How to Make Your Child’s First Hunting Trip Safe and Fun

Are you planning to go hunting with your little one for the first time? The experience they’ll have on their initial hunting trip will determine whether they’ll grow up loving hunting or disliking it.

That’s why you must make the trip as exciting and memorable as possible. If your youngster can have a whale of a time in their first hunting escapade, then you can be sure that you have, for the most part, succeeded in creating a next-generation hunter.

But let’s face it. Not many of us know what it actually takes to make this initial trip a huge success.

Not any longer, though.

Herein, we’ll reveal some of the best ways to make the first hunting trip with your child safe and fun and one they’ll live to reminisce about.

Let’s dive right in.

Hunting With Kids: 7 Tips To Ensure That The Hunting Trip Is Safe & Fun

Before you leave for the first hunting trip with your little one, here are some tips and tricks to help you ensure you’re planning an adventure they’ll live to relish.

1. Safety First

Your first hunting trip lays a foundation for the little one. It’s the trip that provides answers to most of the questions your child might never ask about hunting.

So, make it a good and safe experience for them.

Ensure that they are well acquainted with all safety protocols when out shooting. They need to have bow and gun usage and safety tips at their fingertips, alongside other safety protocols. You can teach them yourself or enroll them in hunters’ education courses. There, they will learn how they can ensure safety while out there.

And don’t stop at enrolling them in hunting safety classes. Asking your youngster a few questions just before the trip can help reinforce what they’ve learned so they can effectively apply it when out there.

2. Equip Them Adequately

If you have mastered survival through scarcity while out there, don’t assume your youngster will have the same endurance. They’ll eventually grow to that level with time, but at least not on their first trip.

So, when purchasing ammunition for your hunting trip, remember to get them the requisite attire. I don’t mean that you buy them all the luxurious things they need to enjoy the trip.

Not at all.

You should get them just what’s needed for the trip to become comfortable for them. Invest in warm, waterproof boots, nice sweaters, coats, hats, and all other basic attire required to remain comfortable, depending on the season and the hunting area you choose.

3. Don’t Make It Too Long

If you’ve interacted closely with kids, you know they have short attention spans. As much as they might be very curious and excited to join you hunting, that’s not to say they want to be out there for long.

So, make it brief and as amusing as possible. If your child is four to five years old, work for less than an hour. That means you might want to do your timing right because you also want to record success within the short span.

4. Start Small

If you go deer-hunting other times, this time, you might want to put that aside. For the first trip with a youngster, you want to target a small game instead. Go for squirrels, rabbits, or even dove-hunting.

The thing about big game hunting is that it often requires some degree of patience and endurance that the youngster might not have developed yet. You might have the endurance to remain motionless for long when targeting a deer or elk, but likely, that isn’t the case with the little one.

So, go for a target that you don’t need to lay in wait for long. It even becomes easier to end up with a harvest in such scenarios, because if you miss the first squirrel, chances are that you won’t miss the second or the third.

5. Bring Some Extra Activities

Another way to spice up their first-day hunting experience is to incorporate other outdoor fun activities into the trip. The attention span of youngsters is short-lived. Experts estimate it to be three to five minutes for every year of age. That’s to say, if your youngster is 10, you can expect their attention span on a particular activity to be between 30 and 50 minutes.

Now, when this time is up, you don’t want them to get bored and have their entire hunting experience end up spoiled. That’s where the need for an extra activity comes in.

Get them that captivating storybook if they love reading, or just have them keep a diary of their first trip describing their experience. There are many ways to prevent them from getting bored. Just ensure they don’t carry screens or anything else that might deter wildlife.

6. Encourage Questions

Youngsters are very curious minds, and that’s because there’s a very wide gap between what they know and what there is to learn.

To ensure they feel confident and comfortable to hunt with you, answer any questions they have, and do so with enthusiasm and encouragement. It will help them learn a lot during the trip, and they will always look forward to other opportunities that satisfy their curiosity.

You can even try asking them the same questions later to see if they remember what you told them. They’ll be glad to answer and appreciate that you’re trying to get information flowing the other way.

7. Ensure Your Youngster Is Of Age

Kids need some threshold of maturity before they can accompany you hunting. That’s because hunting can come with a variety of emotions, ranging from excitement to sadness and sometimes even guilt.

So, before leaving with your child for their first hunting trip, ensure they’re mature enough to handle the emotional roller coaster that comes with the activity.

Every kid matures at their own pace, so we don’t have a specific age that guarantees maturity attainment. You have to assess each child individually when deciding whether or not they’ve attained the capacity to go out hunting.

Conclusion

The first hunting trip determines whether or not your youngster will grow up loving hunting or despising it. So, it’s essential to adequately prepare for it to ensure they have the best experience.

Thankfully, preparation for this initial trip isn’t difficult when you know what to do and avoid. Remember to factor in every tip that we’ve covered in this article. Remember, youngsters should never go out to hunt alone. An adult must offer them company until they’re old enough to get their hunting license. The minimum age requirement differs from state to state, so confirm with your state. Again, always remember any hunting regulations applicable to your state when going out hunting.