Taking my 2 year old
Turkey
My two year old daughter loves going outside with me. This past fall, we went "deer hunting" together a few times, which was really just me and her walking around the woods. She still talks about it all the time and now wants to go turkey hunting with me. I got her a small bow for Christmas and she likes to shoot it at pretend to hunt. We have watched some hunting shows together and she knows that the hunter shoots the animal with their bow, but I don't know how sensitive she would be to actually seeing the death of a real animal. I am taking her out turkey hunting on Saturday morning and I haven't decided if I should actually shoot a turkey if one were to come close enough for a shot. I'm sure she would have a great time even if we just sat there and watched. What do you all think? Is she too young to see me harvest an animal?
Here is a picture of our daughter catching her first fish yesterday. She was excited!
I've wondered the same thing, my daughters are 4 and 15 months. We're always very up front about where meat comes from and Emily (4 yo) likes to help me cut up and package elk steaks. She's been fishing numerous times and she would like to go hunting (she chases me around the house "hunting" while I bugle like an elk). I just haven't had an opportunity for a day hunt close to home recently, and taking her for a whole weekend might be too much at first.
Personally, I don't think it's ever too young to get them accustomed to the reality of hunting but I'd be curious to hear what others say. Of course if it were up to my wife I'd have to wait about ten more years to take them with. :)
Her sensitivity toward the death of animal would be a learned trait and I would suspect she simply knows what dad does makes him happy. Children of hunters typically realize quickly that death is part of life. Don't sweat it and if she wants to go spend time with dad and you have tags.....hammer away.
Take her out there and shoot a turkey. The pretty feathers she can take off of him and the excitement of it will be all that she remembers. Enjoy the time with your daughter in the woods! I'm going to have mine out there with me this weekend as well!
NEVER too you! I have a couple of boys and a young girl and don't think it is ever too early! -Have had my boys along for deer bow kills, rifle deer kills, and turkey bow kills and they understand it. -I have never intended or tried to make them callus to death either as I want them to respect the animal that is taken. We have definitely had some great memories together in those first few hunting years!
The main thing when taking the little ones out is that you don't lose track of the mission of the hunt, which is too ensure that they have fun. In doing this, try to keep them comfy, keep it light hearted, answer as many goofy questions as you can, and don't be afraid to bring some candy!
Good luck and don't forget the camera!
My boys Were both very young when They witnessed their first kill My oldest was 2 the first time he viewed an animal being shot. It was a doe mule deer that My mother took the morning before his 2nd birthday party. My youngest has been a part of every close to home big game hunt i have been on since he was born, he watched My mother and i each take a pronghorn doe one morning when he was 10 months. Both boys have since been along on about 30 kills between My parents and My wife and i. im thinking that you will be Fine to take a turkey in the presence of your young daughter.
I agree with bowfreak, if she doesn't have a problem catching fish and eating them than she most likely will have the same feelings about the turkey as she does the fish.
My daughter and son were both shooting bows by 3, and fishing before that. My daughter watched me kill a turkey when she was 9 (she's now 13), and both daughter and son watched me kill a turkey 4/12/14 (should have been my girls, but didn't work out that way), they are bth still trying to kill their first turkeys this year, heres hope'n.
So take her out and don't worry, just watch the other hunters out there.
Ditto Bowfreak, 100 percent.
Being old enough to watch a kill, and being old enough to understand when they first kill are two different things.
Do it with respect to the animal, and keep it fun for your daughter.
You have my envy for the years of enjoyment you have to come.
Please share more photos of a great child.
Take her out with you. I think you will have a great time together, even if she has a hard time sitting still. There is something about working a gobbler and seeing a kid respond as the Toms call back. It is something that you will never forget. Have fun, but don't be discouraged if you don't get something. Just have fun. Jay
Have fun and remember one thing!
If she says she is done and wants to go home.............be DONE, get up and GO!
One of my grandsons had to sit an additional hour in the blind (after he said he wanted to go)while he was watching my son.
Now this grandson wants NOTHING to do with hunting. And my son realizes his mistake, Hopefully, time will change his mind.
Go for it, she will have a blast.
Lots of good advice here. Something I learned early on taking our kids in the woods is making it all about them and less about the quality of your hunt. Spend extra time explaining things, answer all of their questions, let them bring plenty of snacks and things to amuse themselves. Point out all of the interesting things that are happening in the woods and make them all exciting. Quit when they're ready to quit and always do something special with them on the way home. Maybe it's stopping for ice cream or whatever your family likes to do. Make it something they'll remember for all the right reasons and none of the wrong ones. Also take the time to let them know how happy it makes you that they came along and how proud of them you are for sitting in the blind, even if they don't make it long.
Thanks for the input everyone! I'll let you know how it goes.
I think you have gotten good advice here. I am going to relay my first experience with a hunt (as told to me numerous times as I don’t have any memory)
I was 2.5 years old and my dad shot one of his best bucks one late October morning. He gave the buck some time and came back to get me to help track the deer. My mom wasn’t home and my older sister was watching me. We went out tracking and found the buck. My dad proceeded to gut it, and I (obviously not understanding what was going on) thought this was the most hysterical thing in the world, laughing uncontrollably for a couple of minutes. My dad was a little concerned about my reaction and did his best to explain things; by most accounts I turned out an okay human being. Now to the best part of the story. We load the buck in the truck and drive home. My mom is now in the kitchen, I burst through door and yell to her “Dad just shot a big f***ing buck”. Needless to say my mom had a discussion with my dad…
My point with this story is that I surely wouldn’t want to take away memories like this from your daughter/family. Even if my behavior in this example wasn’t exactly what you would hope for.
X2 on all the words of wisdom here. Make it fun when they're young and short trips to match their short attention span. Don't let common culture fool you either. Hunting and killing is a natural instinct and way of life and the earlier you expose them to it, the smaller the chance of them being hardened to that by out culture and media.
This is a picture of my dad and my son last fall. I have three little ones. Last fall my 2 year old son came out duck hunting with me a couple of times. He had a blast. We spent time walking a small creek and jump shooting ducks. The second time I went out and took my son and my 4 year old daughter. They really enjoyed seeing the ducks. On the walk back to the car after I had missed a couple of shots my daughter said "daddy, I really wish we could eat a duck for lunch". Made my day! I have always talked to them about how wonderful it is that God gave us some animals to eat and others to enjoy their beauty. I think they are beginning to understand this, and I am often asked at the dinner table "Daddy, did you get this one?" when we are eating some type of meat. Enjoy your time in the field with you kids!
I have taken our daughter turkey hunting since she was 11-months old (now 9). I have yet to kill one with her in tow, but man have we had fun.
Tons of snacks, picnic blanket, etc.
Goal is to enjoy the outdoors, whether tracks, droppings, feathers, or hearing or seeing animals.
Our daughter loves camping and everything outdoors.
I finally killed something with her a couple of years ago - feral hog in TX. It took off into the brush thrashing and made a squeal. Daughter proclaimed "I know he's dead just right over there because it sounded JUST like a witch dying!"
She killed her first game animal last fall (pronghorn with rifle) and was with me when I killed a javelin with bow last Feb.
She is well aware that the yummy delicious meat on the table is from what I kill and doesn't understand why so many people have to get meat at McDonalds LOL.
The earlier & more often you get your kids in the woods the better.
Make sure they have warm gear and as stated above, when they are ready to quit so be it.
The number of times I have had to turn back to the truck after trying to reach a remote waterhole or saddle to check for tracks and falling just 1/4 or 1/2 mile short is mind boggling.
But every time I ask our daughter if she wants to come scouting, she's eager to go, thanks to making her outdoor excursions fun & comfortable.
Daughter drew a couple of tags this year so will be gain even more hunting experience.
Savor it!
Carl
Shot this one with my 4 year old this morning. 25 yds. Awesome experience!
Congrats Bowman!
We had a good time this morning! As it started getting light, there were quite a few birds gobbling not that far away. My daughter thought it was hilarious that they were gobbing so much. She really thought it was pretty cool. We saw some birds about 100 yards to our left and right, but we couldn't get anything to commit. We hung out and had a few snacks in the blind. Finally, I saw three jakes coming from behind the blind and heading to our decoys. I told our daughter that some turkeys were coming and that we needed to be really quiet and not to move. Of course, as soon as they walked within view (about 15 yards away), she yelled, "there are some turkeys!". :) Oh well, it was pretty cool to see. She did really good, especially for a 2 year old. We'll have to try it again.
Great story Reflex! I'm glad you guys had a good time out there! I have a simialr story from when my boy was 4 years old and I took him out deer hunting for the first time. We were in a ground blind and a buck came cruising down the trail that would bring him very close to our blind. I told my boy "There's a buck coming down the trail, can you see him?" Him being short he had a hard time seeing out the window so he stood up and poked his head out the window. The buck was maybe 5-6 yards away is all and they each spotted each other at the same time. My boy lets out a little squeal and jumps into my lap. The buck of course turns himself inside out at the same time and runs off. I asked my boy why he squealed, he replies "He was HUGE and he looked right at me! I could see he was going to attack!" We both had a good laugh and made a memory we'll always have together. Glad you got to do the same with your daughter!
