College Student Advice

[zacattack]

Must not be an engineering professor but I’m not the best student I just try to make up for it with hard work. Thank you for the comment!

Nah, I’m in animal science, but one of my fishing buddies is engineering faculty. He probably goes out fishing at least once a week, and is always telling me i should go more, but I have a 5 month old so that hinders my fishing/hunting time. I’m saving up kid time to go to Idaho, or at least in my mind that’s how it works.

 

[chlanoue]

Hunt AZ OTC in Dec over break.

 

[ksp7146]

Go now. I've been out of school 3 years and have a very similar degree. You will be working long hours and it will be hard to find a whole week to take off. I hunted all through college and still wish I had gone more.
Its a long ways from you but I agree you should look into the AZ archery tag, can go over the winter break and split the gasoline bill. If you go that route PM me and I can share what I know of the hunt.

 

[hartigjosh]

I don't have specific advice on an area to go. But as a 34 yr old with two young kids at home i want to echo what was said earlier... go and don't think twice about it. You'll never have this level of freedom another time in your life. Go hunt, fish, and make mistakes in the outdoors doing it while you can. All of it will be learning lessons that will pay off down the road and memories you will cherish when you are 34 or 84.

I got an invite on a landowner tag in Colorado in a great unit for mule deer when I was 25. I was working my a$$ off and trying to build my career and it was the first vacation I would take since I started 3 years earlier. I had a meathead mentality and thought by not taking vacation I was proving something. Don't be a meathead... take time away and take time to get outdoors and vacation when you enter the working world. I never got to go on that hunt.
As I sat in the office waiting for my boss to call me from HQ and tell me he was logged in and I was clear to head to the airport I got a call from his boss. My boss had been let go and I needed to stay, cover, and enter damage control mode. I had to try and explain to my bosses boss how important this landowner tag was and the opportunity was to take this hunt. As a nonhunter he said "yeah I dont care, you arent going on your trip"
Moral of the story... go early and often and dont think twice. Never know when it gets ripped away.

 

[ffcpfef]

We hunted SE Montana public land last fall DIY and found success by locating areas with minimal hunting pressure and getting back in further than the road hunters could see. Hunting pressure was far less than anticipated and the quality and number of animals we located were better than we anticipated. Only issue is you will likely need one preference point to draw. Good luck!

 

[Bearguide]

Just like others have said don’t use student loan for a trip- concentrate on finishing school
and get your degree it’s well worth it. Like others have said apply and get your points for a state you want to hunt then go camp in the summer. learn the land and experience the area in good weather It’s miles ahead of going out blind. I wish I would have finished college at a younger age instead of working and doing night classes and online classes. Just think long and hard about your decision it will affect the rest of your lives

 

[bdg848]

My wife and I went OTC Mule deer in Idaho from Eastern Iowa last year. Only I had a tag. My tag/license, gas for a 21 hour drive, food, and two or three nights in a hotel at the end of the week cost $1200. We prepared our own dried meals and ate sandwiches from a cooler. $1200 didn't include some of the gear we needed. We slept in our SUV at the trail head to save from buying a tent and other real camping gear and I borrowed a pack and rifle from friends (in Iowa we must use shotguns. I had no need for a deer worthy rifle cartridge.)

 

[Spoonbill]

I know a few people have hinted at this but, don’t overlook opportunities closer to where you go to school. My biggest regret was not trying to find more public opportunities when I was in college (going to school in Texas didn’t help) Also your spring break may match up with spring bear and turkey in some western states, something to consider.

 

[TheGrayRider]

The federal government will probably discharge all federal student loans in the near future so I would just borrow the maximum amount annually and use any extra funding for vacations and hunting trips. You have your whole life ahead to work and pay off debts!

 

[Brian_Holcombe]

Life doesn’t get less busy. Hunt now.