Don't let your kids have devices in the deer blind.

agsalaska

7:43p, 10/28/25

I may catch some flak for this but I don't care.

Please don't stick devices in front of your kids to keep their attention this year while sitting in a deer blind.

Please. I beg you. I spent two school years teaching English before going back into the private sector. I witnessed it firsthand. The amount of damage we have done to the next generation is shocking. They can't think for themselves mostly because they never spend anytime alone in thought. They are scared of their own thoughts.

When you are in the deer blind turn that horse**** off. Look out the window. Pay attention to the sounds and smells of nature. Judge the wind. Listen for wildlife that you can't see.

Please please please don't be the guy that has his kids sitting on a stool staring at iPads until a deer shows up because it's the only way that you can keep them quiet. I beg you. You are doing them a huge disservice.

That is all.

TX AG 88

7:49p, 10/28/25

preach!

S.A. Aggie

8:03p, 10/28/25

Amen to that!!

Nealthedestroyer

8:30p, 10/28/25

I only allow books and drawing pads

Vae Victis

McInnis

8:40p, 10/28/25

Agreed.

But how long before a TexAger takes a photo of a buck from his blind and posts it here with a thread title "shoot or not?". Or has it already happened?

agsalaska

8:44p, 10/28/25

In reply to McInnis

Different. I used to hear that argument a lot. Grownups are completely different than kids when it comes to devices and how their brains operate. Not comparable.

Tormentos

8:53p, 10/28/25

I suggest adults try this approach as well….

SockDePot

9:11p, 10/28/25

Opening weekend is the one time per year I finally beat the candy crush level I can't beat because I haven't played it since last deer season.

What's next, you can't poop and be on Texags?

SweaterVest

9:16p, 10/28/25

In reply to agsalaska

Two blue stars for you sir!

My kids are young, but I think total silence in the deer blind with kids is overrated.

My grandpa would have conversations with me in near full volume while I stabbed every spider in range with my pocket knife and he loudly cracked beers and chain smoked cigarettes. Aside from the many fond memories and the incredible bond we formed, I also killed more deer in the blind with him than with anybody else!

giddings_ag_06

9:19p, 10/28/25

Devil's advocate take: When I take my 3 year old hunting and get an hour and a half of "hunting attention" from him, 30 minutes of watching tractors on my phone is sometimes the only way to make it through the end of the hunt. And we are minimal screen parents. If hunting is not enjoyable for him, he'll lose interest I'm sure and I'm not letting that happen. And right now, he asks to go hunting weekly.

But I get your point. If he was older I'd be on board.

SockDePot

9:30p, 10/28/25

In reply to giddings_ag_06

giddings_ag_06 said:
Devil's advocate take: When I take my 3 year old hunting and get an hour and a half of "hunting attention" from him, 30 minutes of watching tractors on my phone is sometimes the only way to make it through the end of the hunt. And we are minimal screen parents. If hunting is not enjoyable for him, he'll lose interest I'm sure and I'm not letting that happen. And right now, he asks to go hunting weekly.

But I get your point. If he was older I'd be on board.

I'm with you here, started taking daughter with me at 3, had her take coloring books and books and would let her use iPad to take photos and videos of animals. We have a lot of funny videos of her narrating what's going on at full 3 year old volume, but telling the people watching that have to be quiet while hunting. She's now my only real hunting buddy and probably best shot in the family at 12. She also does great in school, sports, and behavior. Such a shame of what she could have been if it wasn't for tech in the blind…

agsalaska

9:35p, 10/28/25

In reply to giddings_ag_06

When I said 'quiet,' I meant keeping your kid under control enough to keep them in the blind. And I'm really talking about older kids than 3.

My blind is constant conversation. About nature. And deer. And funny *****

Jason_Roofer

10:13p, 10/28/25

In reply to agsalaska

I agree with you and I also have never had "noise" from the stand cause issue anyway. I'm noisy as hell. Kids with crinkly candy bags, dripping the backpack on the floor retrieving something, sneezing, coughing, general kids noise….Deer don't care. Let the kids be bored or talk or whatever. Screw the deer. It ain't about the deer.

Gunny456

10:59p, 10/28/25

In reply to agsalaska

Right there with you agsalaska. When my dad took me huntin we didn't have enough money to have a fancy fiberglass or metal blind on ten foot towers. My dad built a simple brush blind and put an old quilt for us to sit on and taught me about the animals, birds, deer, the wind etc etc ….and told me to be quiet. It was a damn sight colder in the hill country than it ever is now on opening day and I remember being cold but did what he told me or I may not get to go along again.
It must have not bored me too much as i hunted with him all I could and have hunted all my life since.
I also had a rule for myself when hunting at our ranch or on leases. We had vhf radios to communicate if we had an emergency or needed help….so I never, and still don't, turn my cell phone on when hunting. I put up with the damn thing enough on a normal day of my life….my huntin and fishin time is my down time.
I got plenty of beauty a wonder of the outdoors to look at and don't need to be looking at a damn digital screen during that time.

ttha_aggie_09

11:18p, 10/28/25

In reply to giddings_ag_06

giddings_ag_06 said:
Devil's advocate take: When I take my 3 year old hunting and get an hour and a half of "hunting attention" from him, 30 minutes of watching tractors on my phone is sometimes the only way to make it through the end of the hunt. And we are minimal screen parents. If hunting is not enjoyable for him, he'll lose interest I'm sure and I'm not letting that happen. And right now, he asks to go hunting weekly.

But I get your point. If he was older I'd be on board.

This! Our kids are very limited on technology - to the point where almost every other kid I know thinks we are weird. But I wasn't about to make my kids endure a 3hr sit with no entertainment at all because I wanted to make sure they had fun in the blind and ultimately wanted to come back. Now that job was more on me and teaching them while in the blind but having a good fallback option is nice too.

My oldest doesn't even take her phone in the blind anymore and we talk the entire time, which is absolutely perfect for me. Heck, not sure she ever spent more than 5 mins on hers in the deer blind because there was too much to see and talk about.

TLDR, get your kids in the blind by whatever means necessary and then ensure they have fun and learn.

CactusThomas

12:21a, 10/29/25

If you got a three (3!!!) year old on a phone/tablet, you are not a minimal screen parent. That's crazy. But to each his own. I guess.

giddings_ag_06

6:42a, 10/29/25

In reply to CactusThomas

Well that's a little harsh. He turns 4 in a few weeks. No device in public or around people. He can watch the John Deere kids videos in the stand after a good hour and a half or so if he starts losing interest (lots of times we don't see a single thing). I'll absolutely do whatever I need to to make it fun for him and keep him interested and 20-30 minutes is usually all it takes when snacks don't work.

jrbaggie

7:21a, 10/29/25

My situation fixed this issue. Zero cell service where I hunt plus we, my wife and I, did not allow our two boys to have a cell phone until the fifth grade. Both boys loved going to the stand with me and both shot their first deer setting on my knee. They were required to shot spikes first before we would consider a fork horn buck.

Wearer of the Ring

7:29a, 10/29/25

A bit off topic but I spent many a Saturday in a blind with a small radio with the volume at a whisper listening to Dave South.

I feel so much better since about 11 a.m. CT on 20 Jan. 2025

Hoyt Ag

7:30a, 10/29/25

In reply to Tormentos

Tormentos said:
I suggest adults try this approach as well….

This is my biggest pet peeve when in elk camp with clients. I dont ever say anything but it is amazing to me to spend $6000+ to ride into the backcountry, hunt elk and at night you are on a freakingIpad or your phone and not enjoying the moment.

barnag

7:32a, 10/29/25

The only thing I had as a kid was the latest Texas Trophy Hunters magazine.

OnlyForNow

7:49a, 10/29/25

In reply to Hoyt Ag

Hey man... I'll leave my phone at home you get help me get an elk!

OnlyForNow

7:49a, 10/29/25

In reply to barnag

That's what they're calling Playboy now a days?

barnag

7:52a, 10/29/25

In reply to OnlyForNow

would of been awkward with dad if I had a Playboy lol

schmellba99

8:06a, 10/29/25

Nothing like an OB low key "i am a better parent than you are" thread.

Do whatever works for you and your kid in the blind. Leave it at that.

WheelinAg

8:23a, 10/29/25

In reply to Hoyt Ag

Hoyt Ag said:
Tormentos said:
I suggest adults try this approach as well….

This is my biggest pet peeve when in elk camp with clients. I dont ever say anything but it is amazing to me to spend $6000+ to ride into the backcountry, hunt elk and at night you are on a freakingIpad or your phone and not enjoying the moment.

This cracks me up anywhere. Sporting events, concerts, etc... some are just completely engaged in their phone and others are so busy trying to record the event on their phone they're not in the moment.

ttha_aggie_09

8:27a, 10/29/25

In reply to schmellba99

schmellba99 said:
Nothing like an OB low key "i am a better parent than you are" thread.

Do whatever works for you and your kid in the blind. Leave it at that.

Yeah, triggered by reading the starlink thread (I assume)…

S.A. Aggie

9:34a, 10/29/25

My phone is on 100% of the time…..videoing my hunt. Sounds ridiculous but I have a library on an external hard drive that I will watch one day when I can no longer hunt.

AgEng06

9:40a, 10/29/25

In reply to SweaterVest

SweaterVest said:
Two blue stars for you sir!

My kids are young, but I think total silence in the deer blind with kids is overrated.

My grandpa would have conversations with me in near full volume while I stabbed every spider in range with my pocket knife and he loudly cracked beers and chain smoked cigarettes. Aside from the many fond memories and the incredible bond we formed, I also killed more deer in the blind with him than with anybody else!

Well, this wouldn't work for my son (10 yrs old) and me bowhunting in a pop-up 20-30 yards from a feeder... but I do get your point. When we rifle hunt he has more fun because he can move around/talk a lot more. That's not to say we don't talk in the pop-up, but that it's not as much or has to be lesser and lower volume.

Howdy Dammit

11:39a, 10/29/25

I need to hear this advice as well. I try all the time to just sit and be still, but 90% of my hunts I'm on texags or ESPN app. These phones are addictive as hell even for adults.

Milwaukees Best Light

12:50p, 10/29/25

In reply to schmellba99

schmellba99 said:
Nothing like an OB low key "i am a better parent than you are" thread.

Do whatever works for you and your kid in the blind. Leave it at that.

I wrote a couple different replies to the op, but deleted them all cause they didn't capture my point well enough. Thanks for replying. I think you captured my thoughts well.

schmelba99

12:58p, 10/29/25

Nothing like an OB low-key "i am a better parent than you are" thread.

Do whatever works for you and your kid in the blind. Leave it at that.

AgEng06

1:05p, 10/29/25

In reply to schmelba99

schmelba99 said:
Nothing like an OB low-key "i am a better parent than you are" thread.

Do whatever works for you and your kid in the blind. Leave it at that.

Is there a sock echo in here?

Howdy Dammit

2:21p, 10/29/25

In reply to schmelba99

schmelba99 said:
Nothing like an OB low-key "i am a better parent than you are" thread.

Do whatever works for you and your kid in the blind. Leave it at that.

Why is your sock the same username

Matsui

2:24p, 10/29/25

In reply to agsalaska

AMEN