My son turns 6 years old Wednesday. I have been teaching him gun safety and hunting ethics since he was able to tell me "yes I understand daddy". He is not ready to shoot a firearm, but he has been shooting his Diana 70. I wanted to start him hunting next year, but he has driven me nuts asking when I will take him hunting. So, tomorrow will be his first squirrel hunt!! Even though he can barely hold the gun up by himself, the goal is to let him feel the experience of the outdoors. My plan for tomorrow is to utilize this "hunt" as a beginning of his outdoor education. Teaching him how to identify trees, posion ivy, etc, as well as wildlife sign. Since I have preached that we eat what we kill, I hope to just shoot one squirrel so that I can show him how to clean one and smear alittle time honored tradition of blood on his cheek.
I started hunting small game at 7 and had taken my first deer by age 9. Hunting and the outdoors has been much more than a hobby or a sport to me. It has been a lifestyle and a connection to nature. I got my wife into hunting and we started our own family heavily rooted in the outdoors. Now, I get to take my first born on his first hunt. This is a wonderful feeling for me and I hope and pray that I am able to make this an amazing and educational first hunt for my son!! This is a picture from last year, but I think he is ready.

I started hunting small game at 7 and had taken my first deer by age 9. Hunting and the outdoors has been much more than a hobby or a sport to me. It has been a lifestyle and a connection to nature. I got my wife into hunting and we started our own family heavily rooted in the outdoors. Now, I get to take my first born on his first hunt. This is a wonderful feeling for me and I hope and pray that I am able to make this an amazing and educational first hunt for my son!! This is a picture from last year, but I think he is ready.
