Our children and grandchildren hold the future of hunting in their hands. I am sure that you have heard this before and it has never been truer than it is today. The youngsters of this day and age are stuck inside – targeted by corporations whose non-stop attack against them includes TV shows, movies, games and internet programing. All of these distractions have our kids stuck inside doing nothing other than blankly staring into an LED lit screen.
If we hunters are going to successfully compete against these distractions for time with our own kids then we need to give it our best shot. Children today get instantaneous gratification from the devices they play with and watch. If there is something in particular that they want to see… with the click of a mouse button or the tap of a finger it’s instantly in front of them on demand! If they cannot get it right now most feel it’s not worth getting in the first place.
All of this takes me back to the topic at hand. Consider a hunting preserve when introducing a youngster to the sport of hunting. We as hunters need to get our kids out of the house and back into nature. We need to get them hooked on hunting from the word go.
The youth of today are programmed for video game type action where BAM… from the second it’s turned on the action starts. Here me out here, I’m not saying a bunch of killing and gunfire has to take place for this to be a fun time for your child. What I am saying though is that there needs to be lots of action. Spotting lots of game animals all throughout a hunt. This is where I see that a Hunting Preserve holds an advantage over other types of hunting land set-ups, especially for a first time outing.
https://ammoshopinc.com/product/hornady-american-whitetail-30-06-springfield-150-grain-interlock-sp-500-rounds/ – because it’s their business always have huge wildlife populations, cozy hunting boxes and awesome hunting action. “ACTION” is the keyword in that last sentence. That is what kids of this day and age are used to and we really should try to give it to them for their first real trip.
Obviously before your child is ready to go out into the woods and harvest an animal there are several preparations to be made and skills that must be mastered and learned. Hunter safety, firearm handling, outdoorsman skills along with others need to be passed on from adult to child before a hunt can happen. Make it part of your plan from the start that once these skills are mastered the reward is the first hunting trip.
I know that I did that right and I did it big with my son for his first hunting experience. I’m sure he will never forget it. He was hooked from the start and I know he still is today. I now have my best friend, my son, as my life-long hunting partner because of the way I introduced him to this sport. He started successfully as a child and now at 14 yrs. old he is a very accomplished hunter who has taken several deer all by himself.
It would be my dream if all the readers of this article who are hunters would consider taking a kid, providing them with training and then reward them with an exciting and eventful first time hunting experience. If that first time experience means a pay hunt at a game rich preserve or just a dove shoot at the farm, just make it full of ACTION and fun. By doing so we will be successful in keeping the next generation of hunters involved in the sport and this will ensure that hunting stays strong and grows well into the future.
