How To Prepare a Child for their First Hunt

For many people, hunting isn't just a hobby -- it's a way of life. And one of the most satisfying aspects to hunting is involving your whole family, especially children! Exposing your kids to the process of hunting and involving them in every step is a great way to foster a love of the outdoors, carry on old traditions and create new ones. Savage ambassadors and hosts of "Wallhanger TV", Chad and Dana Wall have great tips on how to prepare a child for their first hunt. 

How to Teach Gun Safety to Young Shooters
Before your child is ready to actually hunt with you, you need to spend time teaching them to shoot and most importantly, gun safety. Teaching young children is a great time to help them develop good habits from an early age. Chad and Dana Wall began teaching their daughter gun safety when she was very young and started off with a BB gun. "We never let her shoot anything lighthearted," says Chad. By "lighthearted", he means that they didn't let her just shoot the BB gun and develop bad habits from the start. They treated the BB gun as a big rifle -- because it is a big rifle to her!

Before your child has a gun in hand, the best first step to gun safety is to simply talk to them about it. Back up and read that again -- talk to them about gun safety first! Discuss the rules of gun safety and WHY they are important. You should be completely confident in their understanding of safety before they ever touch a firearm. Talking to your child about gun safety is an important first step, but Dana reminds us, "You can tell them, you can preach to them about what gun safety is, but you have to show them. You have to lead by example." As the parent and the adult, you must always be aware that you are modeling behavior and practices for your child. Safety should be any hunter or shooter's first priority, but it's especially critical when you have a young hunter observing everything you do. 

Dana also emphasizes to teach your child to treat every gun as loaded. "We don't want her to be scared of the gun, we want her to be comfortable with and we want her to be confident, but we also go back to safety. You always treat a gun like it's loaded. If you do that, you should never go wrong," says Dana. 

When it comes to equipment, the great news is that there are so many options available these days that are suitable for children to learn with! Look for compact or adjustable firearms that are designed to fit smaller framed individuals or children. Start teaching gun safety and basic shooting skills with a rimfire round like 22 LR. The Savage Rascal is the perfect rifle to start! It's a single shot 22 LR that is scaled down for young shooters. Plus, the Rascal is a hit with kids! "I love my little Rascal. It's a .22, and I love shooting it," says Chad and Dana's daughter.

Parents like Chad and Dana Wall love that the Rascal is a single shot because it gives the child the opportunity to practice manipulating the safety at the right times and prevents them from firing several rounds in a row without thinking about it. "Even though you may be out trying to shoot a lot and get a lot of repetition and rounds in, you still want to treat every round with importance," stresses Chad. 

As your child gets older and ready for an actual hunt, consider shooting smaller calibers with mild recoil that are still able to take down deer like 223 Rem or 243 Win. If you take the time to teach them gun safety and help them develop good shooting skills, the lessons from their BB gun and Rascal days will carry over easily to when they're ready to shoot bigger calibers. 

Preparing a Child for their First Hunt
Introducing your child to hunting starts long before they're ready to harvest their own animal. The child's age, temperament and interest all are factors to take into consideration. Every child is different. It's also important to check your state's regulations on when youth hunters can actually hunt. If they are too young to hunt with you, there are still a number of things you can do to help them prepare for when that day comes. First and foremost, gun safety and proficient shooting skills. Chad Wall says that you'll know when they're ready when they can shoot confidently and they understand the process. "The next step is woodsmanship. And what I mean by that is you have to have your child in the woods and you have to have them exposed to it," says Chad. Take them into the woods, teach them how to be quiet, how to walk, look for signs of deer or turkey or whatever you're hunting. 

It's important for your child to understand the seriousness of harvesting an animal. It's better to wait until they're able to comprehend the nature of hunting and not take it for granted. Your job as the parent is to prepare them for this reality and help them appreciate the animal as a lifelong hunter. Teaching them good shooting habits and skills plays right into this as well. The last thing you want is for your child to take a bad shot on an animal. Teaching them how to make good, clean, ethical shots is just as important as teaching them how to shoot. 

Hunting is about so much more than just taking an animal. The preparations, gun safety, shooting basics, and how the animal you shot eventually becomes food for your family are all important aspects of hunting to teach your child. "You can start teaching your kids that before they're age-appropriate to be able to actually harvest an animal themselves," says Chad. 

Hunting as a Family
Hunting isn't just being behind the gun or sitting in a tree stand. It's a long, rewarding process from preparation to mealtime. The Walls believe it is important to involve your children in the entire process from a young age. Take them with you to check trail cameras, let them help you plant food plots, take them on scouting trips to learn what signs you're looking for. Don't shield them from how you process a harvested animal and prepare it for a meal.  Find age-appropriate ways for them to help you. As they get older, you can introduce more responsibility for them to help in the hunting preparations. 

When you pull wild game meat from the freezer or prepare fresh game for dinner, make sure you talk to them about the game. This is so important! Remind them of the time you all went hunting and harvested a deer or turkey or whatever wild game you're eating that day. Help them make the connection that the harvested animal is being served for dinner. It helps them develop respect for the game that you want them to have as a hunter.

Dana Wall stresses the importance of teaching your child that hunting is fun, but it's also work. Just like anything else in life -- a job, sports, or any other activity -- you have to prepare and work hard to be successful. We may not always recognize it, but hunting is a great way to foster a strong work ethic in your children. 

One of the things that was important to the Walls when their daughter was too young to be in the stand with them was to make sure she was involved in recovering a deer or turkey. Dana explains that they felt it was important for her to see the whole hunt come full circle since their daughter helped hang stands and plant food plots before the season started. 

You want this to be a good experience. Don't bite off more than they're ready to chew. Keep all your lessons age-appropriate. Hopefully, you'll help them develop a passion for the outdoors that will never burn out. Raising hunters and passing down our enthusiasm for the lifestyle to the next generation is the best thing we can do to keep hunting alive and well. These are memories that will last your child a lifetime!