Too young to witness a kill?

[Trykonshooter]

That's a good age to stat learning the discipline of the hunt and to respect the animals you kill. But more importantly it's outstanding quality time between a father and his son.

[huntresss]

NY Bowhunter- actually I think it would be worse to try and "protect" your son from something that could be misconstrued by him as being wrong. Whenever I had my sister's kids over, I would teach them how to shoot bows and guns but their mother would never allow them to hunt with me. While they thought it was all very cool and would happily eat the meals I cooked for them knowing what type of meat it was, they were still sheltered from the actual kill. When they did finally see a dead piglet I smoked one time, my nephew burst into tears because his Aunt Cheryl had killed "Babe". In my opinion, had he been allowed to sit in a blind with me and share the hunt, then that incident would have never happened. The same nephew would go fishing with me and help fillet the fish and then gobbled up all the fish nuggets I could fry up for him. My sister thought she was doing the right thing by not allowing the kids to witness a bowkill, but obviously I feel differently. I guess only you as a parent really knows what your child is ready for.
-Cheryl Napper

[Texas Grown]

NY Bowhunter, Sounds as if you have taken good time to prepair him. Spending time togeather is the greatest treasure you'll ever have regardless of how you do it.

I remeber my first deer hunt at 4 yoa. It was a Sunday eveing after my Dad gave the evening sermon at church. We went to visit some youth's home where the father allowed his 2 boys to take me in the truck into the pasture. They didn't tell my folks what the boys intent was. We didn't see anything that evening (night).

While I stayed at another member's dairy, I also witnessed chickens being prepaired, from scratch, for the table (no pun intended), Dove and quail hunting, Rabbit round-ups both day and night, ect, between the ages of 2-6. It was just a/the fact(s) of life back then.

We ate a lot of vinison back then, gifts from the congregation/country folk. Even though my Dad killed a deer as a young teen, and I watched him bird hunt maybe 10 times, and annihilate a bunch of rabbits with his .22 on top of a truck cab one night while driving through several pastures, my Dad was never really a hunter. But it got my intrest up just the same.

[bloodtrail]

What rattler said, my son started around 4 or 5 also.

[Javelina]

As you see most of us have been in the stand at a very young age or have taken our children at a young age.
My children were with me many many times at a very young age and i know that they remember and cherish those times together.
Take him and enjoy nature and what God has Blessed us with.

[WCB]

I thought kids had to be older to take them. I didn't start taking mine till they where young teens. They had seen me bring home the "goods" for years though.
Wish I would have started them earlier...
I didn't have anyone to teach me hunting until I was 15 so I based teaching my kids on what I knew.
Wish I would have started them earlier...
Sounds like you need to take some family members hunting!!

[Bill M]

Had my son in a stand at age 3. My grandkids have been watching us bring them in and have even got into the LDPs for several years now at age 4 and 6. Took my granddaughter to stand with me this year, she is the 6 yr old. It is what they know at our house.

Sounds like you have prepared him.

[Rotag]

Amie was 2or3 when she saw the first dead deer she said bambi has a boo boo
She if fine with hunting and is even trying to kill her first one.

[Africanbowhunter]

Things are different here in Texas

In New York things are not the same

My kids started hunting with BB rifles at 3 .22s at 4. .410 at five

My son Jeff nailed this Hen turkey Flying at age 6

At age 7 shot & killed 3 deer with his bow

friend of mine 3 years old son shot a caribou in Alaska with a .243Win


Both my children are college graduates and have six college degrees between them

Both Solid Citizens

i guess it depend on the kid and the parent

GO for IT

[zub789]

Watch some hunting videos with him and see how he reacts. Also by watching the videos he will not see anything unexpected when you do take an animal.

[Muygrande]

I think it all depends on what has been reinforced to him by other family members. If they have told him that hunting is wrong or made comments then he may react. I didn't shoot anything until I was 12 but I went with my dad from the time I could walk. Hunting and harvesting game was the same as getting vegetables from the garden, there wasn't anything bad or shameful about it. I would think that anyone that is afraid of your son going with his father and witnessing "the kill" probably has a problem with hunting in general. As long as you are there to teach him what it is all about I say go for it.

[JW]

That's the most upsetting thing I've ever heard. Hell NO he ain't too young...

[Landrover]

My daughter always knew it was daddy's thing to go hunting. She has seen all the pictures my parents have in Louisiana of us hunting with cousins as kids. She has seen all the TV shows and has her favorites. Last year she came to the lease and sat with me on two hunts, along with the wife. I shot a cull with my bow and it fell within her view. She got a huge kick outta seeing the full cirlcle of the hunt. Truthfully, my wife probably freaked out more from the squirrels at 3 feet away from her head than my little one. Bottom line.....have a great time, bring your camera and TEACH what hunting is truly about as you watch the critters do there thing.

[TXJon]

Killing animals for meat used to be just part of everyday life. I doubt this question would have been asked 50 years ago. You need to raise your child how you see fit. For my children I chose for them to witness hunting at a very early age so they would never see hunting as anything other than a normal activity that normal people do.

What he said. My kids have been part of raising animals for food, hunting and fishing from birth, really. I think if they are old enough to eat, they are old enough to see how it ends up on the plate. The younger the better, IMO.

[bboswell]

Both of my kids started sitting the stand by age 2. Mom and I both hunt and the only way for both of us to hunt was for each of us to take a child. When they grow up around it and involved it is much easier for them to understand than if they go "protected" for a few years and then exposed to it.

DON'T EVER PASS UP THE CHANCE TO TAKE YOUR KID HUNTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1