I'd hold my kiddo out for the opener if the grades were unacceptable.

We'd have to agree to a plan of action to improve the grades, and if key milestones are met then we'd consider letting them go on a hunt.

The bottom line is the grades have to come first.

Most of the replies have been in the direction of letting him go hunting and working this out some other way and I'd have to say I agree with that.
It sounds like he is going to make the grades to possibly be eligible for advanced and duel credit classes when he is in HS and that is only going to take more time away from you two being together because he will be studying more.
My son was involved in 4H Trap and Skeet competition and won district titles in both disciplines in his sophomore and junior years. He competed in his senior year and finished near the middle of the field in both trap and skeet classes because duel credit studies were keeping him to busy to practice.
He graduated HS with 33 semester hours of college which is basically enough to cover a freshman year but it cost us time together. I still much rather he did the duel credit/advanced classes even though it cost us a lot of time we could have spent in the outdoors..........

Just like dogtraining.
Reward them with a treat when he does someting right but never punish them when they do something wrong.

So next time you go out huntin with your kiddo, bring some baconstrips.

X2

Good job Dad! More parents should hold their kids accountable.

I would have a hard time keeping my son from hunting as a punishment. I guess it says more about me than him, but I really want him to get involved outdoors as much as possible so hopefully he continues on his own as an adult. I don't wanna jeopardize that.

Now, if he wasn't a video game junkie and hunting was his #1 thing I would consider it. But his computer is and will continue to be the biggest carrot. Any time the grades start to suffer his gaming time goes out the window.

For me it would come down to effort. If he was putting serious effort, then there could be an external factor that is culprit. Like someone said, it could be a teacher (methods/attitude, etc.), something in the class room, or, you get the picture. Especially if he's knocking it out of the park in his other classes, could be something going on. I would not punish him for that, but work with him and still let him hunt a little. It sounds like you guys stay involved, checking grades, etc. So you have a better handle on it.

I think it is a great way to motivate. Especially if you can check grades online and make it a week to week decision. School is their work. This is the discipline they need. Our jobs often cause us not to be able to hunt. It is life.

Hunting IS NOT A RIGHT. It must be earned!!! Life lesson for the young man is if you want to play then put in the work to earn the privilege to go. If your not hunting you are either studying or doing chores in the house the whole time, and not complaining with a whole bunch of "yes ma'am" and "yes sir". I have had 3 go through the teenage years,and if you do not draw a line in the sand they WILL NOT respect you or your authority for the rest of your life.

Who's to say if you are wrong or right? Every parent is different and every child is different. The question is do you think it's right? It sounds like you may be second guessing yourself for not letting him hunt. Parenting is the hardest job in the world and only time will tell if we did a good job.

As with 99% of questions on this forum you will never get 100% of the people to agree or disagree on anything.

My 11 year old boy made some bad decisions recently so instead of opening weekend, he got to dig ditches.

If my kid doesn't make the grades he can stay at home. If he gets mad, thats tough. Good grades, respect for his family and chores are the priority, not our "friendship". My 14 year old son gets excellent grades by the way and he'll be hunting this weekend.

on point 100%

Depends on your definition of a bad grade. For my kids they get there butt chewed if they make a B. Nothing taken away but I'm sure if one made a C that would change.

They are in 5th and 7th grade.

At this point their fear of dissapointing their parents has been incentive enough to keep grades up. I hope that stays that way.
Hunter hasn't missed a trip I wnet on since he was 7. I don't see how I would go without him now. I have explained that if he is grounded from hunting then so am I and he sure doen't want that. Soon enough he will be older and I won't have the chance to go with him as much.

My dad made me stay home from a hunting trip one time after a bad report card. Thats all it took was one time. I was devistated, but you can bet I brought my grades up. Now I'm not saying that I never got a bad grade again (it happens) but missing that trip was an eye opener and made me realize that school was the priority. Looking back I'm grateful to him for doing it.

Butt chewing for a B. DANG!!!! I got $.50 for a B and $.25 for a C. Below a C was usually leather belt on butt.

I go by the effort put forth. If my son gives it his best effort in a given subject, and the effort results in a C, I am ok with it. Of course I would prefer an A, but that's just not always feasible.

Regardless of their grades, my boys are expected to be well behaved. No excuses. They may not grow up to be astronauts, but they will be polite and well mannered....or have the toughest backsides known to man.

Good response.

Welcome jfisher.

In a few years he will be spending opening weekend in his friends boat, with his buddies, not his dad. Tan his hide, give him chores, put him to work, take away other things.. With the amount of kids turning Justin Beiber city boy on us every day, I definitely wouldn't keep him from doing something that you hope will positively influence his life. I can only hope my kids will enjoy hunting enough for something like this to even be feasible.

Mine would be staying home because if his grades are not up to par, then I have to spend every night listening to the hen getting on his butt. I would need me some "me" time.

I am lucky that grades have not been a problem for us because I have had him in the deer blind with me since he was 4yrs old. I usually do not even take my gun anymore, I get more pleasure out of watching him do the shooting.

I think hunting is a privilege. No one hands out leases for being good at your job or earning enough money to pay for them. You still make sacrifices in order to provide yourself and your children a place to hunt. I think making a child earn their right to hunt by making good grades is a great idea. It shows them that nothing comes free (no matter how much you want them out there) and that every reward in life is worth working for.

I think its a precedent that should be set well before the hunting season starts. If they do well in school, they get rewarded with hunting.

Sounds typical of ADHD actually...obviously it may not be. I vehemently argued that ADHD didn exist until I found out I have it...bad!

I was the same way, forget it in my locker, couldn't find it before the teacher finished picking up papers, left it at home, the list goes on. I wasn't trying to be lazy, and wasn't failing to learn, just little things like TURNING IT IN. Luckily I was in school when tests counted more heavily, participation wasn't a grade, and trying hard didn't count if you tried wrong, so I usually managed to pull out an A anyway, only got three or four B's k-12.

Now I'll get to the point. It turns out, after struggling for years in college while working, and marrying a psychology major, I'm riddled up one side and down the other with ADHD. When I was in grade school they believed that kids with ADHD couldn't possibly have good grades so straight A students, especially well behaved ones, were overlooked. It turns out, that if you're smart enough, or the class is interesting enough, you can do well in school with ADHD and no meds. I mention this because the sort of behavior you mention is a symptom. ADHD is real, and has a real cause, and it does not go away, Oddly, hyper-focus is a symptom. ADHD people have lower dopamine levels, which leads to the lack of focus, but also makes them more sensitive to rises in dopamine, the result is that when something interests them, that activity becomes a drug and they will focus in on it insanely. Another symptom is multiple unfinished projects. They get sucked into something new, dive in, then once they start to get good at it, it becomes disinterestig and they move on to the next thing. I don't believe in meds for ADHD. Just knowing that I have it and what the symptoms are helps me notice when I'm going off track, and helps me get back on track. By the way, no amount of punishment ever impacted things like forgetting to bring HW to class, or not having a pen or pencil, or not putting my name on a paper, or nowadays, driving to the range without targets. These things are not based on choosing to be lazy, or choosing to play XBOX instead of studying, they are based on the brain not working quite the same as everyone else's. Now the kids acting up are another story. Just because you get bored faster than everyone else, doesn't mean you can't do so quietly. Lol.

My dad would have let me hunt. That's why I never gave a crap about grades…

Does that sound right?

I wasnt the best student either, But My Dad gave me some real long talks around that camp fire! Your a lucky man to have a kid with interest you can share, especially these days... take advantage of every opportunity you can. Better to hunt with him now, than for him later!!

In the end, what's more important: a grade, or the man/woman they become in the future? One grade cannot indicate a kids success in school. One could have all A's except for one class due to: the teacher, the subject, a friend, a girl... the list goes on. As said before, find out why he's getting the grade you see before you decide to take action. A bad grade due to laziness is a lot different than a bad grade due to difficult/confusing material