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Elkchaser

Input wanted - Hunting with a 10 year old

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My son has gone with me on several hunts but is finally old enough this year to have his own tags. He drew a youth elk and deer tag so we have been scouting and practicing shooting. This is my first year guiding him so I have some questions from those who have been through this experience -

Should I try to set him up prone or use my tripod with our triclawp for shots? (Assuming we have time and location to choose)

It's been dry in our unit, is sitting water a good or bad idea? His attention span is not great as with most 10 year olds but I like the idea of shorter shots and having the rifle preset up on the triclawp. Who's tried it?

Anything else you wish you would have known or wished someone would have told you about hunting with a youth? (Other than have patience!)

 

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Been there Done That, X2. Be patient, try to not put too much emphasis on the hunt. Get him as much trigger time as you can get. Have him practice shooting standing too, go hunt some rabbits. I have seen kids shoot from triclawps and they can do well, but I also watched a kid take half a dozen shots at an Elk too. 

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Played this game last year.  I found the key at least for me was to keep everything fun, from shooting to glassing.  As far as shooting goes, I had issues trying to get my son to use a tripod for a rest.  I found prone was the only way he was going to make an accurate shot.  Kids love reactive targets from steel to balloons.  I also brought ear protection on the hunt as he had serious flitch from sound, and it made him more comfortable.  I keep his pack light and loaded down with plenty of snacks as kids burn thru them.  I did let him bring a cell phone so he could play games while I glassed, ended up keeping him quiet and still for hours.  Remember the hunt is for your kid and not you, I found myself pushing my son beyond his limits and making it uncomfortable for him.  Most important thing is take your time and have fun in the outdoors with your kid.  Oh yea be patient!

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I've had tremendous success with my own family and friends' kids shooting standing off of the triclawps out to 300 yds.

Much easier/quicker than prone, though less steady.  The kids can carry the tripod  preset to their shooting height and it's crazy quick to deploy.

One of the most important things is to have the stock/scope setup perfectly for the kid.  A chassis is a wise investment as you can adjust it for each kid as they grow.  Otherwise buy a throwaway Tupperware stock and chop it down to the right LOP and tape enough padding to raise the comb for proper eye alignment.  Lower magnification scopes with generous eye relief are a must as well for easy target acquisition.

Ground blinds with the rifle preset in the claw are extremely effective.

My 3 largest coues have all been taken that way as well as my youngest daughter's latest cow elk.

I usually walk their legs off In the AM to the point where they are happy to sit water in the evenings.

Plus you can drive to most tanks and are not having to hump out an elk with a kid in the dark.

Good luck!

Schmitty 

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With 11 yo and 12 yo sons this has been my life for a few years.

1. The triclawps is clunky and you need a lot of time to set it up. 
2. Don’t forget to consider how to support the butt end of the rifle. Without this the triclawps isn’t rock solid.

3. A bipod with legs tall enough to sit worked pretty well.

4. Practice finding animals in the scope. This is the hardest part for kids. Rabbits are good practice.

5. Sitting water is pretty ideal for shooting. If you can keep the kid entertained. I spent 120 hrs in a blind with my 12 yo last month. 11 yo came for 3 days. With headphones and electronics it’s do able. Books, snacks, comfortable chairs. Take turns watching for animals and doing other things. He could watch for about an hour at a time.

7. Have fun, don’t make it miserable. If they decide it’s boring you may be out for life. 
8. You can make a scavenger hunt of things for them to spot. Pay them for completing it. I pay a dollar for the first buck and the first elk someone finds and $5 for a bear or other uncommon animal.

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Awesome, thanks for the quick responses. Keeping him into it as long as I want to be there has always been difficult. I know I need to slow down and just enjoy the hunt. We'll keep practicing with the triclawps and prone so we can adjust as needed. I like the idea of hiking in the AM and sitting water in the PM as a good compromise. Snacks are always a hit and one of the things my son looks forward to when going hunting. We stop at any local store we can find to get an ice cream or candy in between hunting. The scavenger hunt idea is also really good and will definitely try it.

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Lots of good pointers here. My daughter did well sitting and shooting from a bipod, but I agree supporting the butt of the rifle is helpful. Lots of practice with the rifle, especially finding the target in the scope (practice aiming at specific rocks, trees, whatever...something besides a standard target and harder to see) 

100% agree with making sure to keep it fun for him. Don’t make the tag the focus...the whole experience and exploring should be fun too. If you spend a lot of time glassing, consider having something for him to do even if it’s a phone or tablet. I don’t know any kids that enjoy glassing for very long. I usually keep a BB gun in the truck for my kids to plink around while I’m glassing if it’s safe. 

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1 hour ago, Flatlander said:

+1 on the BB gun. A red Ryder really helps pass the time.

I have to be careful because I have a bad habit of just leaving it under the seat of my truck after hunting or camping trips. I don’t drive into Mexico often but still makes me nervous I’d forget and take it through base security. LoL

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Good info guys, thanks for sharing. My daughter is 8 and is into hunting with me. Can't wait for the day to come she can draw a tag! My wife and her are going to go through hunter's Ed together, so that should be fun for them.

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Get them there own gear, they will be proud of it and want to use it. Let them pick it out, you don’t need to spend a lot of money, but dad shouldn’t be wearing $800 worth of Kuiu and Kenetrek and kid wearing the same stuff they wore to school that week.

Snacks are important.

Allow them to be distracted while you are looking for deer. Hard for them to sit behind glasses for very long. My older stepdaughter tells the story of her first deer like this-“Greg said’Theres a buck’ so I woke up and shot him.”

If they don’t harvest an animal, they will still want to go again. If they are not having fun, that will never want to go again.

Mistake I made- did a skull cleaning for older deer, a small forkhorn Coues. A couple of years later, younger daughter shot her first, a decent 3x4 Muley still in velvet and  she wanted to mount it. It’s at the taxidermist now. Hopefully, older daughter isn’t too upset when she sees it on the wall. Need to come up with a great way to display her Coues skull so she isn’t too mad.

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I have had both of my kids shooting off the bog pod tripod. Another good tip depending on distance and one thing we practiced while shooting is... i have them find their target on a lower power and hold on it. Then I increase the power and zoom in for them. After our second or third trip out my daughter started doing it on her own. This gives them a bigger field of view at first to find the animal. And if they lose the animal in the scope like my boy did on his first hunt when he was 10, i backed it out he relocated the deer and then he told me ok zoom back in while he held on it again and it works decent. He did make a successful 300 yard shot that day form the bog pod. But that's how we practiced and got very familiar with it. They also practiced alot prone , which is how my boy shot his second deer the next following year.

Hope this helps.

What hunts did he get?

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45 minutes ago, greg.shrum said:

Get them there own gear, they will be proud of it and want to use it. Let them pick it out, you don’t need to spend a lot of money, but dad shouldn’t be wearing $800 worth of Kuiu and Kenetrek and kid wearing the same stuff they wore to school that week.

Snacks are important.

+1 on both, especially the snacks. 
 

and on the gear don’t let them pick expensive gear for themselves (my daughter loves the kuiu patterns and would break me if I was buying it for her to outgrow) Goodwill and Walmart are good sources for affordable kids camo. 

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Make sure he does the online hunter safety course and have a printed out certificate.   My youngest boy just turned 10 this year as well, just finished the course and was worried about the field day. Thanks to these guys here I found out it was waived this year but keep the cert on you.

I'll post a pic of our rifle set up later.  Short version, triclawps with a primo trigger stick bipod on the butstock.  Almost as stable as shooting prone

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Both my girls have been hunting since they were 10.  

The best times I have had in the field are with them.....until they shoot animals bigger than you ever have in 40 years of hunting....

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