Parent Tips For Hunting With Children
I think everyone who is passionate about the outdoors and living according to her code has known at one point or another, that they would get their children out there with them and create this burning fire within them for the same values -
Only when you step out into the northern hills or the peaked mountains with your two year old, you find that their nervous systems have something a little different in mind than what you were thinking.
Childrens brains are comprised of two main parts (everyone’s is actually) but the difference for our kids is that one part is fully formed, while the other is still developing. The lower brain of a human being is in regulation of what psychology considers “unconscious behaviors” ie;
breathing,
heart beat,
blood flow,
oxygen and carbon dioxide levels and also emotional reactivity aka fight or flight.
The up stairs brain, or the frontal cortex of a person, is actually not fully formed until between 25-27 years of age (so you can forgive yourself for all those crappy decisions you made all those years in your 20’s) -
The frontal cortex is responsible for sound decision making, morality, controlled responses, organizational thought, ability to plan, motor function, speech and much much more.
So, you can see how asking your two year old to be extremely quiet and use a whisper voice, stay still, walk slow, not touch, be careful and so on, could potentially be extremely overwhelming + difficult for them to actually comply with, no matter how much they want to inside. All of this pressure will not only lead to a tantrum or melt down, but could also kill that very love of hunting // outdoors living you’re working really hard to instill in them!
While my son Fox has grown up in this life style since birth (I was three months pregnant with him while still hunting) that doesn’t equivalate to all that has gone into him being able to hunt well with us as we live a “field to table” life. I’ve thought about this for quite some time and have come up with a few tips to being able to be successful at not only hunting but, keeping the joy and excitement alive for THEM as you do it. So here is
TIPS FOR HUNTING WITH YOUR CHILDREN
Tip .01 S E T Y O U R P R I O R I T I E S
You’re going to have to get right with yourself and decide right away whether the hunt is what’s important, or planting the seed of the future. There will be times, especially if you're living solely from hunted meat, that children will have to stay back with a parent if it comes time to having to get it in the freezer but, as much as possible we’ve allowed a certain amount of exploration during our hunts. If it’s my tag and our son stops to see the giant ant hill, my husband will oblige him for a bit as I continue on. If he sees anything that strikes his curiosity, this is the rule. Love of nature and being present with us in this experience is important over all else. The curiosity and hands on experiences is what’s going to keep them coming back time after time. Sometimes gentle coaxing to press forward will be needed.
Tip .02 G E T O U T I N T H E F I E L D (before the season)
This arguably should be tip number one because it’s a bit of a doozy but, if your child is unfamiliar with getting out into nature or the concept of what’s needed to hunt - DO IT BEFORE YOU NEED IT.
Take them out into the hills - the mountains and play hunting games. Find tracks and say “shhh, come here look!” Use a whispering voice as you explain what animal the track belongs to. Suggest you both go and look for it and continue to use all the same voices + motions you normally would while hunting as you play along on these adventurous games.
Game Suggestion
Mommy can be the deer while daddy and child are the hunters. Daddy + child have to stalk the “deer” but if she hears them coming, she runs away. Be lax on what’s “noisy” considering the age of your babe and go from there. We used to use suction cup bow and arrow for him to shoot me aka the deer.
Tip .03 P A C K A N D P R E P A R E
My husband and I carry camo packs when we hunt, even at the cabin. We carry water, survival kits, first aid, snacks and more. There should be no exception that you either pack for the child in your pack, or have him/her carry their own little backpack (it really does give them a sense of power) Things in Fox’s pack : Comfortable, weather appropriate clothing + extra pair of shoes, survival kit, water + snacks, construction garbage bag and small trinkets to tinker with should he feel board.
Plenty of times while glassing a hill side for near an hour, I’ve pulled out the big black garbage back and rolled his extra cloths into a pillow for him to nap in the wild as we sit. If not, he has some small trinkets to play with.
Tip .04 I N V O L V E Y O U R C H I L D
One of the great memories I have with my father is that he always involved me in whatever we were doing. My dad has always been a conscious man, and I know looking back he knew the value that was being handed to me in learning skills that would never leave me or be unnecessary. This was true for working on cars, being outdoors, working wood and pretty much anything he was doing - If I was there, I was learning something. Fox maybe a preschool aged boy, but letting him feel involved by participating builds confidence and curiosity that foster passion. We allow him to help with the gutting and cleaning process after harvest, as well as with the first butchering. We do allow him to handle a knife - he has been using one under supervision for a very long time including a whittling knife, so we are very confident in him (though he is still closely supervised).
IDEAS FOR INCLUSION
Holding the meat bags while quartering out animal
Handing you tools
Placing meat in the bags
Pulling out the “innards”
Help with skinning
Having their own little tools for the process
Taking pictures
Tip .05 C O N S I D E R Y O U R F A M I L Y D Y N A M I C
We all have a very unique flow as family units. It’s a bit of an unspoken knowing the kind of rolls we all play with each other, the kind of bonds we each have and the knowing of how each of us operate with likes + dislikes etc.
We plan most of our hunts in accordance to the dynamic we have within our little family. So what does that look like applied to practical life?
Early Season Hunts : dynamic / Fox has refused to nap since 2 yeas old, once awake he wont go back down till bed time (8-830 pm) We wake up whenever that is (it’s always around 7-8am) grab a snack and head out for hunting. If getting later in the season and no tag filled, we’ll start to do the typical before sun hunts or he’ll stay back with one of us.
Child dynamic : Fox craves change + challenge / we don’t have to stray away from the more difficult terrain but, we won’t be doing the hardest ones either.
So you can see here how we’re considering the needs and challenges of our family as a unit. Play to your strengths!
Above all remember that this isn’t a public school curriculum where time is measured and shouldn’t be scored by a certain check list - but a lifestyle that we should ware and break in for them like an old glove. Sometimes, we can’t even grade the worthiness of our attempts by the tears or even the smiles, for we push through it all with gentile spirits and firm beliefs, but to create a way of life that just is. This is where we begin to fall in love with it, just as we teach them to fall in love with all of the other imperfections in our day to day lives.
Just remember we have all the time in the world when we remove the teaching part of it and focus on the experiences we want our babies to remember when they are grown and able to write their own stories. When we focus on what we want them to see in us, that they can later emulate in their own lives as adults. No matter how they choose to live when they have the choice, in the end it was the connection they had with you that will engrave it’s self into their minds and hearts and will live there until time ends.
I hope this article has given you the courage to get out there and to take a chance and make it work.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions that were not answered in this post
xoxo Deandra
