We are hunters here at Prime Revolution, which includes Joey Dianda and Conner Capurro, our kids who hunt with us on the show. Family is very important to everyone on the Prime team for so many reasons. We are able to spend quality time together in the outdoors while instilling important values that are so valuable when hunting like patience, respect, and appreciation for the natural world.
It’s so important to keep the family hunting tradition alive. Here are a few reasons why.
A family that hunts together, has stronger bonds.
Families who hunt together have to do so much more than just spend time together. They need to strategize where to go, perhaps by scouting the hunting area or watching trail cams. They need to stay calm and quiet when they do spot their quarry whether it’s in the backcountry or from a treestand. Sometimes, they need to figure out how to pack out their kill, and that means field-dressing on the spot. That takes some major coordination and collaboration from everyone in the hunting party.
Hunting is tough. It means long hours hiking or keeping quiet. It means working together to be successful and safe. It means being on the same page and communicating effectively. Now, if all those things don’t help a family bond, then we don’t know what does!
Less screen time!
Hunting means you are outside! When we hunt with our families, we are hiking long distances and getting out there…often in zones with no cell phone service which is so important for kids in this day and age. Get your kids away from Netflix, their video games, and social media apps on their phones and out on family hunting trips instead!
When you’re out hunting with your kids, everyone is able to enjoy the fresh air, the birdsong, and the views. Kids can see and experience nature first-hand, not through a screen.
Hunting teaches important life lessons.
Taking an animal’s life is not an easy task, especially for a young hunter. But it also teaches them where their food comes from. It teaches them about the food chain, about the circle of life, about how humans are an important part of wildlife management and a balanced ecosystem. And when they get their first deer, their first kill, that’s a moment of pride, respect, and gratitude that is unmatched.
Hunting teaches patience and humility. You and your child first have to complete hunting licenses and be in the running for a tag. Depending on the type of wild game, you can be in a lottery for many consecutive hunting seasons! Once you get your tag, then you have to plan your trip. Are you camping? For how long? What are you packing? Next, comes the physical task of hunting which will teach any teenager in high school how to be strong in the elements.
Hunting also doesn’t mean coming home with your tag every time. This is also an important lesson in trying again! There’s a good reason it’s called hunting, not catching. When you or your child doesn’t come home with venison dinner, it’s a good lesson in what went wrong; maybe it was the weather, maybe you weren’t on the right trail when tracking, maybe you made the tough decision not to make the shot because you were too far away or the wind was high. These all promote valuable decision-making, independence, and growth in a child.
The lessons that hunting promote are invaluable and really can’t be taught in other situations. The things we learn together might be our favorite thing when hunting as a family.
Promote gun safety.
A kid who knows their way around a gun is a kid with a good head on their shoulders. Children who go through gun safety classes and are out with their family hunting, see first-hand how serious and powerful a gun is. That means they will always know not to point a gun at anyone, treat it like it’s always loaded, know how to disarm a weapon if the situation calls for it, and teach their friends that guns are not toys.
Gun safety is a valuable life lesson that every kid should know!
Preserve family traditions.
Deer hunting trips and camping with the family, including extended family, is a tradition that many Americans cherish. Hunting camps or deer camps can be considered an important pastime. How many deer hunters, or any hunter or angler, really, who now hunt with their children remember sitting around a fire with their fathers, who remember hunting with their fathers, and so on, and so on.
Going on a hunting trip and camping with family is an American tradition and it’s so important to keep that tradition alive by hunting with our kids today. Being around like-minded family members, telling stories around a campfire about whitetail stags passed, and planning for the hunt the next day are cherished moments.
A hunting family is a family with strong bonds, and that helps your kids feel safe and secure in a community that supports them.
Prime Revolution | Family Hunting Traditions
The number of new hunters is declining. A 2016 survey from the US Fish and Wildlife Service found that only 5% of Americans hunt, which is a sharp decline from 50 years ago. We need to keep these traditions alive for the next generation, not only to preserve our sport but to also fund wildlife conservation. When we buy a tag, that money goes right into wildlife management which is so important to keep our wild spaces, wild! And that means hunting with our kids and teaching them these valuable lessons.
We’re doing our part here at Prime Revolution! Check out these awesome episodes of Joey and Conner doing what we all love to do. We are so proud of our kids and the sportsmen and women they’ve become!
In Season 5, Episode 2, Connor heads to Nevada on a youth deer hunt and Joey gets to chase musk ox in Canada in Season 5, Episode 1. In Season 5, Episode 4 the Dianda family goes out in the Nevada high desert to fill some deer tags and have some great things to say about hunting with one another. To complete Season 5, the Capurro family goes to Africa in Episodes 7 and 8.
Whether it’s elk hunting, turkey hunting, pheasant hunting, or chasing big game, getting out there is good for the whole family.
Our kids are awesome!