Parents: How do you hunt elk with your kids around school schedules?

[ljsommer]

Dad of a four year old boy (born September 15th) and I want to start planning future hunts with him where I can make a big deal of hunting season. I love the idea of taking him out for his birthday on some sort of special elk hunt but school seems like it would get in the way.

How do you work around school schedules with hunting? Is it just a weekend only activity with kids or is there any way to go on longer trips during season?

[highside74]

I have 2 boys born Sept 12th and Sept 15th. One is 14 and the other is 18. With school, sports, family and friends I still haven't figured out elk hunting around their birthdays. Basically I have given up anything other than day hunts between the 12th and the 15th. The 18yo wasn't interested in hunting much but has started to show more interest lately. The 14yo just did muzzle loader this year after rifle the last couple years. Because of school and football I haven't pushed him towards archery yet.

[Dan-o]

I'm a father of 5 adult kids.

Not all of them hunted, but all of them "earned" days out of school to do stuff with dad.

I spoke openly and directly with my kids about this when they were young.

That conversation included that I'd love to take them hunting, including missing school, if they do their part.   Their part included keeping excellent grades.     

I think the days they spent hunting or fishing (instead of in school) were very beneficial to them.

None of them were hurt by missing a few days here and there.   They just need to be willing to do the make up work as part of the bargain.

Honestly, ask yourself this:     will my son/daughter be harmed by missing a couple days of school for elk hunting?   what will my child gain from it?   In my case, my children would say they gained much more from those special days than they would have from a few more days in school.

I've got 2 engineers, a law enforcement supervisor, a successful small business owner, and a financial planner as kids now.    None of them suffered from missing a little school.

I would say this:  If I had a child that was struggling with school, I'd have to think about how to approach it.

P.S.   When your kid shoots his first deer or elk on a school day, and takes it apart and does the work (with help and supervision, of course) they will have learned more than the next many days of school will get them.

[Timberstalker]

I’m no expert, and I didn’t stay at a Motel 8 last night, but Dan-o nailed it.

My Dad had a similar approach to what Dan-o suggested. It kept us boys accountable and gave us something to work towards.

I’ll try a similar approach with my three daughters.

[2MANY]

"That conversation included that I'd love to take them hunting, including missing school, if they do their part.   Their part included keeping excellent grades."   

This.

My kids miss 6 weeks a year and carry straight A's.
Learning how to manage your work load through vacation is an important skill.

[Stein]

Same here, my son had a 4.0 and I have no problem pulling him out for 3 days.  Add Saturday and Sunday and you have a good hunt.

[jrebel]

My son misses 3-4 weeks a year to hunt.  He has to maintain good grades and work hard, but if he does…..I have no problem taking him out of school.   He learns more in a day out hunting than he does in a week at school.   

I also take a different approach with school work.   I let the school and teachers know 3-4 weeks in advance and ask for his homework early.   I have a very strict rule……no homework in camp, the days are long enough as it is.   I don’t take my work with me on vacations….why would I expect anything else of my kids.   Vacation is vacation….he can get the work done before he goes or when he gets back…..period, no exceptions. 

[vandeman17]

I don’t have kids but I firmly believe that it’s important for parents to bring their kids on trips like this because they learn way more about life in those days then they will in the classroom especially with our current education system. Add to that, the family time/memories made and the trade off is well worth it 

[Iveexcaped3]

We home school so that time is spent learning biology, anatomy, astrology. I know this doesn’t help but might be something to consider if you can afford to do so.

[LongBomb]

My dad liked to tell my mom, "I cant let school get in the way of my sons education"

[Hillbilly Zen]

Also a home school family here: so clearly biased.  Just go hunt!  I would be respectful to the teachers and let them know when my kids would be out of the classroom but also make it known to them “this is just going to happen.” I have worked with districts and kids with truancy issues in the past.  I 100% guarantee you there will be no consequences for a loving parent taking their kid out of class however many days you want to go hunting.  You might get a threatening letter in middle school.  Toss it in the trash and go hunting.  wouldn’t even mess around with requirements for good grades or a reward system.  Same for hiking/fishing/backpacking.  It could end up being what ties you together when things get bad in life later on.  I wouldn’t want spending time outside with my kids to be something that happens only in some form of work/pay relationship.  When we are all at our worst around the house, the answer is often “go outside”. Just one opinion.  Public education is a tax payed service offered to you and your family.  By all means take full advantage of it where it coincides and is working with how you want to raise your children.  If it gets in the way of that, dont stress over it just do what you know is right!

[frazierw]

I'm a father of 5 adult kids.

Not all of them hunted, but all of them "earned" days out of school to do stuff with dad.

I spoke openly and directly with my kids about this when they were young.

That conversation included that I'd love to take them hunting, including missing school, if they do their part.   Their part included keeping excellent grades.     

I think the days they spent hunting or fishing (instead of in school) were very beneficial to them.

None of them were hurt by missing a few days here and there.   They just need to be willing to do the make up work as part of the bargain.

Honestly, ask yourself this:     will my son/daughter be harmed by missing a couple days of school for elk hunting?   what will my child gain from it?   In my case, my children would say they gained much more from those special days than they would have from a few more days in school.

I've got 2 engineers, a law enforcement supervisor, a successful small business owner, and a financial planner as kids now.    None of them suffered from missing a little school.

I would say this:  If I had a child that was struggling with school, I'd have to think about how to approach it.

P.S.   When your kid shoots his first deer or elk on a school day, and takes it apart and does the work (with help and supervision, of course) they will have learned more than the next many days of school will get them.

This is great advice. 

[ljsommer]

Wow this thread blew up, really excellent advice everyone, thank you!

[Alchase]

My son misses 3-4 weeks a year to hunt.  He has to maintain good grades and work hard, but if he does…..I have no problem taking him out of school.   He learns more in a day out hunting than he does in a week at school.   

I also take a different approach with school work.   I let the school and teachers know 3-4 weeks in advance and ask for his homework early.   I have a very strict rule……no homework in camp, the days are long enough as it is.   I don’t take my work with me on vacations….why would I expect anything else of my kids.   Vacation is vacation….he can get the work done before he goes or when he gets back…..period, no exceptions. 

I did the same thing. My sons had to provide their teachers weeks notice ahead to gather their homework for the duration of the hunting trip.
I only had one teacher say I could not do that for a "Hunting Trip" I told her it is none of your business what I do with my son on our vacation, and if you had a problem with that then the Principle will be requiring you to provide the homework as we asked.

Taking that time to create traditions with your kids is one of the bests investments you can make in their lives!

[huntnfmly]

My son misses 3-4 weeks a year to hunt.  He has to maintain good grades and work hard, but if he does…..I have no problem taking him out of school.   He learns more in a day out hunting than he does in a week at school.   

I also take a different approach with school work.   I let the school and teachers know 3-4 weeks in advance and ask for his homework early.   I have a very strict rule……no homework in camp, the days are long enough as it is.   I don’t take my work with me on vacations….why would I expect anything else of my kids.   Vacation is vacation….he can get the work done before he goes or when he gets back…..period, no exceptions. 

^^^^^^This I did it with my 2 daughters when they were in school their principal and I didn’t see eye to eye on this but I didn’t care 😂