Help! Need to take Son hunting

[sea2summit]

So the boy has been asking about hunting for the last two weeks.  He’s five and I don’t want to pass up the opportunity.  Need some recommendations on someplace close to Roy where I can get him in the woods find an edible animal and return.  Chance of success trumps all other hunting requirements even though I’d love to drive somewhere and find a Turkey I just need to get him in the woods so he can see what it’s all about.

Any help/recommendations would be awesome.  Feel free to PM if you have a secret hole I could take him to once. 

Thanks

[Dhoey07]

Man, 5 seems kinda young to me.  Maybe start with mushroom picking or blackberry picking to introduce him to the outdoors.  Seeing wildlife might be enough for him at a young age.  Other than that maybe some grouse hunting in the fall.  I would just think that any kinda hunting takes a lot of walking and patience, things that a 5 yr old may struggle with.

But i don't have any kids, so it's just my 

By the way, i think it is absolutely awesome that your 5 yr old is that ambitious! I hope for the same when i have kids 

[ICEMAN]

Take him fishing. Lots of time yet to get him interested in hunting.

[washelkhunter]

at best a 5yr old only has a ten min attention span. You'll be frustrated and disappointed and the little guy will be confused cause he knows you like to do this but you wont be having a good time. it takes time to make a little hunter. go slow and do all kinds of outdoor stuff. it'll happen in its own good time.

[h20hunter]

My sons first hunt went like this. We parked at a gate. I grabbed the .22. We walked and looked for rabbits for 15 minutes....then went and got a donut. Great hunt for us both.

[ghosthunter]

Intro him to geocaching kids love the treasure hunt and he can use the skill later. But five I young.

[D-Rock425]

Take him shooting.   I take my 4 year old to most of the archery shoots I attend she loves it.

[sled]

  I say give it a try if he wants to go

[turkeydancer]

You can take him on a drive along Johnson Creek by Alice's Winery and see wild turkeys in the fields in the early morning.  Would suggest a "canned" hunt with an outfitter where you wouldn't be walking a lot, he wouldn't have to be still for long periods, etc and he could still see and maybe harvest some game. Your choices would probably be best with pheasant, rabbit, or turkeys (on the eastside).
 

[mr_hurricane]

My son just turned 4 and I take him scouting all the time, and just walking, mushrooms and berries like the other poster said, fishing as well.

I also agree with the other poster that his first actual hunting will probably be grouse with a .22 5 or 6.

[runamuk]

Just a few more thoughts.  My youngest son started with fishing, he loved it but again at 4-5 attention span is short so fishing also involved throwing rocks in the river behind the pond looking for bugs and swimming sometimes ... he also started sitting in the duck blind by age 5, went on his first duck hunt at 3.  They taught him to use the duck calls and took him on quick hunts, and he was hooked ...maybe start teaching some calling, and as others said berry picking and mushroom finding are also great kid hunts while looking for rabbits or grouse...mostly make it fun so they want to keep going, my nephew was forced to go and belittled when he stopped wanting to go(around age 11) and now he flat refuses to go at all 

[pianoman9701]

Dear Dad,

Thanks for being concerned for your son's hunting aspirations. Have you completed a Hunter's Education Course? You'll need it both to teach you and him safe gun handling, and to hunt with him legally. You can get more information about that here: http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/huntered/index.html

I would have to agree that this is a cart before the horse situation unless your child is an unnaturally advanced 5 year old. Most kids start their hunting experience shooting at squirrels with a sling shot. A little bit older and a BB gun with strict supervision is on the horizon. Suggestions to take him into the woods berry and mushroom picking are top notch. Fishing is also great and you can start him at a pay for play trout farm somewhere to keep frustration at a minimum.

Do this right, dad and you'll have decades of enjoyment and memories with your son that are irreplaceable. Do it wrong and one moment will turn into a lifetime of nightmares for both of you.

[arees]

My son has been tagging along on my hunts since very early.  He joined me on a spring bear hunt when he was 5.  It was several days of driving, hiking and glassing after school and on weekends.  We usually stopped for ice cream on the way back.  He didn't make it on the day I shot my bear, but he was an eager participant in the skinning.  Then he went up to Canada for a week of bear hunting with a friend and I.  He was there when my friend got his bear.  He always comes up for a weekend of elk season as well. 

The key is to accept that he won't be improving your odds in the near term, but you are building a future for him.  There were some days that we hiked out with him on my shoulders.  There were other days that we took time out from the hunt to poke around ponds looking for frog eggs and salamanders.  All of it was good.

It turns out that he has really good eyes for spotting animals in the brush.  This year he is taking hunter's ed so he can get his own license.

[TheHunt]

Interesting...  At the age of 5 my son and I would jump shoot ducks on a farm I had access to.  I held his hand with one hand and my shot gun in the other.  He was more interested in the walk, seeing the ducks fly and throwing rocks and stomping in the mud and cow pies with his rubber boots.  But the hunts were done when he was done.  Some were short as 15 min and others were about 45 min.  You should not expect a lot from a 5 year old. 

As he got older he carried his own red rider and would take a shot with his Dad.  He learned about muzzle control very early.  I also purchased a 15 dollar single shot 22 when he got older which I cut down and he shot that rifle until it was too small.  I cannot tell you how many 500 count boxes of 22 rounds he shot. 

Again do not expect a lot.  As my Dad told me when you take your sone out it is NOT your hunt it is HIS hunt. 

[bearpaw]

I had my kids all out on all kinds of hunts by the time they were 3. I put them on my shoulders, told them to put their arms around my forehead and hold on. This included hound hunting for bear and cougar and even while leading a half dozen hounds out after a bear tree. It was a bit of a hardship leading dogs out and carrying a kid on my shoulders after a treeing a bear or lion, but well worth every moment that we experienced together.

The kids all had a gun in the cabinet that they called their own by 8 or 9 and all hunted by 8 to 11. This includes both girls. My oldest girl calls me every year when she kills her buck, and she does kill one every year whether her husband is there or not.