Tips/advice on taking a 7 year old on first turkey hunt

[cbillet22]

Looking for any tips or advice from my fellow dads out there. I plan on taking my 7 year old out on his first turkey hunt this spring on youth day here in PA. I just picked up a youth 20 gauge Mossberg Maverick 88. Plan on having him practice with some high brass and target loads to get him comfortable with the firearm. I also have a single leg shooting stick to help him hold it in place. We will be hunting state forest so it will be run and gun. I know the area well and have harvested many turkeys there over the years but I feel like a blind will be out of the question with limiting mobility to get on a bird. Any tips or advice you have are all greatly appreciated! Plan on making it a whole extended weekend of camping, hiking, scouting, and hunting. And some trout fishing since PA only allows you to hunt until noon that way it should be fun whether we have success hunting or not.

[g8rvet]

Keep it fun. Tire him out but don't wear him out.  Teach him what you know and show him.  Answer a gazillion questions.  Involve him in the decisions before and during the hunt.  The goal is not to kill a bird, it is about fellowship and learning.  If he kills a bird that is awesome, but make the hunt the reason to be there.  If he makes a mistake, misses or anything tell him that is why they call it hunting, chin up, try again. Have fun.  The memories you two make together will be priceless.  My son's first bird was a great day.  Him calling in and killing his own was even bigger.  Enjoy the firsts. 

[wbyman]

Comfortable seats so he doesn't move too much and snacks. You have shooting stick on the list so that is good.
Practice on Turkey head target and pulling the trigger on your command in practice.

I'm excited for you both and hope you have a great hunt!

[cbillet22]

Keep it fun. Tire him out but don't wear him out.  Teach him what you know and show him.  Answer a gazillion questions.  Involve him in the decisions before and during the hunt.  The goal is not to kill a bird, it is about fellowship and learning.  If he kills a bird that is awesome, but make the hunt the reason to be there.  If he makes a mistake, misses or anything tell him that is why they call it hunting, chin up, try again. Have fun.  The memories you two make together will be priceless.  My son's first bird was a great day.  Him calling in and killing his own was even bigger.  Enjoy the firsts. 

I by no means expect to 100% successful. I want it to be all around fun that's why I'm making a weekend out of it so it's an all around fun experience. Him being able to harvest one would just be a bonus. He just loves hunting (he's been on multiple deer hunts and track jobs with me) and loves the outdoors. I've taking him to go scouting for birds the last 2 years and just hearing the gobbles gets him excited

[cbillet22]

Comfortable seats so he doesn't move too much and snacks. You have shooting stick on the list so that is good.
Practice on Turkey head target and pulling the trigger on your command in practice.

I'm excited for you both and hope you have a great hunt!

Great tips on the turkey head target and shooting on command. I'm wondering if it's best to have him sit between my legs for more support or beside him?

[wbyman]

That's a good idea. I would try several positions and see what seems most comfortable and safe. The weight of the gun, as you know, gets heavy quickly.  I'm so excited for you guys.

Don't forget pictures! It will be special with or without a shot. An arrowhead or a feather can make a day too.

Awesome job Dad carrying on tradition. Let us know how it goes.

[Kygobblergetter]

I'm not a dad but have taken several kids on their first hunts. In my opinion have him practice at closer ranges with the lightest target loads possible. Recoil will not be an issue when shooting at a live bird but don't want him to be worrying about it from practice. I also think having him sit between your legs is the best strategy from back in my youth hunting days. Other than that just do as others have mentioned. Snacks and fun. If at all possible try to have a bird roosted that you know you can be set up and have a fun hunt right off the roost. Taking kids can be frustrating but is so incredibly rewarding. Good luck!


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[TonyTurk]

I can share a couple of mistakes I made when my son (now 18) was about your son's age.

Warm clothing and boots that fit him, especially for early season.  He will get cold faster than you will.  Especially if he isn't accustomed to the fact that being cold is sometimes part of the deal.  If he gets cold, his "fun factor" could run out pretty quick.

And I found he enjoyed shorter hunts rather than longer ones.  2-3 hours was about his limit when he was starting out.  As he got older, he could stay out longer.

Good luck!

[Kygobblergetter]

One other thing I would mention for kids is decoys. It's a lot harder for them to just get on a bird and make a shot. Having the bird focusing on decoys allows him to get away with more movement and gives extra time for him to get on target and make a good shot


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[Hwd silvestris]

I would let him practice with light dove loads and nothing more.  I would also pick up the Lil primos trigger stick maybe gen 3 tripod.   It's perfect for the Lil fellas sitting down.  The monopod will get to moving on him when a bird comes in from the excitement alone.  The trigger stick will give him more confidence hands down.   Absolutely let him sit between your legs.   He will likely need to be coached thru the process as one approaches.  You sound like an experienced hunter and unlike him will be able the read the body language of the bird.   Expect to bump turkeys cuz u will.  My son is 11 now but when he was younger and when sitting apart he has jumped the gun a several times and shot too early just by inexperience . Those times I wish I would have been whispering in his ear and not expecting him to know.  Unfortunately on those instances he missed. 
Get him a Lil push pin call and let him scratch around on a slate as well.  Maybe a crow call as well.   Your the Lil fellas hero already so have fun with him.  Good luck!  I hope y'all kill a state record


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[Gmed]

 Practice is great but my boy, when he was about seven or eight, missed the first bird I ever called in for him. We set decoys and we're behind a stake up blind. I had a fiber optic sight on the front of the gun and he had practiced with it for weeks, but when that big bird came thru the woods and began strutting between the decoys, the excitement was more than he could compute along with keeping his head down and sight on the turkey. When I glanced at him, he was looking over the top of the gun barrel. I tried to quietly talk him into concentrating and keeping his head on the stock. When the turkey turned to us - at about 20 yards, he swore the sight was on it and shot. The turkey putted and trotted off, untouched by even a single pellet. All we had to show for our adventure was an empty shell ...and a hole in the blind because he was concentrating on the front sight. If I had only put a rear sight on there the hunt would have ended differently. The rear sight, paired with the front made all the difference in the world and he didn't miss with the gun again....

[tomstopper]

Love this. Nothing beats the time we have when spending it with our kids. I took my young daughter out hunting the first time about 3years ago and she's by far my favorite hunting partner ever.

Here is a tip that worked well for us:

I bought a Caldwell tripod and mounted her gun on it. I set it up (unloaded of course) and put it in our living room and played a turkey hunting video and had her track it's hard with the red dot sight.
This allowed her to feel comfortable with the use of the tripod and also gave me a feel of how much to loosen the knob so it moved just enough for mobility.
Also because you are hunting from a blind you can restrict their range of mobility to the main window dimension of the blind that they are hunting from (this will be more for you so you can judge if the seat your plan on using will actually be tall enough for them to use comfortably with the tripod and blind combined).
Example: I took 2 yard sticks and placed them to the right and left of her while she was t.v. practicing. She was centered and could only go that far. I then ran a piece of yarn from one stick to the other at the height of where the bottom the window was from the ground up. This will let you see if his chair will be tall enough.

As for the gun, my daughter is very petite and because she only carried it sometimes from the truck to the blind, I put some lead sinkers in the butt stock to reduce some of the recoil for her along with spray foam to stop them from rattling.
Only let him practice using low brass bird shot. You can get a rough idea of the pattern and then YOU do the sighting in using the turkey load that you plan on him using. I didn't want my daughter shoot any turkey loads unless you shooting in an actual turkey, and she never even felt it (she used a Mossberg bantam 20 gauge with low brass tss at 2 3/4 length of I believe correctly)

I have used some of these tricks with other youngsters before my daughter and I hope these tips help you and your boy too. Good luck this season.

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[Turkeyfever]

I picked up that same 20 gauge for my son when he was 6, now he is 13 and still uses it. That is a great little gun! Uses everything the 500 does but much cheaper. The only thing I did was slip a limbsaver recoil pad on it for him and it definitely helped. He shot low brass only out of the gun at turkey head targets and had no problems, loved practice. I also put a beard buster rear sight on the gun to make him keep his head down while shooting. I since drilled and tapped the gun and it has a Swampfox kingslayer. One big mistake I think people make for kids and adults is over choking the gun( pellet counting). We started out with a modified choke and the old Federal HVW 2 3/4 #7 shot with the flight control wad. I wasn't letting him shoot over 30 yards anyway and I wanted a more open pattern for him . Today he shoots a Carlson 575 extended turkey with Federal TSS and the little gun throws awesome hunting patterns. He killed the first Gobbler I called in for him at 7, no decoys, no blind just run and gun like you described. I used the terrain to make the Gobbler pop over a rise , when he did it was close enough. Sounds like you have it well planned to keep it fun for you son ! I wish you the best as there is nothing like hunting with your child. I always look forward to him going hunting with me for turkey, deer or whatever. Enjoy every moment and I wish you guys the best!

[Wvdanimal]

Only thing I would add is replace your 40 lb turkey vest and the 150 fancy gadgets in it with a cheap doghouse blind.  I'm not a blind kinda guy and never used one until I had kids. Nearly impossible to keep a 7yr old still for very long.  Those blinds set up in mear seconds and work great for run and gun.  Blind, one mouth call, trigger stick and a bag of snacks- done!

[mulefisher]

Skittles.  Every time you hear a gobble you get a skittle.  Makes them focus hard!  Pro tip: Take more than one pack!!


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