When does your kid start skinning?

[Jörg Krüger]

Good day all.
This thread is somewhat related to @Elton 's thread as to when does your kid starts hunting or shooting his first buck.
So the question is, when does your kid start skinning and slaughtering a buck?
Is it with before he shoots his first buck, at his first buck shot or after? I guess a lot has to do with the age, as I wouldn't want a 6 year old wielding a sharp knife taking a animal apart. A lot of the replies regarding the hunting age of when a kid shoots his first buck was around 12 years old. So I guess a person could start the discussion from around that age of view to young or older.
What are your experiences?

 

[CBH Australia]

Mmm, interesting.
For safety sake when they are capable and hopefully don't slip or become unwieldy with a knife.
With firearms, well you have them pointed in the right direction or at least you are close enough within the arc they might swing to be safe and secure the firearm.
If a kid as lips with a knife, yeah. It might be hard to arrest the slip/fault in time.

 

[VertigoBE]

In my opinion a distinction should be made between actively participating (doing the butchering himself) and passively participating (helping to hold the animal still, watching you work, handing you the plastic bags to put the meat in for the freezer, getting cold water in a bucket, etc)

For the former it would depend on the individual, how confident you can be in their motor skills. For the latter , perhaps starting off with fowl, smaller critters, before going to a full sized deer, I would not hesitate to do this at an early age.

 

[Wade J VanGinkel]

This is my grandson. 12 this year. As mentioned above he's been an active participant for several years already but all in with his first deer this year.

 

[Pavel U]

Very good topic. I still have some time to solve it out since my daughter is only 9 months old now.
But anyway I believe it should not be age specific (12 years old might be an average, but ...). If the child is curious and dexterious, why not introduce it earlier? On the other hand it the child is clumsy, safety dictates caution.
My plan is to slowly yet purposefully lead through several steps:
1) build child's understanding and respect for nature
2) show her where the meat comes from
3) show "the butcher's" work
4) and then finally let her kill the first animal
I believe the best way is to "exploit" children inborn curiosity, slowly build interest and then teach them the proper ways. But I think You should proceed cautiosly. When we reach each step really doesn't matter. I don't wanna rush it and discourage her (my friend did this mistake with his children (14 and 11) and (for now) they hate when he is doing skinning and quartering the animal).
Easier said than done of course ...
Nonethelesss enjoy Your time together as much as You can.
Lovu zdar

 

[Dudders]

With my kids they probably started pretty young under 10 years old. But they had always been hanging around and watching. They started by just taking off legs and as they became proficient in each job they moved on. you just need to spend the time to show them.

 

[Jörg Krüger]

Mmm, interesting.
For safety sake when they are capable and hopefully don't slip or become unwieldy with a knife.
With firearms, well you have them pointed in the right direction or at least you are close enough within the arc they might swing to be safe and secure the firearm.
If a kid as lips with a knife, yeah. It might be hard to arrest the slip/fault in time.

It's a early statement from my side at this point , but it seems there is more danger using the knife that a gun. This might be the only case where bringing in a knife to a gun fight is scarier.

 

[Jörg Krüger]

With my kids they probably started pretty young under 10 years old. But they had always been hanging around and watching. They started by just taking off legs and as they became proficient in each job they moved on. you just need to spend the time to show them.

This actually sounds like a very interesting and good way of teaching them.

 

[PARA45]

My daughter I believe was 5 years old when she gutted her first fish, and she became a pro at it. My daughter was a natural and would watch and ask questions and poke and hold deer organs. She is now a surgery vet assistant.

 

[CBH Australia]

What about small game?
Not sure how old I was when I started skinning rabbits with a pocket knife. Fairly young and just something I was shown I guess, later doing sheep or goats from what I had observed along the way.

 

[jbylake]

First kill with much supervision. Usually 12 or 13. I was 13. I still take my deer in to the butcher for ageing, cutting and packing. but field dressing and caping/skinning should be done immediately, especially in warmer climates and should get the meat cooled inside and out asap. ,I would encourage a youth to learn those skills, if they have an appropriate place to do it. (butchering, I mean) I could butcher and age my deer, but the butchering would probably look pretty rough. All said though I feel 13, with a demonstration of handling of a knife would be about right, in my opinion.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

If your too young to skin your too young to hunt. Of course all with close supervision and teaching along the way. In my opinion you have to take the good with bad.

 

[npm352]

I don't think there is a correct answer. I will let my 11-year-old start when she wants and when her fine motor skills seem sufficient to not hurt herself. She has gotten some small game, turkeys, a cougar and a moose, but hasn't done anything with a knife quite yet. I want to edge the line between keeping it fun and urging her to help out in what is part of the hunt. The lion she got was not a good animal to learn on as it was cold and we were keeping skin for mount. The moose from this fall was also a bad animal to begin on because of the thick skin and our need to get it broken down and off the mountain before it got too hot.

 

[Andrew Short]

My father began taking me hunting when I was 4 years old. I hunted small game and deer with him for several years learning the ins and outs of being in the woods. When I was 6 he gave me my first gun which was a 410 single shot but unfortunately couldn’t hit a deer with it! When i turned 8 he purchased me my rifle which was a 7mm08. I took my first deer at 8 with that rifle. I had Interest at that time in skinning and began helping any way I could. I really didn’t learn to fully skin a deer until 10 or so.
Everyone has a different approach to raising children and what they expose them too. In my opinion, starting children young is important and exposure to different aspects of the outdoors improve the likelihood that they become competent outdoorsmen or women.

 

[Woodcarver]

My son and grandkids all started helping at a pretty young age, 4-6 or so. Holding legs, pulling out innards (have a great pic of one of my grandsons, shirtless, in camo bibs, arms up to his elbows in an antelope-ultimate redneck pic, lol). By the time they actually shot their own, they had wielded a knife at some poor carcass or two (nothing that was getting mounted, lol). And yes, there were a couple minor slips that resulted in blood other than the animals dripping a little. No lost appendages, so all was fine.
Like so much of early training, in anything, make it fun for them and they are way more likely to want to keep doing it. Make it a chore, you push them away. Keep it fun and keep them in the hunt!

 

[baxterb]

Skinning starts in the kitchen when cooking with mom and dad. Trimming bits of fat, cubing meat, cutting vegetables - basically learning knife handling. My kid started cooking at a very young age and is very knife-aware and competent. She began cutting apart animals very early as well - I can remember bringing home a ling head, she was endlessly fascinated by it and took it completely apart. Same thing with a turkey - loved skinning the head and cutting out eyes and exploring all the parts. She is not squeamish at all. Just kind of went from there...

 

[Kraut]

At the age of 16 kids in Germany are allowed to absolve their youth hunters exam. From this point on they might go hunting when in company of an experienced adult hunter. No driven hunts. Owning rifles and shotguns when 18 years old, pistols/revolvers from 25 on or with a psychological exam at 21.
Our kids did help skinning at the age of 9 or ten years, then lost interest for some time (awkward, isn't it?). Son's only interest is in cars, daughter is preparing for her hunters exam. She got her first hare at 13.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

I think it varies... My son (oldest) started helping with deer and small game well before 10, though I don't remember the exact age. My oldest daughter (middle child) never cared as much for hunting, so she hasn't done as much and started later. She is supportive of hunting and likes game meat... she's just not as interested in actively hunting. My youngest daughter... she was all-in at an early age, first helping hold moose legs and then helping with a knife. That was well before ten as well. Once, as a mid-teen, I had planned to cut up a couple caribou we shot - the quarters were hanging in the shed. When I got home from work one was completely done and in the fridge and ready to be packaged. She's a tiny thing (5') and has always been a go-getter on anything outdoors. Photo is her cleaning the skull of her first bear.

For what it's worth the first thing I remember skinning myself was a opossum from the trapline at age 7. I did it all myself, and had a really nice doily to show for my efforts at the end.

 

[Kraut]

In rural areas, the principle of "child labour" has it's own merits and seems to work out most of the times if connected to hunting.

 

[jbylake]

I just think it's different with each child. Both of my kids thought skinning rabbits was pretty grotesque from a very young age. I didn't push them, and neither of them grew up to embrace hunting anyway.

I've gutted/skinned everything from upland game, small game, large game, I have no idea how many, over the years. You know what? I have to admit I still don't find gutting/skinning larger game such as deer/elk/boar, etc. etc. pleasant. Just something that has to be done.