The next generation of bowhunters are in our homes, our family’s homes and in our neighborhood. Getting kids involved in the outdoors can start well before they’ve got their own tags and are able to be the one pulling the trigger.
There’s no better way to experience quality time with kids than to take them out hunting or scouting with you. Setting up trailcams? Take a kid. Checking those cams in a week or two? Take that kid back and show them what’s walked by. Going for a drive to glass a field? Take a kid and an extra pair of binoculars. Going to sit a waterhole on a warm afternoon? Take a kid. Headed to the timber to try and call in a bull? Take a kid.
These experiences are often what kids want without even knowing it. It takes their focus off a screen and unlocks the adventure and imagination side of their brain. Keep their attention by planning shorter hunts, carry snacks and take the time to explain rut pits, scrapes and rubs when you come across them. Hunt the higher density areas and let them carry their own binos. Leave their phones at home but make sure you take lots of pics on your phone so they can show their friends.
I’ve been taking my kids hunting for several years now and some of our best memories and experiences have been formed out hunting. Sometimes, things even pan out like you want them to, and you’ll be able to fill a tag while your kid is beside you. It’s a beautiful experience to be able to look at your kids at the end of a day like that and say, “the cool thing about today is that we’re going to remember it for the rest of our lives.”
It might cost you a shot opportunity to take a kid with you, but I promise that in a few years, people won’t remember the bull you “could have shot that day”… instead, the kids will remember that you made the time and space to show them they mattered and that you invited them into your world. Your world will soon become theirs and in the future, they’ll pass on your passion to their kids.
~ Craig Temple
