How young is to young

[cormanaz]

Just a quick question: My son is 9 and wants to go hunting with me. I read the Regs but what I really want to know is, you all's opinion on this subject. I took him bow hunting 2 years ago for deer and it lasted all of 4 hours till he got bored. Wasn't able to hunt at all last year due to various reason, but as of the other day, my CC got hit for an elk tag. I would greatly appreceate you opinions.

Thx.

 

[huntazido]

Make the hunt fun for them. Hunting or should I say killing is only a very small part of the actual hunt. I have 4 kids, Two girls and two boys 21-15 years of age. I let them drive the truck or the ranger on back roads, take pellet guns and sling shots for around camp, let them choose the menu. In short, what I'm trying to say is that I tried to make it more about them and not hunting.

They don't have the passion I do for hunting but they still like to go. To be honest, their favorite thing to hunt is spring turkey. The weather is great, lots of interaction with birds and you can hunt or not hunt at all different times of the day.

Not an easy question to answer as everyone is different. The most important part is just to get them out. Good Luck

 

[cmbbulldog]

9 is plenty old to take with you. He will love it. Especially if its a rut hunt and he gets introduced to bugling elk.

 

[buckhorn]

cormanaz
If your harvest success on this hunt is important to you I say to young.
An outing that was more about him would be better.
My dad started taking me at that age and I was more of a problem for him than anything. Little kids are slow and noisy.I enjoyed it much more at age 12.
I started my kids out on ground squirrels at 8 or 9. Then deer at 12 when they could get a jr. tag. It was their hunt and we went at their pace. We all had a good time and made some lifelong memories.
Just my opinion

Buckhorn

 

[abqbw]

I dragged 4 kids around the west hunting starting younger than that. I found that as long as you keep them warm (or cool) and well fed they have fun. Good shoes too. I always went the extra mile to make sure the had good gear and think it made a difference.

In my case they sure had a lot more fun when they killed something, even when they were very young. I think 10 yrs old was the youngest I ever had them shoot big game.

 

[goforbroke]

I do an antelope hunt with my kids starting at age 4. We have a blast and go for 3 days. Tried an elk hunt last year and it was horrible. too much hiking, early mornings, late evenings. I wasn't successful and didn't enjoy it much. 12 is the earliest I'd take em now if you are wanting to harvest an elk.

 

[mano_a_mano]

I started taking my kids at 5yrs old including my special needs kids (now that's work). Before that took my God-children from about age 10.
A lot depends on the hunt and your preparation. If you know where you are going and how to hunt it. The kid is not a problem.

I took one son to Wy for antelope and deer at 10 too young for his own tag. 10dys of the best father son trip ever . We hiked 5mi a day with no issues but wearing good gear. For him, he gets cold easily like my wife and mother but we dressed him knowing that.

Went back following year with him and other son with autism. Region C and closer to 20mi a day. At 11 and 13, they could handle much more and were great help getting animals out.

Funny thing with the kids, it's all about the food.

My youngest, 11, and I just did 5 dys of deer last fall. He was my utv chauffeur. We played card games and listened to cool music every night while eating cookies. We popped into town for soda and ice cream. We hiked around 3mi a day in rough country. Most of my pics are of him napping at the top of the mountains when we stopped to glass.

You may never have another chance to do this with your son and he just might return the favor when your old. As much as some of us hate to admit it, money can always buy you a tag so it really isn't your last chance at an elk hunt. Pretty soon it will be him with the tag and you will want to be with him for that event just like he wants to be with you.

I always try to get help (Mom, uncles, friends) so kids could choose to stay in camp or just do evening. I have never been successful at that. Only time it was a problem was trying to deer hunt with 4 kids and 4 rifles. I did not have enough hands and the teenager started acting like one. Now I split up their hunts so no teenager can ruin any hunt but their own.