Hunting for the first time

[fabsroman]

I think you have the main thing covered, a friend taking you guys out for the junior hunt. Always best to learn how to hunt/fish or whatever, from somebody that has already done it. Main reason I have not gone out in the marsh yet is because I have very little experience doing it. Second reason is I have very little time nowadays.

For me, I learned how to hunt doves and upland game when I was very young. My dad taught me. Then, I learned how to deer hunt from a friend of my dad's. Pretty much, "Here, get up in that stand and wait for a deer to show up." First deer showed up in 15 minutes and I killed it.

End of the day, your friend will probably have everything that is needed for gutting the deer and getting it out of the field/woods. You should make sure you have some snacks, drinks, ammo for the gun, and if you really want to be prepared, a knife for gutting the deer and some gloves.

Good luck to you and your son.

 

[miles71]

I would add this too for mosquitos, but I think junior hunt is in November?


Amazon product ASIN B07JCQ8GQJ

Yes November

 

[miles71]

This, keep expectations low. As both of you are learning to hunt together.

The key: have fun, even if it means buying hamburger at the store and calling it deer burger to the girls left at home. Just remember to remove the price.

If you do manage to harvest something, that is a bonus.

We are def learning together and it’s already fun to do this with my son. I’m a proud dad.

TD

 

[miles71]

Take your hunters safety courses seriously.
A six year old girl was shot in the face with a SG the other day when her 14 YO brother who passed a Hunters Safety course at 8, pulled the trigger on her at relatively close range in a fit of excitement dove hunting.
One young child in Hopkins and a brother who nearly mortally wounded a sibling is not what its all about.
The rest will come naturally with dedication, commitment and respect for the sport.

Wow horrible instances. My son has been to the range with me since he was 8 or so, he’s 13 now, always been taught to respect firearms and control himself. He’s a good shot with a pistol, and pretty good with a rifle.

I’ll always pay attention stories like yours, it reinforces and reminds.

TD

 

[Doco Overboard]

Wow horrible instances. My son has been to the range with me since he was 8 or so, he’s 13 now, always been taught to respect firearms and control himself. He’s a good shot with a pistol, and pretty good with a rifle.

I’ll always pay attention stories like yours, it reinforces and reminds.

TD

Yes you have to watch them. My boys and girls are grown men and women and I still teach them as they teach me what I need to be wary about while in the field.
And then we talk about what we learn based on actual experience not folk lore.
You mentioned two important skill-sets as far as I'm concerned.
Respect and control.
Heres a teachable moment for example. Proud dad and son with first goose on our home farm just the other morning. Youngest lad had them over called a bunch and had them pitch right in for the youngster. He's very nearly regarded an expert at waterfowl calling and hunting. He's also carried a rifle and pistol on more continents than I ever will and should know better.
Somethings wrong in each photo. So we'll talk about it next time we meet and do better because we can, thats all.
Good luck hunting this year. Teach your kids to hunt and fish. Learn and grow together as a team. You wont ever have to hunt for them is what I say.

 

[Archeryrob]

To be honest the last time I was involved in hunters safety for my kids I was serious about it and made the kids be serious about it. I was shocked how much was allowed to go through and if you were breathing you passed.

There were dads being readers for the kids to take their test and I heard some of them tell the kids what to check off. IMO, if a kid is too young to read, he/she is too young to completely understand everything going on and grasp all they need to know. I doubt they are really learning anything. Some kids might be ready at 8 to 10 or 12 depending, but I saw kindergarteners taking the test and I know they couldn't comprehend what they were being taught.

I also saw kids go through the shooting scenario and pick to shoot over a hill, where a guy is down range and shoot every time. Someone that clearly should have failed and they said, just work with him at home and passed them. It made me seriously doubt the entire processes usefulness. Honestly, from what I saw, I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often.

I took my kids out and shot a watermelon or cantalope with a shotgun. After it exploded, I told them, that could be me, your brother, sister, friend or dog. If you don't be careful with a gun you could be forever sorry about it. It drove the point home about how dangerous guns are.

Miles, You sound like you have him trained up well and I wish you both success.

 

[[Kev308]]

To be honest the last time I was involved in hunters safety for my kids I was serious about it and made the kids be serious about it. I was shocked how much was allowed to go through and if you were breathing you passed.

There were dads being readers for the kids to take their test and I heard some of them tell the kids what to check off. IMO, if a kid is too young to read, he/she is too young to completely understand everything going on and grasp all they need to know. I doubt they are really learning anything. Some kids might be ready at 8 to 10 or 12 depending, but I saw kindergarteners taking the test and I know they couldn't comprehend what they were being taught.

I also saw kids go through the shooting scenario and pick to shoot over a hill, where a guy is down range and shoot every time. Someone that clearly should have failed and they said, just work with him at home and passed them. It made me seriously doubt the entire processes usefulness. Honestly, from what I saw, I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often.

I took my kids out and shot a watermelon or cantalope with a shotgun. After it exploded, I told them, that could be me, your brother, sister, friend or dog. If you don't be careful with a gun you could be forever sorry about it. It drove the point home about how dangerous guns are.

Miles, You sound like you have him trained up well and I wish you both success.

My son and I just took hunters safety and we were immediately separated at the beginning of the class. I was worried how he would do.

I finished the final test in about 10 minutes and looked at his test sheet and compared. Looked like he was doing well and he passed.

 

[thedutchtouch]

I taught myself to deer hunt (with a bow) over the last few years. I'll be learning with a gun this year too.

Like everyone said take the safety stuff seriously, particularly being sure of your target etc/trigger safety so you don't hurt each other. Also assume that EVERYONE else out on public is a completely unsafe idiot. Because while many of us hunters are responsible people, many of them are at worst unsafe idiots or at best are well intentioned but make mistakes, so keep your orange on etc- do everything you can to make sure some other trigger happy hunter doesn't shoot ya. Take a day off work/school and go out during the week-gets you away from the ",orange army" to an extent.


And have fun! I wish I learned as a kid, it's been fun teaching myself as an adult, and I'm definitely not an expert, you learn every time you go out.

Gear you might not think of:
A lifestraw was a good pack addition one time I ran out of water after a long hike in and still had a few miles to get back to the truck, and is much lighter than another water bottle, assuming there's a river/stream somewhere nearby.


Other unsolicited advice- don't hesitate to shoot a doe. Don't hold out for a buck and let does walk, you learn just as much from shooting a doe (gutting, dragging it out etc) and they taste great.

 

[frdfandc]

My Dad took me to get mine at 12 yo. Great father/son moment. Funny thing was that I knew more about hunting safety then many of the attendees. This came directly from the instructor.

 

[Biggfoot44]

The wilderness survival/ comfort stuff is open ended , and situational. If you are with easy walking distances of vehicle/ farmhouse/ cabin , it's different than if you are several miles away up the mountain / deep in the woods/ etc .

 

[fabsroman]

My opinion on the hunter safety course is that it is just another barrier to entry for hunters. My daughter's soccer coach wants me to take him dove hunting, but I am guessing he will change his mind when I tell him that he needs to spend a weekend taking a hunter safety course. Might just have to go the apprentice license route to introduce him to hunting. However, I told him that we will have to go clays shooting a couple times so he can become familiar with handling a gun and shooting.

Almost every single person out in the woods, marsh, etc., hunting legally (note I said "almost" because I recognize the 1977 exemption) has taken the hunter safety course, yet I have seen some pretty terrible behavior from some hunters. How much can really be taught to people over a weekend's time, where one day is spent on learning what is in the book and the other day is spent on field scenarios.

My son took the course back in 2017 when he was 8 years old. The hardest part of the course for him was squeezing off a round from the 20 gauge semi-auto that the course required. Long story short, he was deathly scared of the recoil because the year before he crushed his cheek while pulling the trigger on my 12 gauge SBE with me holding it. With his eyes watering up, he stepped up to that 20 gauge Remington 1100 as the instructor held it out, and with the instructor's encouragement he pulled the trigger.

My son put in a lot more effort than most adults there, but I was also helping him with it. He took notes during the class and then we created a study guide later that night so he could study before bed and so he could review it and the booklet during the 2+ hour drive to the course the next day. He passed the field test without a problem and he got a perfect on the exam while I got one question wrong on the exam. My hat is off to the two members at that club that helped him through it, especially the live round. He still mentions "Keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction" as one of the instructors said that would account for at least 4 questions on the exam.

He has been hunting with me ever since and while I think the hunter safety course was good, I think the time I have spent with him reviewing everything in the booklet and, more importantly, the time I have spent with him in the field has been key.

Now, my daughter is 10, about to turn 11, and she suffers from anxiety when she is in unfamiliar surroundings. I made the mistake of taking her to a different hunter safety course last year, and I could see the anxiety building on her face during the first 10 minutes where the instructor was going on about how great he and his sons are and how children will be separated from parents in different rooms for the testing portion. During the 10 minutes we were there before we up and left, one of the adults asked stupid question after stupid question, one of which was whether he would be able to fire a round for the field test if he is prohibited from possessing a firearm. The "brilliant all knowing fabulous" instructor did not have an answer for the guy.

My daughter can finally shoot the 28 gauge without an issue, so if we can ever get out to hunt this year I am going to get her an apprentice license and she will take the in class hunter safety course next year. Otherwise, she will get the apprentice license next year and then take the online test when she turns 13.

Attaching my son's notes and study guide from 2017.

OP - I hope you and your son have the same experience I have had over the years with my dad, my son, and my daughter. My 5 year old daughter is chomping at the bit to go hunting again just so she can hang out with all of us. She keeps asking me when she will be able to have her own gun.

Take lots of pictures.

 

[Pale Ryder]

Make sure you bring ammo and the correct ones. Remember an early morning opening day at a nearby gas/convenience store some guy was asking for some 30-30 because he left home without it.

 

[crabjoe]

You're one step ahead of me. I've never shot anything but rabbits and doves as a kid, then lost interest. I've got a soon to be 13yo that I took over to a friend's for some plinking. I wanted to make sure he had some familiarity with guns. Well, after my buddy let him shoot his 22LR, he's interested in shooting. I did let him shoot my 12ga, and that scared the crap out of him... I ended up buying him his own 22. And after talking with him, he now wants to try hunting. I've gotta get us both into a hunter safety course, but it's tough because I only have him every other weekend during the school year and his mother is against him handling guns.

Let us know how things go, and I'll be watching to get advice on your journey with your son.

 

[miles71]

Today was the day! My son and I went out bright and friggin early this morning for the junior hunting weekend, saw NOTHING until about 2:30pm and then suddenly, a doe passes into view. My son shoulders the 350 legend Ruger bolt action, takes aim, and BLAM!!!! Perfect shot, blew the heart to pieces and doe ran about 25 yards and dropped.

It's skinned and cleaned and in a walk in freezer to be processed. So proud of my son, he did an amazing job. Something we will remember forever. I can't think our friend enough who took us out and helped guide us.

TD

 

[Cool_Moo5e]

Awesome job

 

[SkiPatrolDude]

Invest in a good hunting knife and a “butt out”. That’s all I have to say.

 

[Slackdaddy]

Today was the day! My son and I went out bright and friggin early this morning for the junior hunting weekend, saw NOTHING until about 2:30pm and then suddenly, a doe passes into view. My son shoulders the 350 legend Ruger bolt action, takes aim, and BLAM!!!! Perfect shot, blew the heart to pieces and doe ran about 25 yards and dropped.

It's skinned and cleaned and in a walk in freezer to be processed. So proud of my son, he did an amazing job. Something we will remember forever. I can't think our friend enough who took us out and helped guide us.

TD

PICTURES !!!!

 

[Mark75H]

Awesome!

 

[outrider58]

Today was the day! My son and I went out bright and friggin early this morning for the junior hunting weekend, saw NOTHING until about 2:30pm and then suddenly, a doe passes into view. My son shoulders the 350 legend Ruger bolt action, takes aim, and BLAM!!!! Perfect shot, blew the heart to pieces and doe ran about 25 yards and dropped.

It's skinned and cleaned and in a walk in freezer to be processed. So proud of my son, he did an amazing job. Something we will remember forever. I can't think our friend enough who took us out and helped guide us.

TD

Congrats to you and your son.

 

[wilcam47]

Today was the day! My son and I went out bright and friggin early this morning for the junior hunting weekend, saw NOTHING until about 2:30pm and then suddenly, a doe passes into view. My son shoulders the 350 legend Ruger bolt action, takes aim, and BLAM!!!! Perfect shot, blew the heart to pieces and doe ran about 25 yards and dropped.

It's skinned and cleaned and in a walk in freezer to be processed. So proud of my son, he did an amazing job. Something we will remember forever. I can't think our friend enough who took us out and helped guide us.

TD

awesome!! congrats!