I posted about this last year some with a hunt I had with my now 16 year old but was thinking about it all again this morning while making a plan for the juvi hunt with him.
Ive been hunting since I was 7ish years old and for a lot of my life it was my #1 priority. I mean it came before girls, work, I mean anything (even came before alabama football). I even told my now wife when we started dating 25 years ago that I was gone in april, and gone from Nov - end of January and if that was an issue we should just not go any further with this. Now at 45 and 3 kids its no longer my priority BUT it still ranks high enough I hunt every day the first week of april and every day of ML and my family expects it.
I say all that to just understand I have worked on the craft of "hunting" and woodsmanship for so long I dont really think about it anymore it just comes natural. Most of my years I hunted solo or with buddies that were equally skilled or more skilled then me so I could learn and keep learning. This is where we all want to be as hunters really, but it really hurts when I take my son or someone new to the game lol. I mean that as I have spent so many hours in the woods I am not the best at explaining stuff or thinking about it though the mind of someone that has none or very little experience in the woods and TURKEY hunting makes that 5x more difficult. Deer hunting its a little easier cause its slower and you can get away with more movement or inexperience. Turkey however is in your face and requires quick decisions and LOTS of anticipation, meaning you lean on experience to set up and sit in a way you can swing a gun or your body. You sit in a way you can limit limbs going numb and you play out scenarios in your head so you prepare for all that COULD happen in just moments.
Kids or new folks however have none of that to use and needs someone to not only explain it but explain why. Doesnt sound to bad or hard to do but I still screw it up with my own son often haha. I find that kids especially take whatever you say VERY VERY literal (at least mine does) so I have to keep reminding myself to be clear and to the point but make sure he understands what Im TRYING to say. Quick example - 2 years ago we got on a group of birds that were below us on a ridge so we set up above them. After 15mins or so I realized they were not coming up the ridge but moving horizonally down it so I eased up to the edge of the bench and could finally see them. I wispered to him to sneak down to me and stay low. He does exactly that HOWEVER he left the gun where we were sitting hahah. I was like BRO why did you leave the gun and he said "you didnt say bring the gun" haha fair enough. Then my next mistake was I had him sit on this small dirt mound so he could see over it but had good cover, so he did. What I didnt explain fully was to sit there in a way he could shoot on either side of the mound. Sure enough the birds come up to the other side of the mound and I could have shot them at 12 yards but he couldnt fully see them and the gun was pointed the wrong direction. Again In my head what I said made sense but turns out what I said he took literally and didnt realize there was much more to it, so what I said and what I fully meant were 2 different things.
Granted my son loves to hunt, however he is not like me in that its not really a priority for him. He loves going but at this stage he loves just going and hanging out with me doing what I love to do more then the actually hunting or killing part (which is totally fine)
I say all this a PSA to those out there in my same boat and as a reminder to myself really to remember to think stuff though like someone that doesnt know or understand what the CORE skill (IMO) is in hunting. Explain what they need to do and explain why and make sure you tell them to BRING THE GUN if you have to make a move
Hopefully mine can get his first tomorrow, been so close so many times but with his limited time to hunt (he is a huge swimmer so it takes up most of his time) I just hope it all comes together in the am.
Teach kids or new folks how to "Hunt" and what that actually means. Killing is great but in order to get to the killing part you have to understand what lead up to that so you can learn to repeat it.
Good luck to all the kiddos tomorrow
Ive been hunting since I was 7ish years old and for a lot of my life it was my #1 priority. I mean it came before girls, work, I mean anything (even came before alabama football). I even told my now wife when we started dating 25 years ago that I was gone in april, and gone from Nov - end of January and if that was an issue we should just not go any further with this. Now at 45 and 3 kids its no longer my priority BUT it still ranks high enough I hunt every day the first week of april and every day of ML and my family expects it.
I say all that to just understand I have worked on the craft of "hunting" and woodsmanship for so long I dont really think about it anymore it just comes natural. Most of my years I hunted solo or with buddies that were equally skilled or more skilled then me so I could learn and keep learning. This is where we all want to be as hunters really, but it really hurts when I take my son or someone new to the game lol. I mean that as I have spent so many hours in the woods I am not the best at explaining stuff or thinking about it though the mind of someone that has none or very little experience in the woods and TURKEY hunting makes that 5x more difficult. Deer hunting its a little easier cause its slower and you can get away with more movement or inexperience. Turkey however is in your face and requires quick decisions and LOTS of anticipation, meaning you lean on experience to set up and sit in a way you can swing a gun or your body. You sit in a way you can limit limbs going numb and you play out scenarios in your head so you prepare for all that COULD happen in just moments.
Kids or new folks however have none of that to use and needs someone to not only explain it but explain why. Doesnt sound to bad or hard to do but I still screw it up with my own son often haha. I find that kids especially take whatever you say VERY VERY literal (at least mine does) so I have to keep reminding myself to be clear and to the point but make sure he understands what Im TRYING to say. Quick example - 2 years ago we got on a group of birds that were below us on a ridge so we set up above them. After 15mins or so I realized they were not coming up the ridge but moving horizonally down it so I eased up to the edge of the bench and could finally see them. I wispered to him to sneak down to me and stay low. He does exactly that HOWEVER he left the gun where we were sitting hahah. I was like BRO why did you leave the gun and he said "you didnt say bring the gun" haha fair enough. Then my next mistake was I had him sit on this small dirt mound so he could see over it but had good cover, so he did. What I didnt explain fully was to sit there in a way he could shoot on either side of the mound. Sure enough the birds come up to the other side of the mound and I could have shot them at 12 yards but he couldnt fully see them and the gun was pointed the wrong direction. Again In my head what I said made sense but turns out what I said he took literally and didnt realize there was much more to it, so what I said and what I fully meant were 2 different things.
Granted my son loves to hunt, however he is not like me in that its not really a priority for him. He loves going but at this stage he loves just going and hanging out with me doing what I love to do more then the actually hunting or killing part (which is totally fine)
I say all this a PSA to those out there in my same boat and as a reminder to myself really to remember to think stuff though like someone that doesnt know or understand what the CORE skill (IMO) is in hunting. Explain what they need to do and explain why and make sure you tell them to BRING THE GUN if you have to make a move
Hopefully mine can get his first tomorrow, been so close so many times but with his limited time to hunt (he is a huge swimmer so it takes up most of his time) I just hope it all comes together in the am. Teach kids or new folks how to "Hunt" and what that actually means. Killing is great but in order to get to the killing part you have to understand what lead up to that so you can learn to repeat it.
Good luck to all the kiddos tomorrow
