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Thread: Testing your kid

  1. #1
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    Default Testing your kid

    This weekend I took my son on his first duck hunt when conditions weren't comfortable. He's eight and I figured its time to see if he likes it when he would be cold and wet. Turns out he loved it. If you want to read about it, i wrote about it here: https://www.twodogoutdoors.com/post/the-gamble

    At what age do you start to tell a kid to suck it up on a hunt? Some folks are of the "whenever they want to go we go" camp. Others are the complete opposite. What works for yall or worked for you?

  2. #2
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    Good stuff, man. Apparently y'all were a few days late from what I heard! My philosophy is that until they're 10 or so, the hunt ends when he/she says so. I have left early many times. I take my kids with me because I want to instill in them a love for the outdoors, and I love being with them. If they're not having fun, the point is defeated. That being said, I killed my first deer at 9 or 10 on a deer drive in December in 25 degree weather because my father came to the truck and told me to suck it up and get to my stand- damn the cold. Glad he did.
    Carolina Counsel

  3. #3
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    Haha, yeah, that’s what I pretty much told him on Saturday. I said “if I raise you and you have never been uncomfortable, I’ve failed you as a parent”

  4. #4
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    When I was quite young, my dad used to carry me salt water trout fishing in the coldest months. I never thought I had the option of asking to quit and go home. It never even occurred to me. He'd bring an old Half and Half tobacco can full of charcoal briquettes soaked in varsol to light and let me warm my frozen little hands. I don't remember it being a hardship although I'm sure we both froze our asses off on occasion. Now it seems to take some pain, struggle and extra effort to make a hunting or fishing trip memorable. The easy ones just don't stick in my head.

    A couple times each trip, I would inevitably wave my rod over the fire and vaporize my monofilament line and he'd have to re-tie a slip float rig. Only later did I realize how loving, patient and persistent Dad was in exposing me to the outdoors. I assumed all kids got the same opportunity.

  5. #5
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    the older my little girl gets, and the more i take her along on fishing and hunting trips, the more i realize how fortunate i was to have a Dad with enough patience to teach me and take me as much as he did growing up.

  6. #6
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    I always tried to have as much success fun comfort drinks and snacks as possible when my girls were little, under 10 or so. If they don’t enjoy it they won’t want to go back. Let that be your “suck it up gauge”. You’re not making a Man out of any 8 year old by keeping him out in the rain. Just saying. For me it worked. My oldest now asks me every year when we’re going to Canada or Ark. The first year in Canada, and she was in college, I knew she was cold but she didn’t say anything. I gave her my jacket and we kept shooting ducks at our feet.
    \"We say grace and we say maam, if you ain\'t into that, we don\'t give a damn.\" HW Jr.

  7. #7
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    They're never too young to be told to suck it up.

  8. #8
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    I started taking my now almost four year old duck hunting when he was one. Kept it simple, Wood Ducks while sitting against a tree by the pond, with him and his big ear muffs in my lap. He went with me last year to Alabama and sat in 38 degrees and rain for two hours with me, before he finally had enough, and his hands got cold. I didn’t complain. He’s a trooper. I figure the earlier in life you can get them into stuff that may not always be fun and some adverse conditions, but still be safe, the better off they will be. My son used to be scared of the dark, after a few times of taking him out in it, and he realizing he wasn’t going to die, he could care less now. Dark doesn’t bother him.

  9. #9
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    I agree

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sportin' Woodies View Post
    They're never too young to be told to suck it up.
    exactly
    A Nation of Sheep Breeds a Government of Wolves!

  11. #11
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    Not hunting related but my Grandfather raised me and all my lessons were learned the hard way. When I was 7 we were riding down the road and he put a chew in, I asked if I could have one and he said sure. So he took a piece out handed it to me and said chew till your mouth is full. Well when that occurred I asked what now and he said swallow it, I did and 4-5 mins later we were pulled over on the side of the road while I puked my guts out. The same thing happened when I was 11 over a glass of scotch.

    But the best one was in 4th grade and we were in the living room one evening. I had a paper clip that I had straightened out and was about to poke into a receptacle. My grandmother tried to stop me but he told her to be quiet. He then said go ahead let’s see what happens. I miss that man everyday!

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sportin' Woodies View Post
    They're never too young to be told to suck it up.
    Bingo. Ain’t no pussies in the hall of fame.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sportin' Woodies View Post
    They're never too young to be told to suck it up.
    Winner. My oldest thinks he is a roofer. Likes to play with my hammer. When he smashes the meat out of his fingers he doesn't even cry anymore. He knows who's to blame. My pops did me the same way
    Last edited by TheVisorGuy; 01-09-2020 at 08:46 PM.
    "They are who we thought they were"

    You can dress a fat chick up, but you cant fix stupid

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