Hunting – a Faro family adventure

For the last three and a half years our family has been living in the small community of Faro, Yukon.  Faro is the Yukon’s best kept secret and is just over 350km northeast of Whitehorse and home to over 400 residents.  It has proved to be the perfect community for our family to put down roots.

The Went Family: Matthew, Kara, Hunter and Cavan

Over and over again we heard the comments, “Are you sure you are going to take the kids?” and “Oh, the kids will just be cold and miserable”or “That area is too rough to take little kids into.”

Yes, we were planning a multi-day hunting trip.  In tents.  In the back country behind Faro, Yukon. Faro is .  Quad and Argo access only.  With our two and four year old sons.  Are we crazy?  Yes, I am pretty sure we are.

So how does one ensure a successful backcountry hunting trip with kids in tow?  Let me share my advice!

The Lefebvre Family: Luc, Delphine, Quillian and Lilou

Step 1:  Take another family with you who are more experienced in the bush!  We headed about 25km back into the mountains with another family who live year round in a cabin without running water or electricity.  They have a 20 month old daughter and three year old son that rode in luxury in the back of a covered Argo for the adventure.  We never would have done a trip like this on our own.  Our friends knew all the tricks for drying out wet sleeping bags, making shelters to keep the rain out and how to drag our quads through the biggest of the mud holes (I now have Argo envy).

Wet boots in 3… 2…. 1…

Step 2:  Bring warm gear and a multitude of footwear!  Why, oh why, is our two year old drawn to running water like a moth to the light?  After five days camping by a creek, all three of his pairs of boots were wet.  Maybe next time I will bring one pair of boots for each day we plan on being out.

Snack time on the mountain

Step 3:
Keep meals simple and bring a lot of snack food.  We wanted to enjoy our adventure and not be spending hours each day preparing meals, so we brought freeze dried suppers, warm and cold cereals for breakfast, and bunwiches for lunches.  Of course my children refused to eat anything other than goldfish crackers, honey-nut cheerios and nutrigrain bars for the entire five days.

Step 3.1:  Don’t bother fighting the food wars in the bush.  Just let them eat cheerios for three meals a day!

Finding snow in early September is every kid’s dream

Step 4:  Make sure to have the kids wave at all of the manly-men you pass who are also out there hunting.  It is time to show-up those guys that think the wives should stay at home with the kids while the men do the hunting!  I am pretty sure those guys went home feeling a bit less manly after seeing kids in the monkey toques go by on the backs of our quads.

Kara and Hunter riding Betty the Quad

Step 5:  Redefine your idea of a successful hunting trip!  Have fun and don’t worry if you head home without a dead moose tied on the back of your quad.  We spent five days exploring, laughing, relaxing and perfecting our technique with the quad winch in the mountains behind Faro.  That is how memories are made and how our kids will build character.  I am already planning next year’s trip.

Kara is a prolific & entertaining blogger from Faro, Yukon.  She resides in Faro with her husband Matt, and two active & endlessly entertaining boys, Hunter and Cavan.  Visit her blog, Adventures of Matt, Kara, Hunter and Cavan in Faro, Yukon.