EP288 How To Get & Keep Kids Interested In Hunting

How can you compete with all the noise out there today to capture the attention of children around hunting and keep them interested in the sport? In this episode I interview Jack Armstrong, a lifelong hunter, pastor, author, and speaker who has dedicated himself to the cause of inspiring children to embrace the outdoors, hunt, and grow closer to family. 

Here are the links mentioned in the show: Mystery In The Marsh Book | Barracuda Bombshell | Jacks YouTube | Jacks email: [email protected]

So what do you need to do in order to Get & Keep Kids Interested In Hunting

  1. Inspire Them – To want to hunt, to go outside, to have adventure. Reading to your kids is one of the best possible ways you can do this year-round. And not reading just anything but books designed to cultivate imagination and a desire for hunting. Books about strong values, character building, and hunting deer, turkey, waterfowl, elk, fishing and more. 
  2. Modeling – You need to model or demonstrate the pursuit for them to see and value. But just leaving for a week every fall to go to deer camp doesn’t do it. You need to bring them in deep enough so they can really see some things. Maybe they aren’t ready to come to deer camp, but maybe they can go with you for a work day at deer camp.
  3. Involve them in all aspects of the hunt – Scouting, shed hunting, working the land, building blinds or hanging stands, cutting trail, checking cameras, studying the weather, planning and packing the gear, etc. There are year round opportunities to cultivate relationships with the child and engage them around the bigger pursuit.
  4. Equip Them For Success – They don’t need SITKA gear but if you are cozy in your down jacket and they are shivering, they won’t be able to enjoy the hunt. You can get great used gear on places like Facebook marketplace from kids that outgrew it. You buy it, use it for 2 seasons, and then sell it and get them the next size up. Consider other things too like getting them a trail camera for their birthday that they can setup anywhere they want, make it fun, engage them in all kinds of ways.
  5. Pick The Right Hunts – Not all 10-year-olds are ready for a 12-hour deer hunt, maybe they aren’t suited for deer at all yet. Maybe squirrel hunting is a better place to start, turkeys, ducks, pheasants, doves, etc, are a better place for them to start hunting, or are more active pursuits that will help hold their interest.
  6. Recalibrate Your Expectations – Redefine success. Taking a deer or a 12-hour sit can’t be the goal. The goal has to change. Maybe it is seeing a deer, or hearing a turkey, maybe its lasting an hour. Maybe it’s the kid wanting to come back. This is a long-term investment, the goal is helping the child, not just pulling a trigger.
  7. Periodically Give Them The steering Wheel – Let them make decisions, what to shoot, where to hunt, what to hunt, how to do it. Maybe you hunt by sitting but they want to hunt on foot. Maybe you prefer rifle but they want to use a bow. Maybe you have strong proven strategies but they want to try something weird. Go with it. Give them space to stretch their wings, to experiment, to fail, and to have fun.

Some people will feel like they won’t be able to hunt anymore if they do all this. Maybe don’t take your kid to your best tree strand that is a 10 out of 10, you save that for you and your solo hunts. Instead, maybe you work with the kid to build a blind in a spot that is a 5 out of 10 for hunting a but it’s better for them because it gives them cover to fidget, it’s easier to get into, has a comfier chair, and they can see a lot of does passing in the distance. Its ok to keep things for yourself, but when it’s for them, let go of yourself and freely invest in them at those times.

Some additional authors in this space putting out great books are Lane Walker and Kevin Lovegreen. Their stuff is also outstanding.

EP287 3 Tips For Hunting Crows In Timber

People often make crow hunting harder than it needs to be. They try to go straight to a massive professional hunt where the goal is to down hundreds of crows. That is both unrealistic and unreasonable for most hunters. Most hunters should go into the woods with first time goals of a shooting a crow or a couple of crows. In this episode I talk about one of the easier ways to hunt crows in the woods with minimal gear and expense. 

Often when people hunt in timber their goal is to get the crows to land in a clearing or shoot them as they circle overhead. Both of these approaches work and can be fun and effective. But they require more work, ideal conditions, the right setup and a fair amount of skill and/or experience to pull it off well. A much easier plan is to find a fair spot and try to get the crows to land in the treetops and then pick them off.

Doing this drastically increases your chances of getting crows and minimizes many of the weaknesses of new hunters or new crow hunters. You get to observe the birds, better understand them and how they work, and take shots that are much easier and realistic than trying to take down fast moving birds are variable ranges. I have done it the hard way and the easy way, and I wish someone would have gotten me started hunting crows this way. 

Now it is true that your total number of crows taken will likely be less using this strategy than many of the professional setups, but those professional setups only work if you have a truck full of decoys, the perfect farm to hunt, and a perfectly brushed in hunting blind. Very few new hunters have all or any of those things. And very few crow hunters ever will. 

This podcast episode talks about the various strategies and approaches for hunting crows like this and how you can much more easily get into the woods with the land available to you and take your first couple of crows. 

EP286 Should You Be Afraid When Hunting Predators?

There is something about being in the woods with predators that can make your pulse race a little bit. However, every time you are in the woods, you are there with predators, so what makes this different? On this episode I dig into the fear of predators, where it comes from, why it comes, what to do about it, and when extra precautions really should be taken when hunting. 

Fear is irrational by nature. The dark can make us afraid, the woods at night can make us doubly afraid, and predators in dark woods can be enough to paralyze some people with fear. But the truth is, darkness cannot hurt us, darkness in the woods is no more dangerous than darkness in your bedroom, and if there are predators in the woods, there are there day and night, whether you are hunting predators or not. But when we are hunting animals with sharp teeth or claws, we are more aware of them, and it weighs on us more.

Most predators are more afraid of us than we will ever understand. We have to work hard, do everything right, hide, and work to draw predators into gun range, hoping they do not detect us before we can pull the trigger. The moment they sense our presence, they often flea. So why would we be afraid of them? That occurs with far more animals than most people realize as well.

There are only a handful of north American forest animals that post any significant threat to hunters. You are more likely to be injured falling, cutting yourself with your own knife, or getting in a car accident on the way to the woods than being attacked by a predator in the woods. With rare exceptions, you do not need to carry a sidearm for protection from animals.  Other hunters, maybe, but animals, almost never.

However, one of the best things you can do is gain all the knowledge possible and then contact your local game commission and local hunting guides, where every you plan to hunt, and ask them about what the local risk factors are during the time of year you plan to hunt there. There is no substitute for this because there are so many variables in different ranges and seasons, that only true focused locals will know what dangerous and when in their area.  

In some areas, brown bears may pose a significant danger to deer hunters, in other areas allegators may be a threat to duck hunters. But the only way to know for sure is to contact local officials and follow their guidelines to stay safe when you are hunting. There is always some risk, but the kinds of things that most people fear are irrational and unrealistic. And the things that do merit some concern are often nowhere close to them. 

In this podcast episode I go deep into the different predators most people hunt or are likely to encounter and talk about the risks and risk levels posed by each. This episode focuses on north American animals, yet many of the principles apply far beyond this region as well. 

EP285 Five Lies About Sub Zero Hunting

There are a lot of myths and misconceptions when it comes to cold weather hunting, especially subzero hunting. The word alone invokes powerful images of punishing cold and impossibilities. But the truth is, you can hunt lots of game very effectively when it’s cold, from deer to goose. On this episode I get into debunking some of the lies surrounding late season cold. 

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Hunting below 0 degrees Fahrenheit comes with numerous challenges and obstacles to overcome. Some are technical, some are physical, and some are simply made up. For some reason mystical qualities are applied to cold weather hunting. The simple truth is that there are people in different parts of the world who live, work, and hunt at temperatures below zero for weeks if not months out of the year. Many people see zero as warmer than usual.

But for those who live in warmer climates, this number is seen as some very important threshold and many myths have crept up around it. But the reality is that nothing magical happens at 0 degrees. The animals keep moving, equipment keeps working, and hunting is very possible. But cold weather hunting is more difficult and requires some special strategies for dealing with the cold across all levels.

You need to make sure your gear is fully operational and winterized. You have to be dressed for the cold, and that means more than just wearing super expensive brands. You also need to be sure you are in proper physical condition or take steps to mitigate your shortcomings, so you are not hindered by the difficulties that come with cold weather hunts.

There are some pros to late season artic weather as well. It simplifies hunting some. Where animals go becomes more focused and predictable. There are fewer options on how and where you can hunt. And while it does become harder, some of it becomes simpler as well. Deer patterns change, goose patterns become more predictable, and small game is easier to spot much of the time.

What you wear matters a lot, but it is more about finding the right types of layers than the right brands. Different materials and garments serve different roles and as long as you have those roles covered, you can hunt very effectively even in cold weather, snow, and powerful wind chills.

In this podcast episode I dive into examine five lies about subzero hunting and how you can overcome all of the legitimate challenges to be successful in the woods.

EP284 Is It Worth Hunting Ducks In The Late Season?

When the winter sets in, is it really worth the time and effort to go waterfowl hunting? Can you really be successful? The answer to those questions may surprise you, however there is not a blanket one-size-fits-all answer either. But there are principles I provide in this episode that can help you answer that question no matter where you are or where you hunt. 

There is a very important and often overlooked truth when it comes to late season duck hunting, and it is this. In most places, not all of the ducks leave for the winter. Now in Alaska, yes, the ducks are gone. But in New York and Pennsylvania and Indiana, and many other northern states, there are birds there year-round. If you can’t find any ducks that does not mean there aren’t any ducks.

The single biggest indicator of ducks is open water. If you can find water that has not frozen, be it lakes, streams, creeks, or rivers, you will find ducks. Or rather ducks can and do live there year-round. Some people have their best hunting in the winter because it concentrates where the ducks are and can hang out.

Another very often overlooked element is the concept of a fluid migration. Ducks do not just fly dead south until they hit the Gulf of Mexico and perch on the shore all winter. Many fly south until they find more comfortable weather, and when there are warm weeks they will drift back north some. They may be pushed further south again by a cold front, but birds move a lot. A duck may fly 100 miles for breakfast. They are very capable and mobile creatures. If you do not see birds in your area in the late season, just wait. Cold or warm weather could bring birds in from different directions.

The biggest consideration of late season hunting is safety. Falling in a stream when its 70 degrees outside is inconvenient. If it’s 20 degrees, that can be life threatening. You need very safe strategies to set up decoys and recover birds if you are hunting around water. Having gear that is up to the task is also important. You need to be able to stay warm and dry even in harsh weather conditions. High wind is much more common this time of year as well. But I think this can be a very effective time of year for most hunters. 

Late season hunting can be very good hunting, some of the best of the year, but it takes a little different approach.

Listen to the full podcast episode to hear all of the details. 

 

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