A Little Hunter's Introduction

A Little Hunter’s Introduction

How to Introduce Your Child to Hunting

The whole dream of Angels & Antlers came to life by complete accident. My daughter, Mikita, and I met various groups of people who enjoyed the sport, while I was on the heels of heartbreak. Never in a million years would I have guessed that either of us would have been prepared to take on such an activity. I realized I needed to stop wallowing at home in sadness and get out and enjoy my daughter again. We went with our new friends and the both of us felt excitement and wonderment as the trails opened up before us.

There are so many reasons to take up outdoor pursuits with children. Hunting with youngsters when done properly can help pass down a great hobby and lifestyle, teach conservation and stewardship and let a child develop their own keen sense of observations which builds their confidence. In our case it was great for developing bonding time; time that allowed us to focus on our relationship with each other instead of relationships with electronics or other influences. Physical fitness and mental readiness, self-control, discipline, team work, and a respect for what shares our habitat… In my opinion, all key characteristics that good citizens of our world share.
 
But, as in every sport, the key is knowing your child. What do they like, what aspects of the sport are they ready for, and where do their strengths lie. Hunting offers a great sense of fulfillment, but not all parts of the sport are for every family member. Some like the scouting, some like the chase, some like the harvest, some like the butchering (seeing the way bodies fit together can be so coooool), and some simply like the dinner on the table! It’s important to respect where your youth falls in to regarding hunting so that they continue on with the tradition, keep the sport alive, and have many happy memories after you’re no longer around to guide them.
Here are a few ideas regarding introducing your youngster to the world of hunting…

WHERE TO START

Who loves hunting? Anyone who loves the outdoors! With that in mind, you want to get your child as involved as possible exploring the land around you. Every bit of it! Hikes, picnics, walks, camping, climbing, snowshoe, quad… There are so many varied activities to do that will get your children excited about the time they will spend with you outside. Visit as many different terrains as you can with them. Let them share with you vast Prairie skies and wheatland or heavy forest with spongey moss carpets and the smell of pine. Get muddy in the swamps and streams, looking for fish, frogs, muskrats and other critters or visit meadows with rabbits, insects, and birds. Go wildberry picking!
Be prepared without being crazy. It’s important to have the proper shoes, clothing, hydration etc… because being hungry and cold leads to a miserable child and a miserable experience. Start off with shorter time fragments and work your experiences up to longer events. And be FLEXIBLE! This isn’t about what your idea of the day should be; this day is completely about how your youngster views the world and their place in it.

LEARN FROM ME, YOUNG GRASSHOPPER

Once you’ve had a bit of time in the outdoors and your child is comfortable, consider inviting them to partake in some of the aspects of hunting that fit their development and maturity. Hunting has so many aspects – Scouting, tracking, calling, harvesting, dressing, butchering, packaging, cleaning up, and of course cooking and enjoying! Have conversations with your children. Find out what interests them. Discuss proper and ethical hunting prior to going in to the field. Share appreciation of a meal from game. Share wildlife videos and pictures, always keeping an eye on how your child is coping with the information given to them. The key is to not push your child to the next step before they are ready. Let them choose the activities that they wish to engage in. My son enjoys the social aspect of sausage making time and even enjoys the skinning of the animal whereas my daughter is an excellent fieldswoman. Encourage growth in the areas that suit YOUR child!

EDUCATION AND NEVER TOO SAFE

Your child turns 16 and wants to borrow the car… Do you just throw them the keys? They feel they’re ready but as a parent you’re all too aware of the pitfalls and dangers that lie on the road and even within the vehicle itself. Hunting is exactly the same.
Start with your local hunting laws. When your youth decides they are ready to start hunting, take them to your local Fish and Wildlife office and seek out information with them. What is the minimum age, accompaniment, education classes required? Are there safety courses or clubs that promote archery and youth shooting in your area? Check with your Fish and Wildlife, or ask about 4H groups. Make sure whatever group your youngster is getting involved with, safety is a key component to the teachings. Keep in mind that if you share some of the involvement with the education then your child will be more eager to share involvement with you in the field. Plus it’s always good to have a refresher. If you hunt safe and show them your commitment to safety, they will follow in your footsteps and respect the hunter’s code of conduct as well.

 MAKE IT A LIFESTYLE

Your youngster will enjoy hunting more when they acquire the skill set that helps them achieve results. If you were to stick a brand new video game in front of them in the beginning there would be frustrations. They would be trying to figure out how to pass levels in the game, how to unlock certain codes to gain powers that make winning the game easier. As they start to figure it out, the game becomes more enjoyable.

Hunting becomes more enjoyable in very much the same way. The more developed the skill set, the more interest in the sport. Provide different opportunities for shooting. My children enjoy playing the target games that are available in the local sports store. Battleship (where they try to shoot each other’s targets), Blast the Zombie, and endless others. While keeping it fun, focus on the safety aspect and proper form. Then move in to opportunities with different species. Just like not all aspects of hunting are for everyone, the same can be said for different game. My son enjoys shooting pests such as gophers and coyotes. My daughter is more in to big game or whatever she is going to eat.

A youth hunter is more likely to carry the tradition in to adulthood when they have had more experiences as a youngster! Recognize with your child all the hard work and effort that goes in to the sport, successful or not! There is always a reason to rejoice!
Get ready to get in to the field and make some memories! By keeping in mind that with each moment you are in the field creating a new memory, you can keep the atmosphere positive and encouraging for years to come!

Identifying White Tail and Mule Deer, Author: JJ Ludwig

When I first started hunting the biggest fear in my mind was born out of my ignorance. It whispered to me whether I was in the field or whether I was driving in my car on the way to work…

"What if I shoot the WRONG animal???"

Keep in mind that I was a city girl raised through and through. Until I was introduced to hunting I believed deer lived on golf courses. And with that belief came also the idea that there are only two kinds of deer. The ones with horns, and the ones without.

I made the move out to the country and remained blissfully unaware of the different species of deer for another three or four years. They just looked cute, like Bambi, except in the hayfields around me rather than in a cartoon. There was Daddy deer, Momma Deer, and Baby Deer… Pause for it…. Awwwww.

Then I was introduced to hunting and someone along the way mentioned that I needed tags and draws and a proper gun with proper ammo and suddenly there was all this information swirling around in my brain about poaching and having my vehicle confiscated with all my guns and the animal itself and that’s when that question became an obsession:

“What if I shoot the WRONG animal???"

I won’t lie; my first season I simply prayed that the person beside me wasn’t steering me wrong and I was indeed taking aim at what was written on my tag. I felt a little embarrassed admitting to my ignorance and so my quiet questions were given only vague answers. Look at the antlers (Every damn antler configuration looked the same to me while at the same time they all looked bloody different since no two grew alike), the color of the tail (like I can aim at a deer who has turned on me and started running in the opposite direction to give me full view of his waving flag), and their ears. They ALL have ears. The more frustrated I became with the answers and my ability to not GET it, the more hesitant I became to shoot.

“What if I shoot the WRONG animal???”

Sitting it out and hoping to learn from the guys who dragged the animals in after the kill didn’t help me out. Even having the animal hanging right in front of me STILL didn’t give me enough confidence to be assertive in stating what species of deer it was. If you want to learn the differences, you need to get into the field. I can tell you the basics, but nothing beats field experience. Watching how the deer interact makes all the difference in the world.

In Alberta we hunt two main species of deer commonly referred to as Mule Deer and White Tails. If you saw the deer standing side by side you would probably be able to note the differences that everyone mentions offhandedly. Size, shape, antler growth, coloring, facial construction, and body language. Let’s break it down now.

Source

Ears

The ears of a mule deer truly look like they’re a little too big, almost as if the deer hasn’t quite grown in to them yet. Many say that the mule deer is named due to its ears being similar to that of a mule/donkey. I prefer to think of a fennec fox. The oversized ears almost give the face a more petite appearance. A white tail’s ears seem to be more proportioned to its head, making the deer almost appear more “elegant”. Often times you can spot a mule’s ears peeking out of the grass before you spot the mulie itself!

Source

Mule or White Tail

Tails

The Mule deer is also sometimes referred to as a Blacktail Deer. It looks like it’s been dipped in a can of black paint whereas the white tail deer has a white underside. In my experience, the white tail tends to have a bushier tail opposed to mule deer. When a white tail is signaling danger to the rest of the herd, its tail will go straight up and “wag” or wave back and forth. A mule deer also shows more of a white rump opposed to the white tail which tends to be more body colored on the backside.

Antlers

The hardest idea for me to grasp was the differences in antlers when I first started hunting. Mentors kept pointing out to me “main beams” and “points” and yet the configurations all looked the same to me. The proper answer is that in a Mule Deer, the antlers fork off from each other, somewhat like a tree that is trying to grow in as many ways as possible. A white tail on the other hand has one continuous beam going out from his head and all of his points come from that beam reaching up and forward. The brow tines (the antlers that are nearly directly the deer’s eyes going up) on a white tail tend to be longer than on a mule deer as well.

There are other differences that I have read about but have not always found to be reliable. “What if I shoot the WRONG animal???” In general, mule deer are larger and heavier than white tail deer. Contrary to that belief, one of the largest deer I’ve seen for body mass is a white tail doe that resides by my farm. I’ve also had the tiniest mule doe stamp her feet at me in disapproval when I ventured too close to her food plot. Bucks from both species swell in the necks during rut and so give a larger than life appearance. Age and nutrition play a huge role in the growth of any animal. Mule deer also generally have a more grey/brown coat whereas a white tail tends to be in the reddish brown, gold range. In the winter though, white tail deer tend to lighten up quite a bit so color is not a deciding factor.

My favorite tell-tale signs of deer from a distance is movement. Mule deer have a magnificent sproing in their steps as they bounce away from danger. They seem to spring straight up and down from all fours at once. Boing Boing Boing! In contrast white tail has a running gait as if they’re above the whole jumping for joy (or panic) kind of thing.

Both species of deer can provide a challenging stalk and hunt. The best thing to do is pour over endless pictures on websites AND get out in the field to watch the animals in their setting. The greatest part of the hunt is what you learn while you don’t have your gun cocked or your arrow nocked.

The great deer photos featured in this article can be credited to wildlife photographer Bobby Owens.