Hunting When You Have Little Kids

Words & Images by Brianne Miller

I have been hunting my whole life, honestly as long as I can remember. My earliest memories of hunting are walking in my dad’s boot tracks chasing roosters in snowy Iowa well before I could carry a gun myself. My brother and I would hunt for a while, and then go back to our tan Chevy Astrovan to eat snacks, take a nap or sometimes watch Jurassic Park movies on the tiny car TV strapped to a milk crate that plugged into the auxillary power outlet between the two front seats (or cigarette lighter port as I knew it as a kid, though neither of my parents smoked). Hunting with my dad, his friends, our family, and a number of phenomenal hunting dogs makes up a lot of memories from my childhood.

That being said, becoming a mother (and not losing myself entirely to that role) has been one of the hardest endeavors I’ve undertaken. I won’t lie when I tell you all that continuing to hunt has been very challenging over the last 6 years. While I wouldn’t call myself an expert on this topic, I’m hoping that my experience as a mom of three little kids can give other new parents some hope for holding onto hunting and bird dogs during the newborn and toddler years.

I hadn’t missed an annual trip to South Dakota in about 15 years until I was pregnant with my second baby. You could even spot me on the prairie (albeit slower than usual) when I was 7 months pregnant with my first AND we took a trip out to South Dakota just before he turned 1 year old. This past year (2023) was my return to hunting after a 4 year hiatus, all thanks to a dog. The breeder I had been in contact with had earlier puppy availability than expected, and that puppy led to finding some new and encouraging/supportive friends in NAVHDA, and an amazing experience at a HerUpland Dog Training Camp last summer. Having a “village” of supportive family and friends has made a big difference in my ability to hunt with little kids.

My husband and I took some pretty fun (and questionably crazy) hunting trips with our kids during the 2023 hunting season, and we definitely couldn’t have pulled it off without a lot of help and preparation. I personally found that most of the work in taking kids hunting was in the preparation. If I adequately prepared for the kids to not be miserable, the rest of the work to get in the field was a comparative breeze.

First, I would recommend that you reframe your goals and expectations for hunting with your little kids. Whether it’s for a couple hours at a game farm or a week of hunting out of state, this is not going to be a “wake up at dawn, slay all day, and harvest a limit” kind of hunting trip. The goal is for you +/- hunting partners to facilitate your kids and your dog(s) to have fun, and for everybody to be safe. When you choose to bring your kids along, you’re in it for the long game! Bird contact is awesome to have (and really fun for the kids to experience), but may not be possible if you’re hunting wild birds.

Here are my practical logistic tips for hunting with little kids (under age 6):

Safety

Safety is paramount when hunting with young kids. Here are some tips to stay safe:

• Put your kids in blaze orange, even if your state doesn’t have minimum blaze orange requirements.
• Have them wear ear protection. My husband and I both wear earmuffs when we are hunting with the kids and figure modeling these behaviors are bound to help us win any arguments that may come up.
• Establish rules about hunting in the field. We all stay close together, walk in a line, and we don’t run away/hide.
• Hunt with trusted hunting partners. Don’t take shots at game that aren’t safe.

Comfortably Clothed

I live in Wisconsin and pretty much only hunt in the upper Midwest where it’s cold for a majority of the hunting season. While I can push through some discomfort with being cold during hunting, being cold is one of the fastest ways to get my kids out of the field.

• Babies can be put in a bunting suit and multiple layers of fleece or sweatpants/sweatshirts and onesies. Bigger kids wear their snow gear (snowpants/jackets) when it’s cold out. Fleece neck gaiters, mittens, hats (blaze) and boots are worth investing in quality products that will hold up.
• One of us carries any kid(s) under 3 years old in a backpack-style carrier; we found they just aren’t big enough before 3 years of age to get through any mildly dense brush. My 5 year old was actually surprisingly resilient with some walking in the dense grouse woods and pheasant prairies.

Fed

A hungry kid is the second most likely reason we have to cut any activity short. You cannot possibly bring too many snacks on a hunting trip. My kids thrive on variety, so I like bringing several different choices for snacks and I let them pick out what they’d like to eat when they’re hungry.

Opportunities to get warm/dry/clean

This is an easy logistic to tackle if you’re just heading out for a couple of hours locally, but if you’re going on a long trip, this becomes much more complicated.
During the hunting day, this usually equates to breaks at the truck. I always bring books and erasable LCD drawing boards along in the vehicle. Recently, we’ve started playing some card games with our 3 and 5 year old kids, which really creates some great opportunities to keep boredom at bay when we need to take a break to warm up. If you’re hunting away from home, you need to plan for a warm place to sleep. Those options include a hotel/rental/house, a camper/travel trailer, or a tent with a heat source (woodstove or propane heater) and some good sleeping bags. Learn from my experiences. If you’re camping at a public or private campground, remember that the water will be turned off (no running water, no showers, no flush toilets) if temperatures remain below freezing for too long. There will still be a frost-free spigot (or two) around, but they may be inconvenient to access.

Fun

Don’t forget to make hunting fun! Look for wildlife tracks or scat on the ground, teach your kids tree or plant identification, pick up empty shells you might find on the trail, play a game of “I spy” while you’re hunting.

If you’re away from home on a long trip, try these things to keep traveling fun:

• Stop at random playgrounds along your route or nearby where you’re staying (churches, schools, and small town parks always have great playgrounds).
• Check out local children’s museums, nature centers or the closest YMCA. Even taking an hour to run around a basketball court is a great way to get some wiggles out.
• Check local town websites and social media profiles to find out if there are fun local kid-friendly events on weekends.

Brianne is a veterinarian based in Wisconsin. She’s also an upland hunter and mother of three young children. Facebook: Brianne Miller