Youth tips

[EastKyGobblerSlayer]

What is the best thing you've found to help your kids enjoy and be successful at our game? My boy is going to be 7 this year. We hunted this weekend and had a good time even though we didn't get into any action. He says he wants to go back with me when my season opens and I want to help him as much as I can to have a positive time. I try to be encouraging, we blow crow calls and just go walking when it's dead, limit the time there if he wants to come out of the woods, take lots of snacks and drinks. I need to set him up a different gun as we've been using mine on a shooting stick with me shouldering and him aiming and operating the trigger. Just looking for good tips from you fellas who have done it before. I know he may not take to it anyway but I'm going to give it my best effort in the hopes he can do the calling and listening for me when I get deaf lol




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[guesswho]

Let him be in on the decision making.  Where to sit, when to call, when to move etc.   His hunt, let him guide you to a good time.    My Dad was always trying to prank me.   When I was seven we had a poop identification day in the woods.    Long story short he had me convinced he ate deer poop (really milk duds).  I don't know how many kids I've gotten to fall for that over the years.   Good luck and enjoy, killing a turkey should be way down the list on what makes a successful hunt.

[EastKyGobblerSlayer]

Let him be in on the decision making.  Where to sit, when to call, when to move etc.   His hunt, let him guide you to a good time.    My Dad was always trying to prank me.   When I was seven we had a poop identification day in the woods.    Long story short he had me convinced he ate deer poop (really milk duds).  I don't know how many kids I've gotten to fall for that over the years.   Good luck and enjoy, killing a turkey should be way down the list on what makes a successful hunt.

Good ideas and I couldn't agree more, I never even got to pull the trigger last year but it was one of my best years in the woods ever. Thanks for the reply


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[Jstocks]

Short trips and don't burn him out.
7 is young and attention span will be limited. Don't force them into blind hunting. There's a reason most of us don't like it....and neither will the kids.

[Zobo]

Short trips and don't burn him out.
7 is young and attention span will be limited. Don't force them into blind hunting. There's a reason most of us don't like it....and neither will the kids.

Agree with this, the management of time is so important. An hours wait is an eternity to a 7 year old, keep things moving along. But really it sounds like you're doing things right.

[Longbeard33]

I started taking my son with me when he was 4, I used the dreaded blind with him. We did the snack and drink thing, he carried a decoy, sat them out and stayed out as long as he wanted. We only did afternoon hunts. At 5 he wanted to go in the morning. Still using a blind following the same script, except the part I loved the most was when we got all set up he would crawl into my lap, I'd hold him and he'd go to sleep. He'd wake up when the birds started gobbling. Did the same at age 6. One of things I have never allowed any kid to take is electronics with them in the woods. I want them to ultimately learn to enjoy being there and what goes on around them, it's a place to get away from that type of thing and let the little things entertain. I usually take 2-4 other kids every year besides my son. He and I spent a lot of time telling stories to one another out there over the years since he was little, that's how we passed the time and it would always go by quickly. Mushroom hunting and shed hunting also took place.  At age 7 he started to hunt as he asked if he could, so I knew he was ready. I took my old Mossberg 500 20 ga and put a collapsible stock with pistol grip and piston recoil reducer on it. That pistol grip gives those kids a better way to control the gun and helps to reduce the recoil too, especially if they have small hands.  Installed a saddle mount and Bushnell Red Dot. Patterned it with 2 3/4" 7 1/2 dove loads and we're ready. The gun is deadly to 30 yards but where we hunt most shots are at 12-15, he did kill a Rio in Kansas with it at 30 yards. A Primos Trigger stick worked well for him. Since his first kill at age seven, he has shot many gobblers, a bow kill at 11 with a shot to the neck at 6 yards and finished his Grand Slam last year at age 14. We have grown to love hunting turkeys together and he is not only my son but has become my best friend and companion. The best you can do is make it comfortable and make it fun.

[toneloc]

On the philosophical side it sounds to me you are already doing all the right things.  The snack thing is great, snacks are key, LOL.   Every kid is different and while I agree keep the trips short and don't push them too hard, I usually push my kids a little bit.  When they ask to leave the first time, I usually convince them to stay a little longer....when they were little and asked to get picked up instead of walking, I'd push them to walk a little further.  Don't over do it, but I do try and built a little perseverance. 

A couple things I've done...
1) Build traditions....we try do certain trips or certain hunts every year.  Stop at a certain place for ice cream, or jerky.....or donuts..... or a diner for lunch after, etc.
2) My son and I have fun taking selfies.  We have a whole collections of selfies we've taken from the woods....just a goofy thing we do together.
3) Involve him in the scouting, in the patterning of the gun, etc.  Make them part of the process and not just pulling the trigger.

On the technical side, get that boy a Rossi Tuffy .410 with a red dot.  Buy some TSS 9.5 loads and you got a 40 yd turkey killer, with a light weight easy to handle gun for a kid.  It has a cross bar safety, I normally don't love hammer guns for safety reasons for youth, but that does help.  My boy started out with a 20 gauge 870 youth on a small tripod I made from wooden dowels and it worked for him starting at 7, but honestly it's just now fitting him proper at 11 nearing 12.  If they had that gun and I knew about TSS at the point that's what I would have done.

It's cliché as everyone says it....but enjoy it cause time will fly by like you have no idea.  That's something I struggle with is just enjoying the moment of where I am in life.

Good luck....like I said, it sounds like you are doing all the right things.  My brother in-law is a juvenile probation officer....he sees kids coming from all kinds of bad situations....he tells me all the time, just being there for your kids, loving them, and paying attention to them is 98% of it. 

[bcuda]

I am taking my Grandson turkey hunting this weekend and He is so super excited about it.
I too do not want to ruin His first hunting experience. I have been reading this post and
also coming up with some other ideas that should help.
As mentioned above I have Him shooting a Rossi Tuffy Turkey 410 with some Apex TSS 9.5
and have had Him involved with the patterning of the gun. He has got pretty good handling
it properly , enough to where He does not have to second guess anything.
Things I am doing to make Him feel involved are taking Him to get his own hunting license and have
Him ask for a license himself and pay for it while I stand beside Him. Have Him pack all of His
hunting stuff himself and taking Him to the store to pick out His snacks. I also found a video for Him
to watch of a youth turkey hunt with a Father and Son about His same age so He could have the mind
set of (Hey I can do that ).
I am trying to make sure it will be a wonderful memory for him to last a life
time , and if we get a turkey then we can have the icing on the cake but if we do not it should still be
an awesome memory either way.

[Kylongspur88]

Open up that choke a little and adjust shots accordingly.

[Cottonmouth]

It can be tough taking kids. They lose interest quickly if the action slows down. Don't push them and in time, they will gain patience to wait it out. Hopefully you can get him on a hot 2 yr old and put on a show.

[Spurs]

No gloves.

Made that mistake with my first boy and dang near cost him his first bird.  He had it hung up in the action of the gun somehow, but was able to free it just as the Tom made it into range.  Seemed to really help my second son by not having his gloves on.  He was better at handling his gun and seemed much more comfortable.