Family

Goose, I think this is a great question. In my experience, it is all about their personality. I have two sons, both in their mid30's, that could not be more different. One is a big hunter and we take hunting and scuba diving trips each year, while the other does not have the same love. I would not even try to get him involved because I know it is not his thing. I am hoping the oldest grandson has the desire and wants to hunt. I will just wait a few more years to see how he turns out and a direction he wants to take. If he wants to, I will for sure try and foster that desire and get him out and involved.
 
LC Smith said:
Goose, I think this is a great question. In my experience, it is all about their personality. I have two sons, both in their mid30's, that could not be more different. One is a big hunter and we take hunting and scuba diving trips each year, while the other does not have the same love. I would not even try to get him involved because I know it is not his thing. I am hoping the oldest grandson has the desire and wants to hunt. I will just wait a few more years to see how he turns out and a direction he wants to take. If he wants to, I will for sure try and foster that desire and get him out and involved.
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I agree, it does depend upon personality for sure. I have one nephew, who I thought was a homosexual for sure, but he's getting married, in his mid-twies, I knew he would never hunt. I have another nephew, who is a Minneapolis kid, who does hunt with me, and I hope he will continue this tradition of bird hunting that has been in my family since the 1860s. I have another nephew, who is 10, and grew up on a ranch, but my brother doesn't hunt, and is kind of a limp noodle, so I actually did get my nephew out this fall, and let him shoot, and we saw a few birds. The jury is still out on whether or not he will hunt. His parents are religious fanatics, and don't hunt or fish. My niece, I'm pretty sure she won't hunt. I have a few cousins who are really taking two hunting, one is Big City, one is country bumpkin. So in summary, I just hope I can keep this tradition of hunting alive in my family, because I don't have kids, joe- it's the two nephews basically.
 
Offer the opportunity, and allow them to do it on their own terms. No guilting them for how far or short they want to walk, when it is too hot or too cold, etc. If they take to it, they'll stick with it. If they don't they may come back to it later on in life, whether that's in their teens or adulthood. Just let them know they are welcome and cater to their skills and abilities so it is enjoyable for all. Don't make it a bad experience or put them in a position to be ridiculed or embarrassed.
 
I have two little twin girls joining my wife and me next week, and I’m with you Goose. I’m hoping I can keep the tradition alive with them. I really enjoyed hunting time with my dad early on. We hunted pretty poor locations so we rarely brought home anything, but it was fun getting outdoors, driving around, eating beef jerky and snacks, and listening to Packer & Badger games. He’s into hunting, but I’m a bit more so than him. Not sure how that all works out, but he provided the exposure to me, and I took it and ran.

For my girls, I’m just going to try my best to make it a fun experience for them early on. Give them tastes of being outdoors, then going on hikes, then joining a hunt. Short events first off.

For myself, I had terrible luck/opportunities hunting early on. I don’t think I shot anything/saw much the first year. That would discourage a lot of people out of the sport I think. So, hitting some honey holes and allowing them to see how fun it is when opportunities arise should help interest.

My wife doesn’t hunt. She’s joins me deer hunting here and there, but it’s to spend time together vs actually being involved in the hunt. I think making it a family activity with all involved would help the cause.
 
SDinWI said:
I have two little twin girls joining my wife and me next week, and I’m with you Goose. I’m hoping I can keep the tradition alive with them. I really enjoyed hunting time with my dad early on. We hunted pretty poor locations so we rarely brought home anything, but it was fun getting outdoors, driving around, eating beef jerky and snacks, and listening to Packer & Badger games. He’s into hunting, but I’m a bit more so than him. Not sure how that all works out, but he provided the exposure to me, and I took it and ran.

For my girls, I’m just going to try my best to make it a fun experience for them early on. Give them tastes of being outdoors, then going on hikes, then joining a hunt. Short events first off.

For myself, I had terrible luck/opportunities hunting early on. I don’t think I shot anything/saw much the first year. That would discourage a lot of people out of the sport I think. So, hitting some honey holes and allowing them to see how fun it is when opportunities arise should help interest.

My wife doesn’t hunt. She’s joins me deer hunting here and there, but it’s to spend time together vs actually being involved in the hunt. I think making it a family activity with all involved would help the cause.
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Don’t think my kid is coming back to bird hunting
He owns dogs but they are French bulldogs … his ball and chain made him sell the guns I had given him back to me when they stated having kids… no chance the kids will hunt either
 
MNMEAD said:
Offer the opportunity, and allow them to do it on their own terms. No guilting them for how far or short they want to walk, when it is too hot or too cold, etc. If they take to it, they'll stick with it. If they don't they may come back to it later on in life, whether that's in their teens or adulthood. Just let them know they are welcome and cater to their skills and abilities so it is enjoyable for all. Don't make it a bad experience or put them in a position to be ridiculed or embarrassed.
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Yes, good comment, my dad tried to push my brothers, and neither one of them liked hunting, me. I liked it when I was 10 years old, and shot my first rooster when I was 10, and never stopped. Both of my brothers basically never went again since they were kids.
 
SDinWI said:
I have two little twin girls joining my wife and me next week, and I’m with you Goose. I’m hoping I can keep the tradition alive with them. I really enjoyed hunting time with my dad early on. We hunted pretty poor locations so we rarely brought home anything, but it was fun getting outdoors, driving around, eating beef jerky and snacks, and listening to Packer & Badger games. He’s into hunting, but I’m a bit more so than him. Not sure how that all works out, but he provided the exposure to me, and I took it and ran.

For my girls, I’m just going to try my best to make it a fun experience for them early on. Give them tastes of being outdoors, then going on hikes, then joining a hunt. Short events first off.

For myself, I had terrible luck/opportunities hunting early on. I don’t think I shot anything/saw much the first year. That would discourage a lot of people out of the sport I think. So, hitting some honey holes and allowing them to see how fun it is when opportunities arise should help interest.

My wife doesn’t hunt. She’s joins me deer hunting here and there, but it’s to spend time together vs actually being involved in the hunt. I think making it a family activity with all involved would help the cause.
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I think it's important to go during good weather, and go someplace where there are some birds where they will see a few pheasants. If they don't see any birds, that's not a good thing. My dad took me when I was a kid a lot around Belgrade Montana and Lewistown Montana, I think he took me more because he needed somebody to clean birds, and and beat the heavy cover. We had good hunting, and we had kind of a bonding thing going on. We were like a team I guess in a way. I was fortunate this fall in early December. There was some nice weather and I got my 10-year-old nephew out, and we did see some pheasants ice, and he seemed like he enjoyed it. He enjoyed swimming in the swimming pool, and just being away from don was good for him. He is a small kid, real skinny, can't really fit an adult shotgun yet but at least he was willing to shoot and that is a positive.
 
Wish I had a better answer. Both my sons hunted with me quite a bit when they were in high school, but both have shown flagging enthusiasm since.

The older one was in the marching band during college, so his weekends were pretty much full during hunting season. Then he graduated, got married, and got a job in KC. He hasn't been bird hunting in many years. The two big barriers for him seem to be the drive (especially out of KC), and then when he's in town over the holidays, leaving his wife for a day to go with me. It's not like she'd be alone though because my wife would be around. There may also be a little concern on his part about keeping up, even though I would be happy to work with his energy/stamina level. That's just me speculating, he's never said anything about it. He never had a friend his age that he hunted with. Don't underestimate the importance of that. His guns are still in my safe. :(

The younger was a very avid hunter for a while, and had friends who were hunters. He drifted towards waterfowl. Waterfowl hunting is great, but my vizslas' skill set does not include sitting still and swimming. I went with him some, and he went bird hunting with me some, but this last season his interest in both flagged a little. Waterfowling took too much effort and an alarm clock set too early and bird hunting did not provide enough consistent action, according to him. Also his primary hunting buddy switched to a food service job, so their schedules didn't line up. My son just moved to Greeley, CO for girlfriend and job, but at least he took his guns with him. I haven't given up on him yet.
 
I also thing its ingrained in us from birth in a way. When I think about the time hunting/fishing with my dad, all of the memories are fond, but also many are linked to how miserable I remember being. Walking cattail sloughs at 6??? I could barely get through them. In the fishing boat for 14 hours with nothing but two mountain dews and a PBJ? Yikes. Somehow, when my dad quit hunting I only got more obsessed. Part of that I think was to be 16/17 and being able to make my own rules on how I did it. Where I went, how long I went for, etc. Liberating to say the least. But if it hadn't been in my blood so to speak, there were plenty of experiences that would have turned me off it entirely if I'd been a little wiser. And I didn't stick with it because I was tough, it was because I had no choice! Now my family members don't know how I can spend so much time traveling alone to spend thousands getting a handful of birds. Can't explain it to those who don't feel it!
 
That1uncle1776 said:
When you get the chance to take them, It's gotta be fun. Let them drive your pickup, tell them crazy stories...slip them a beer afterwards. Let them pick the Playlist for the ride there. It's the good memories that get people coming back to hunt
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Very good point made, yes it has to be fun for them, they have to have fun.
 
matto said:
Wish I had a better answer. Both my sons hunted with me quite a bit when they were in high school, but both have shown flagging enthusiasm since.

The older one was in the marching band during college, so his weekends were pretty much full during hunting season. Then he graduated, got married, and got a job in KC. He hasn't been bird hunting in many years. The two big barriers for him seem to be the drive (especially out of KC), and then when he's in town over the holidays, leaving his wife for a day to go with me. It's not like she'd be alone though because my wife would be around. There may also be a little concern on his part about keeping up, even though I would be happy to work with his energy/stamina level. That's just me speculating, he's never said anything about it. He never had a friend his age that he hunted with. Don't underestimate the importance of that. His guns are still in my safe. :(

The younger was a very avid hunter for a while, and had friends who were hunters. He drifted towards waterfowl. Waterfowl hunting is great, but my vizslas' skill set does not include sitting still and swimming. I went with him some, and he went bird hunting with me some, but this last season his interest in both flagged a little. Waterfowling took too much effort and an alarm clock set too early and bird hunting did not provide enough consistent action, according to him. Also his primary hunting buddy switched to a food service job, so their schedules didn't line up. My son just moved to Greeley, CO for girlfriend and job, but at least he took his guns with him. I haven't given up on him yet.
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Hopefully one of them will get back into it.
 
MNMEAD said:
I also thing its ingrained in us from birth in a way. When I think about the time hunting/fishing with my dad, all of the memories are fond, but also many are linked to how miserable I remember being. Walking cattail sloughs at 6??? I could barely get through them. In the fishing boat for 14 hours with nothing but two mountain dews and a PBJ? Yikes. Somehow, when my dad quit hunting I only got more obsessed. Part of that I think was to be 16/17 and being able to make my own rules on how I did it. Where I went, how long I went for, etc. Liberating to say the least. But if it hadn't been in my blood so to speak, there were plenty of experiences that would have turned me off it entirely if I'd been a little wiser. And I didn't stick with it because I was tough, it was because I had no choice! Now my family members don't know how I can spend so much time traveling alone to spend thousands getting a handful of birds. Can't explain it to those who don't feel it!
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Yeah it's a Zen thing. It's yin and yang. My dad was a fly fisherman, he didn't push me into fishing, but I did fish a fair amount when I was young. Usually out of a boat trolling for trout. Yeah he he taught me how to hunt and he was a total ass other than that. But he did teach me how to hunt so I have to give him points for that.
 
My boys know that these are the good old days. They have hunting dogs and families. I have provided equipment and opportunities. Taking the time to go is the deciding factor. My FiL asked my wife if I hunted and fished too much, she said Dad, he doesn’t smoke or drink too much and he doesn’t chase other women. Please don’t ask again, he takes the boys. I have lost a few friends and now my boys are my friends that enjoy hunting and fishing with their Dad. God bless.
 
That1uncle1776 said:
When you get the chance to take them, It's gotta be fun. Let them drive your pickup, tell them crazy stories...slip them a beer afterwards. Let them pick the Playlist for the ride there. It's the good memories that get people coming back to hunt
Click to expand...
Dad’d take me frog giggin and I get my own cigar for skeeters. I can remember bouncin on my toes up to my chin keeping that cigar up above water.😛
 
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