes down

to patince and kids have little to none when it comes to hunting and if your truely looking for the kids first harvest scout

the area well and find place's were two hours is tops to sit to start for deer that seems to be around the magic # for kids

and if they see something in that time frame you can add one hour from that point because of the added excitement in the

child. and as far as squrrail or rabbit hunting for a 5 year old ,i would never i dont think any one that young can swing a 22

or a 410 up into a tree for fast safe shooting or much less sling one up on a fast running rabbit with a 410 or a 20 gauge

witch is pushing the too heavy side for them to hold up right to begain with.

now all that comes from my trail and error with my own son and testing him each year on his abilities because i for one

wouldnt want to see my son hurt or shoot me just so i could have bragging rights at deer camp caz my little kid harvested

his first. my son is 12 now and this is his fisrt years at turkey and deer and he has harvested two turkeys its fall and is

lookinf for a first deer. and he is still only good for about two hours. and he did agravate me about squrrial hunting for a

long long time and well its not my top meat to eat and i knew he wouldnt like it and i full belive you should only kill if you

are going to eat it. well i shot a squrrail with my bow brought it home cleaned and cooked and was dinner that night, to my

supprise my son did like it OK he said but not enough that he wanted to hunt them his self any more though.

biggest thing I've learned most of all myself is never push them to do any of it, it will only make them be less and less

patcince, and ultamately hate hunting all together

[Hunting Man]

I never make harvesting a necessary/primary part of hunting in fact it would be near the last part and final education on hunting. However, if you ever see your kids enjoying looking for sheds, finding rubs, tracks, leaves, birds, chipmunks ect ect you will know how magical it is and I wouldn't trade those moments for anything. I didn't mean in my above post to thrust a gun or force a kill on a young child, but to simply allow them/you to experience it all through their eyes it's simply some of the best moments in a parents life and worth the effort. Safety is #1 in child education and must be strictly enforced at all times other than that just watch their actions/reactions to whats happening and you'll know if they are ok with everything.

[delbert]

Just walking in the woods and shooting at a tree is fun for a young kid
take him out and have fun