The following is part of a weekly column here at deerPhD on Psychology and Hunting.

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Last week I shared a few tips on taking children hunting. These tips are based on my clinical experiences with children and families. Many of the clinical skills I’ve developed in pursuit of my doctoral degree can be applied to hunting with kiddos.

Today’s tip is all about preparation. However, I’m not talking about preparing in terms of warm clothes, practicing with a rifle, etc. Though those are all important, I’m talking about something a little different - preparation in terms of what to expect.

If you’ve been keeping up with this series, then you know I’m big on thinking like a child! Well, if we think like a child before we take them on their first hunting trip, then we may think, “Wow, this kiddo has no idea what it will be like out there.” I promise that the first hunt will go more smoothly if they do know what to expect. Here are a few tips to help-out:

1. Tell lots of detailed stories! As a kid, I didn’t get too many fairy tales, and I can’t tell you names of too many Disney princes or princesses, but I can tell you how my dad shot most of his bucks! I can tell you rifle he used on his first hunt and where it was. I can tell you about the times he was so cold he wondered why he hunted. I can also tell you what he thinks about when the sun is rising and setting. I can even tell you about the time he shot a black bear only to have a group of hunters pinch him and claim it as their own. Stories like these helped me get acclimated to real-life hunting situations - both the good and the bad - without ever having been on a hunt.
2. Model Safe Behaviors! I remember dad showing me how he always handles his gun safely when preparing for a hunt or when out on the range. Just being around him, I learned safe behaviors. By the time I started hunting, these behaviors were so ingrained, that I used them without even knowing what I was doing.
3. Take the child hunting before they actually hunt! I grew-up hunting the farms and forests of PA, where the legal hunting age is 12. When I was 11, my dad was fortunate enough to tag-out in the archery season. So, he used that year’s rifle season to introduce me to the world of hunting - experientially! We pretended that I was hunting, but of course I wasn’t. He took me on scouting trips and even let me pick out our spot for opening day. Dad even modified a standard 2 x 4 to let me get used to carrying something like a gun in the woods. We ventured out well before light and stayed until about noontime (until I was too cold to continue!). The rest of the day was spent moving locations, checking out different spots, talking with other hunters, and helping others drag their bucks back to camp.

Experiences such as these helped me prepare mentally for my first hunt. I knew what it would be like come opening day of my first hunt with a rifle. Since I knew what to expect, I could focus my energy on what mattered most - the deer! All of this preparation paid off as well, because early that first morning, a mess of deer came right through the clear-cut dad and I scouted. My 7mm-08 was the first shot in the woods that year…and it was the only shot I would need to tag-out as a 12 year old!

children, hunting, Psychology of Hunting, teaching kids, tips

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 The following is part of a weekly column here at deerPhD on Psychology and Hunting.

————————————————–

Matt over at the Bright Idea Outdoors Blog is emerging as the ‘go-to guy’ for mentoring youth in the outdoors. Check out some of his recent posts to learn advice he has to offer and to learn about a seminar series he offered at the recent Nation’s Outdoor Sportsman’s Show, sponsored Kevin Paulson at HuntingLife.com.

From what I know about Matt and his writings, he’s definitely the expert in this area, and his knowledge seems to have evolved from practical experience with the Bright Idea Outdoors Crew! I’m coming from the completely opposite end of the spectrum: I have not kids! I have hunting with some younger hunters in the past, but only minimally. So, my knowledge base is much less practical; it stems from my 9 years of formal study in Psychology (yes, it’s been that long), 5 of which were in graduate school in pursuit of my PhD in Clinical Child Psychology.

If you think that means nothing and since I don’t have kids I don’t know anything, then you’re not alone!The most frequent question/concern I’m faced with when I do clinical work with families is just this: “How do you know what to do if you’ve never had kids of your own?” It’s a great questions, and I hope that over time I can convince you that there might be some useful information up my sleeve. If not, thanks for checking this out at the very least!

So without further ado, here are a few tips for taking children hunting:

1. Think Like a Kid, because they CAN’T think like you. In Psychology I would say something like, “Take a developmental approach.” Children are not small adults - so they can’t think like adults. That means that their perspective of the outdoors, their reaction to situations, and their overall experience will be different than ours. What does this mean practically? Shorter attention spans, less practical experience (if any), and a lot of questions (hopefully)…just to name a few. It will all depend on the age and developmental level of the child. It also means that you have the opportunity to view the outdoors through their eyes…which can greatly enhance your hunting experience!
2. Focus on the YES’s. Because of number one, I suggest using a variety of teaching methods that I employ in the settings in which I work with children or that I teach parents to use with their children. My favorite (and arguably most effective) of these strategies is to be extremely careful about how I issue commands. What fun is it for a kid if hunting turns into, “Don’t talk; don’t move; don’t do that with the gun; don’t do this…don’t do that”? Every single “Don’t” can be phrased positively, which increases a child’s chance of compliance - thereby enhancing the opportunities for a pleasurable outing. For example, “Don’t talk” = “Remember to stay quiet”; “Don’t point your gun unless you know the target” = “Always keep your gun pointed in a safe direction”.
3. Mini-games. Since kids are different than us, their experience will be different. For example, an hour in the cold will go by much faster for most adults than the average 12 year old. My dad used to build in mini-games to the hunt, which allowed the opportunity for continuous verbal praise and rewards that kept me on stand for longer periods of time. He’d keep challenging me to stay on stand another 15 minutes or half hour, and then he’d say how proud of me he was when I could do it. He also never made me feel guilty for not sticking it out. Eventually, staying on stand longer rewarded itself with successful hunts!

So there are just a few practical tips for your next time out with your youngster. If you like what you read, be sure to check-back for more tips in the future…

The Psychology of Hunting

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