Hunting With Kids | Camaraderie and Life Lessons

By James Esperti, Branif Scott, and Vinny Delgado, Fay Ranches 

As much as you can love hunting, there is nothing quite like hunting with your kids.  The excitement that oozes out of their every pore reminds you of some of your first hunts, a time when it just meant a little bit more to you. Whether following the tail of your bird dog anticipating a solid point, hunkering down in a duck blind calling to working birds, or pursuing a wise old bull elk or mature white-tailed buck, the enthusiasm from a young hunter experiencing these things is the greatest reward of all.

Having children who are just starting their young hunting careers has encouraged us to dust off all the old decoys and clean the shotguns, recalling fond memories of hunts with our parents.  The early, cold winter morning hunts were some of the most treasured times we shared as a young family, the precious time with mom and dad in the field, something we always looked forward to. Passing the torch to our children—and doing it in the right way—is very important, especially in this day and age, with an exploding population and so much anti-hunting sentiment in the media.

Fay Ranches was founded on five core values, one being family and another, conservation. If you are a hunter, by nature, you are also a conservationist. We enjoy teaching our kids about harvesting, encouraging the “give and take” value, and instilling in them a desire to protect the precious resources that provide so generously for us.

Hunting not only provides an opportunity to turn off the cell phones and focus on each other and being in the moment, but the kids also walk away with positive life skills, everything from discipline to patience. Cell phones and computers don’t provide those opportunities or skills. The camaraderie and life lessons learned from time in the field have been a part of our American heritage forever, and hopefully, 100 years from now, the sporting torch will be shining bright because our children passed these values down to the next generation, and they to the next.