Thanks for the replies, that answered a lot for me. I was basing it off my sons maturity level. My step-son started showing an interest when he was around 8 or so, with his first hunt being when he was 11. I actually ended a hunt one time because he wanted to go home. This is while I had a deer (the he had spotted for me) pinned behind a lone tree, either way it went the deer would go down. He asked to go home, repeatedly, so we did, lucky deer.
My son has gone with me on a lazy elk scouting trip, walking about 2 miles roundtrip when he was three. I only based it off him and his desire to keep going, since I just went to check my trail camera and treated it like a short hike. Now he will take his toy guns and put them in my pelican case when I'm packing for a trip.
Funny to read about the thoughts of spoiling the kids with good hunts, since my children know all too well the "thrill" of coming back from a week afield with nothing, since most of my hunts have had to be OTC hunts where there are almost no animals remaining. But their attitude about it now is "I just like to get out of the city, so even if we don't see anything I have fun" according to my step son.
My son has gone with me on a lazy elk scouting trip, walking about 2 miles roundtrip when he was three. I only based it off him and his desire to keep going, since I just went to check my trail camera and treated it like a short hike. Now he will take his toy guns and put them in my pelican case when I'm packing for a trip.
Funny to read about the thoughts of spoiling the kids with good hunts, since my children know all too well the "thrill" of coming back from a week afield with nothing, since most of my hunts have had to be OTC hunts where there are almost no animals remaining. But their attitude about it now is "I just like to get out of the city, so even if we don't see anything I have fun" according to my step son.