Career Goals - Hunt Every Day in September

[I90west]

Some people have career goals to make a ton money or climb the corporate ladder. Personally, I want to eventually spend the entire month of September in the mountains chasing elk.

I have a great corporate job right now. I work remote, well compensated, and get plenty of time off. Right now, I can take two consecutive weeks off to travel west and elk hunt. But being in a management role, I’m still bombarded with emails and phone calls.

I’ve thought of going the Starlink route and working remote from camp. But I take my job seriously and feel convicted about taking advantage of the remote work.

I see a bunch of guys on here talking about heading west for 4 weeks or even longer. Is everyone doing that self employed? Work on a contract basis? Or just retired?

Just curious what career paths allow you to maximize your time in the mountains.

 

[gloveglobe]

Career firefighter over here from Oregon. My current department works a 48/96 schedule (2 days on, 4 days off), but we are adding a "D shift" so we are moving to 2 days on, 6 days off starting next Summer. This will put us at ~4 shifts/month, and between vacation time, comp time (you can choose time off in lieu of overtime at the same rate if working extra shifts), and the ability to trade shifts with your coworkers, plenty of guys will take the entire month of September off. Some guys can finesse their schedule to take months off at a time. Best job ever!

 

[RWT]

Seriously considering the star link option at the start of the year. I work remote and travel. I have no issues taking advantage of the situation as the corporation has taken advantage of me. Carry 2 phones just so I can turn work off at the end of the day. My work is no longer mission critical as I am no longer supporting the action units. I’ve done my time at a high operational tempo. I am taking the last few years to ease into retirement.

 

[I90west]

Seriously considering the star link option at the start of the year. I work remote and travel. I have no issues taking advantage of the situation as the corporation has taken advantage of me. Carry 2 phones just so I can turn work off at the end of the day. My work is no longer mission critical as I am no longer supporting the action units. I’ve done my time at a high operational tempo. I am taking the last few years to ease into retirement.

I appreciate the input. I’m going seriously look into StarLink for next September. I’m basically useless sitting at home the first two weeks of September just waiting to leave. I think I can be just as efficient working in a tent.

 

[Shawn_Guinn]

I’ve gotten 20 plus days in September for the last 3 years fixing to be 4. One thing that’s helped was moving back to Idaho to run a smaller branch. I passed on bigger better paying options to be here. 2nd was a shift in locations I now have cell service on almost every spot I go which allows me to hunt and check emails even done some conference calls on the mountain. Yes sometimes I have to be on my laptop but I still hunt mornings and evenings. Some would say that’s no fun or I get it’s not a real vacation but I’m enjoying it and I’ll take 20-25 days where I had a chance over a week or 2 of hunting as hard as I can while worrying about what’s going on that I’ll have to fix when I get back.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Nothing more annoying than a dude spending 30 straight days hunting.

 

[cnelk]

Back in 2005 I hunted the entire month of September.
Saved up my vacation time.

Two things I learned

1- The elk definitely changed as the season went along. Different calling and different tactics.

2- Hunting elk a whole month is a grind. Big time.

 

[LFC911]

I’ve thought of going the Starlink route and working remote from camp. But I take my job seriously and feel convicted about taking advantage of the remote work.

I see a bunch of guys on here talking about heading west for 4 weeks or even longer. Is everyone doing that self employed? Work on a contract basis? Or just retired?

Just curious what career paths allow you to maximize your time in the mountains.

Last year in ID i rented an AirBNB for a week to work remotely. Since my day was over at 3:30 MST that offered plenty of time to scout each night after work. Then i hunted for two more weeks and headed home. This year for ID I'm taking my camper and borrowing Starlink from a buddy and plan to work remotely, scout/hunt in the evenings (2nd week of Sept) and then hunt f/t the last two weeks of the season. I plan to do the something similar for NM ML season; work remotely the week before season and scout in the evenings and then hunt f/t for 5 days of the season. In 5 more years or less I hope to be retired and hunt the whole month if not more.

In contrast my hunting buddy is a f/t FF and typically takes the whole month of Sept off (9 days of PTO or shift trades) to hunt elk.

 

[Speaks]

I have a cabin in WI and I move up there for 6 weeks of grouse season. I work about 6:00-2:30 or 3:00 then go hunt and log back in in the evening and knock out whatever came in during the afternoon. Il go home a couple weekends to knock out chores but spend all week days there. All on starlink.

 

[patagonialuke]

This is extremely location-dependent, but working during the weekdays and hunting the afternoons / evenings is my approach.

I can't get more than a week off at a time, but I am very fortunate to live in the unit I hunt. Last season, I was able to negotiate getting off work at 4pm, and was able to hunt 20 days, the vast majority of which were just post-work evening hunts. Get up before the sun to glass, work 8 hours, and then sprint to where we think the elk will be.

I've definitely missed out on mid-day opportunities, but I think I've gotten more experience with this approach vs. taking a single week off and hunting all day for 7 days.

 

[Jaker_cc]

I’ve found that I’m far more efficient when I have 2 8-10 days hunts instead of 1 15 day hunt. Can’t see that being different if I had a whole 30 days to hunt. I’d love to have 5-6 weeks off to use as I see fit. I’d have 3 or 4 big hunts a year instead of 2

 

[BRTreedogs]

Don’t feel guilty.
Your employer would have the job opening posted before your body is cold.

Do your job but take every opportunity you can.

 

[Pilsner]

retired military - it doesn't pay much but you get lots of free time!

Starlink is a literal game changer. Take advantage of it if you can.
If you spend 4-6 hours a day online and have 20 hours a day to yourself for an entire month then you have spent a metric sh!t ton of time learning, scouting, accumulating, etc data and experience for your hunt.
Luckily September days are still long with plenty of daylight. Go take advantage of every single minute of freedom that you currently have - do NOT wait until retirement to do so!

 

[deserthunter2016]

Don’t feel guilty.
Your employer would have the job opening posted before your body is cold.

Do your job but take every opportunity you can.

This is sadly true in the majority of the corporate world, sometimes you get lucky. I have a lot of freedom with the position I am in, but I also have a lot of responsibility. I am compensated very well, but I only get about 2 weeks a year to hunt.

My 10 year plan is to financially be in a position that I can find a less demanding position, therefore less pay, but live in a place where I can hunt whenever I want.

So, for me, it’s a sacrifice now for the future. But you never know what the future holds on the flip side.

If I were fired or died tomorrow they would fill my position in a short time. Make the time for what is important to you, they could give a shit less in the end.

This is a good thread because I think about this a lot. Not only from the aspect of time for hunting, but time for family and other things that are more important than work.

I also can afford to go on guided hunts, which when you’re short on time is nice.


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