Getting Kids Interested in Archery and Bowhunting? Start Early!
By Tony Kuehn

I don’t recall how old I was when I first started shooting a bow. I know I was quite young when I first stepped foot on an archery range. I usually played in the car or on the picnic table with my toys while Dad and a few family members shot arrows. A few of them shot well as there were a few archery trophies in the house from the tournaments they attended. My Dad, big brother, a sister, an uncle and my great-grandpa, whom I met only as an infant, they all bowhunted. Some of that archery and bowhunting influence while growing up in my family environment certainly rubbed off. Now I am passing on that tradition to my own kids and other youth I encounter.

It’s been said that one of the reasons kids don’t take up archery and bowhunting is because there is so much competition from other activities. As I recall as a youth forty years ago there where a lot of other activities available then too. We played football, soccer, baseball, hockey, rode our bikes, swam, watched TV, etc. However, there still was some time for outdoor activities such as fishing, archery and hunting. I recall going to about dozen archery clubs only a few of which still exist in my area. As a person grows older and plays less football and other team sports requiring a lot of strength and physical activity (we do usually have to work the next day), archery may come back as a more popular activity.

What I recall as a child was that archery was never “pushed” upon me like some of the other sports. Bowhunting was something I wanted to do with my Dad and his hunting buddies occasionally but it was also was fine if I stayed home to play with friends. Some of that “playtime” included the now politically incorrect game of “cowboys and Indians.” During that game, kids with homemade bows, lances, spears and costumes took on the other kids who had plastic guns, holsters, hats and boots, etc. usually in a vacant woodlot. I remember only one occasion when someone actually shot at someone with a bow. It was directed at his feet to make him dance. We lost some of our bows to diligent parents after that. Some of us switched to slingshots and crab apples which also didn’t go over well. When I did get a real bow it was a hand me down from the local bait and general sporting goods store.

Later on as a teenager classmates and I built bows, crossbows, arrows and tied a lot of flies for fishing as part of school projects. I also discovered bowfishing for the first time. We had a little bit of exposure to archery in gym class but the equipment was pathetically inadequate compared to my hunting gear. In high school I discovered girls, cars and alcohol but still had time to fish and hunt. Once out of high school team sports pretty much disappeared, as I was too busy working. Spending my money on dates and cars, instead of archery equipment. However, with regular prodding from family and few friends I grew out of that phase.

Times today have changed, all for the betterment of archery and bowhunting in my opinion. Archery has made its way back into the school system through the NASP, which MBI whole heartedly supports; numerous studies indicate archery is many times safer for kids than football, baseball, swimming or other sports. Target archery at the clubs, sporting goods superstores, and local parks all have increased since I was a kid. The equipment itself has changed drastically too making it a lot easier to bring kids (even the less physically inclined) into the sport. Recently MBI gave input to the state legislature regarding the bill to reduce the minimum bow weight for hunting. I grew up hunting in Wisconsin and Minnesota and as a little guy I recall the difficulty I had with 40# recurve when I was 12. While it is up for debate whether 30# would be adequate for big-game I recall my young nephew successfully taking his first deer with a 33# bow. He had complete pass through and then some, deer traveled less than 100yds before expiring.

Earlier this year I took my kids to a 3-D shoot and theybrought their little toy bows with suction cup arrows with. It wasn’t the first time they attended a shoot with Dad but this was the first time they actually brought something to shoot with. Granted the kids are usually happy to just tag along if you bring treats, pop or take in a lunch break, but they really get fired up if allowed to participate.

Even at two years old my son picked up the phrase “line clear” as the signal for going to the target to pull arrows. Both kids now know very well to stand behind Dad while I practice at my own targets in the woods behind the house.

One thing a parent should keep in mind when introducing children to an activity is to keep it simple. Just like starting out fishing for panfish instead of finicky walleye, keep it simple with archery and bowhunting. Don’t plan an outing on a cold rainy day and expect the kids to last through 30 targets or 3 hours in the tree stand or blind. Sometimes looking for tracks, trails and “M & M piles” is enough. Reinforce the trips you do take with archery based bedtime stories such as “Robin Hood”, “Black Arrow” or the newly released “Connor’s Big Hunt.” I also used the following nursery rhyme-you should recognize the tune:

Rock A’ Bye Baby in the Tree Stand
When the Arrow Flies, Soon It Will Land
If It Flies True, the Deer I t Will Fall
Then Down Will Climb Daddy To Fetch Food For Us All.

Kind of corny I guess but it got the point across. I am still surprised how much of my influence seems to be rubbing off on the kids. The other day my three year old asked how old he needed to be before he could hunt. He wants a gun and bow so I keep telling him thirteen (after firearms training). My daughter asked if I shoot fish with my bow. She has never seen me do that but must have picked it up from a bowhunting magazine I was reading or TV. If our recent trip to the 3-D range is any indication of my children’s future interest in archery I think I will be a proud parent. The kids had a great time, the other archers really enjoyed seeing them on the range and now my wife is even asking about shooting a bow again. She never was exposed to it before we started dating and early in our relationship hunted and attended shots with me. On one occasion she shot well enough to win a nice prize a framed wildlife print. I think she realizes now how much the kids like it and how it could become a family activity.

None of my sisters hunt or shoot bows anymore but a few of their children and grandchildren do. A couple of those individuals had trouble with girls (or a bad choice of spouse); cars, alcohol and drugs but now have turned to archery and bowhunting later in life. It doesn’t take a lot of exposure to get people started in the sport so I encourage all bowhunters to pass it on whenever they get the chance. You never know when that exposure will come back and influence someone in a positive way.

For more information on archery programs reference :
National Archery in Schools Program (NASP) and grant process www.archeryinschools.org or the DNR website
Also see:
www.archery search.com
www.teacharchery.org

Anyone interested in safety statistics regarding archery should reference:
Arrowsport’s articleV2-05: Is Archery a Safe Sport-Yes!” PDF available on the archerysearch website
US Consumer Protection Safety Commission and NEISS database www.cpsc.gov
National Safety Council’s “Accident Facts.” An annual report which is available for a fee.