Decisions of a 23 year old/2019 Hunts
- Thread starter Cml5895
- Start date
I’m going to comment again on this just because reading everyone else’s comments on here got me thinking.
Do whatever you think is best for you. Some people like being planted. Other people like taking risky shots. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn’t. Some people are glad they took them, some people regret. That’s part of life though. You’re not supposed to know where you’ll end up in the end.
In the words of John Michael Montgomery “Life’s a dance you learn as you go”
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Do whatever you think is best for you. Some people like being planted. Other people like taking risky shots. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn’t. Some people are glad they took them, some people regret. That’s part of life though. You’re not supposed to know where you’ll end up in the end.
In the words of John Michael Montgomery “Life’s a dance you learn as you go”
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
kswhitetail
FNG
- Joined
- May 9, 2017
- Location
- Kansas
You are wise to consider a big move at your age. It will never be easier. Glad to hear your taking the time to work out your concerns. I would figure out the financial piece and the second employment concern. I can imagine that it could be difficult to find an employer who allows you to be absent for 3 months of the year. Financial security does make it easier to sleep at night. Please let us know how this works out.
Idaho Lefty
WKR
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2017
- Location
- Boise, Id.
I'd "stay put" and PAY OFF, your School Debt FIRST and be looking for, a GOOD Job in a Western State,.. BEFORE , I'd ever move ! I moved to Idaho at 40 and it cost me $96,000. of our savings, before I "got going" in Business ! ( I had a Family, tho ! ). Don't play "catch up" Financially, IMO. You can hunt Deer in NY and still go West for a couple of Hunts while paying off your Debt and while looking for, a REAL Job, in "YOUR Field" of work that, will ALWAYS, pay better than an assistant Guide ! Fun to think about, Hunting/ guiding,.. BUT, you will feel better, NOT being, a Slave to Debt !
Say you make a mistake, and I'm not saying it would be, it would be best to do it now when you have time to recover. Plus it would only affect you and not a wife and kids. If it's what gives your life passion, give it a couple of years. Whether it's guiding or just a move out where the air is clear and the memories are waiting. At least you won't have to say "I wish I could have".
Reburn
Mayhem Contributor
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2019
- Location
- Central Texas
So, may hats off to you and I'm sure I'm going to get ostracized for this,
Keep your job. Stay where you are. Or Get and equal or better paying job and move.
You have one chance to be a young rising star in an industry. The more money you make the easier it is to make more money. I'm in the construction Industry as well. I killed myself 23-35. Worked a lot. Had a kid. 60-80 hr. weeks, weeks on end. Paid off a mortgage. Now I'm 38. I own 1 house outright. Except that pesky tax bill and insurance every year. Been divorced once. Married again and, I am 5 years from owning my second house. I've worked a lot. I live in Texas, so I have hunted a lot too. But the money I've made has allowed me many once in a lifetime trips. To be honest one a year not counting mini trips. I don't advertise this, but I spend a ridiculous amount on hunting every year. The only way I was able to achieve this is to work my butt off and make very sound decisions as to my employment. Now I didn't say safe. I said sound. Life favors the bold and risky. We only have so many years to climb the ladder. It gets impossible as you get older to climb the ladder. You will never make the move from CM to VP at 55. It just rarely happens. I think guiding is a horrible idea. I know many bitter guides that were avid hunters that wretch at the prospect of having to guide another jackass with money that can’t shoot the broad side of a barn. They are so bitter they don’t even want to hunt anymore. I’m sure there are guides that love every day too. I think you should put your nose to the grind stone and work it out. Literally just work and work and work. Hard and smart. I find life so much more enjoyable when I can do, what I want, and how I want, with deep coffers.
Keep your job. Stay where you are. Or Get and equal or better paying job and move.
You have one chance to be a young rising star in an industry. The more money you make the easier it is to make more money. I'm in the construction Industry as well. I killed myself 23-35. Worked a lot. Had a kid. 60-80 hr. weeks, weeks on end. Paid off a mortgage. Now I'm 38. I own 1 house outright. Except that pesky tax bill and insurance every year. Been divorced once. Married again and, I am 5 years from owning my second house. I've worked a lot. I live in Texas, so I have hunted a lot too. But the money I've made has allowed me many once in a lifetime trips. To be honest one a year not counting mini trips. I don't advertise this, but I spend a ridiculous amount on hunting every year. The only way I was able to achieve this is to work my butt off and make very sound decisions as to my employment. Now I didn't say safe. I said sound. Life favors the bold and risky. We only have so many years to climb the ladder. It gets impossible as you get older to climb the ladder. You will never make the move from CM to VP at 55. It just rarely happens. I think guiding is a horrible idea. I know many bitter guides that were avid hunters that wretch at the prospect of having to guide another jackass with money that can’t shoot the broad side of a barn. They are so bitter they don’t even want to hunt anymore. I’m sure there are guides that love every day too. I think you should put your nose to the grind stone and work it out. Literally just work and work and work. Hard and smart. I find life so much more enjoyable when I can do, what I want, and how I want, with deep coffers.
Idaho Lefty
WKR
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2017
- Location
- Boise, Id.
You are asking, a ton of Guys "here" that, LIKE to Hunt and they will all give you about, the SAME answer, move NOW because, Hunting is SO important,.. to THEM ! I'd rather Hunt a little less than, be a "Slave",.. to DEBT !
It's not all about being a slave to debt. It's about happiness. What good is it all if you work yourself to death. Money can't buy back youth or time. I worked hard and am debt free. No mortgage, no car payments, no credit card debt. I just lived within my means and got it done. I think you would have a better chance of finding a good life with someone who appreciates the same things by moving where it makes you happy. If you stay there and chase the buck, before you know it you will be a "slave" to responsibilities and trying to buy what you're missing. Besides, your kids will thank you.
@Cml5895
When I was just out of college, I had a girlfriend that loved riding and rode competitive dressage (we both rode at the time). She was a CPA and made good money, her first dressage teacher was an instructor at a small stable. He didn't make much money and she quickly outgrew and surpassed him in ability. Why? Because she was able to afford to continually upgrade and hire the best coaches, she could take hours a week for herself to practice/train each night, she could take multiple private lessons a week, she had money to buy a great horse and pay entrance fees and travel as needed to events in different states. He had few options, he was stuck with little money at a small time barn, then moved to another small barn and another...
I learned a lot from that experience.
Money and a reliable income bring opportunity and advantage. You may not be in the wilderness for 3 months straight each year, but you will not sacrifice YOUR hunt, you will be able to hunt for yourself when, where and how you want. You will be able to buy a new truck, bow, gun or gear when you want, you will have time to train and scout, you will not be cooking for and cleaning up for others, nor dealing with out of shape "hunters" who cannot handle the backcountry and expect to ride up to and sit on a wallow and kill a trophy. Your income will not be desperately dependent on tips from hunters that either failed to score due to their own fault or were so tight on cash after paying for "their hunt of a lifetime" that they have no money left for you after they settle up with the outfitter (who, by the way, always gets paid).
Yes, you won't have those clients that love you one week of their life and give you a big man-hug at the end and tip well. But you won't sweat the cheapskates and you won't miss the money the cheapskates don't tip.
You will make friends that become hunting partners you can team up and hunt with during archery peak rut or first rifle.
Find a good job out west and negotiate your terms, then move. Pay down your debt, make sure the deal you cut with your new employer is that you take a solid 2 weeks off at peak rut and a couple 4 day weekends in July/Aug so you can scout. Make sure you start right out of the gate taking your agreed-to hunting time- even if you don't scout or hunt that year. Don't back off on your sacred time.
Be pragmatic, be a little selfish of your own time to hunt, your own financial future and the family you will have.
JL
When I was just out of college, I had a girlfriend that loved riding and rode competitive dressage (we both rode at the time). She was a CPA and made good money, her first dressage teacher was an instructor at a small stable. He didn't make much money and she quickly outgrew and surpassed him in ability. Why? Because she was able to afford to continually upgrade and hire the best coaches, she could take hours a week for herself to practice/train each night, she could take multiple private lessons a week, she had money to buy a great horse and pay entrance fees and travel as needed to events in different states. He had few options, he was stuck with little money at a small time barn, then moved to another small barn and another...
I learned a lot from that experience.
Money and a reliable income bring opportunity and advantage. You may not be in the wilderness for 3 months straight each year, but you will not sacrifice YOUR hunt, you will be able to hunt for yourself when, where and how you want. You will be able to buy a new truck, bow, gun or gear when you want, you will have time to train and scout, you will not be cooking for and cleaning up for others, nor dealing with out of shape "hunters" who cannot handle the backcountry and expect to ride up to and sit on a wallow and kill a trophy. Your income will not be desperately dependent on tips from hunters that either failed to score due to their own fault or were so tight on cash after paying for "their hunt of a lifetime" that they have no money left for you after they settle up with the outfitter (who, by the way, always gets paid).
Yes, you won't have those clients that love you one week of their life and give you a big man-hug at the end and tip well. But you won't sweat the cheapskates and you won't miss the money the cheapskates don't tip.
You will make friends that become hunting partners you can team up and hunt with during archery peak rut or first rifle.
Find a good job out west and negotiate your terms, then move. Pay down your debt, make sure the deal you cut with your new employer is that you take a solid 2 weeks off at peak rut and a couple 4 day weekends in July/Aug so you can scout. Make sure you start right out of the gate taking your agreed-to hunting time- even if you don't scout or hunt that year. Don't back off on your sacred time.
Be pragmatic, be a little selfish of your own time to hunt, your own financial future and the family you will have.
JL
Lots of opinions on this kind of stuff. My advise would be to figure out if you want to move or not. Then if you decided you want out of New York, I would find another job in your career field in your desired location and continue to pay off your student debt.
Somebody once said, if you want to hunt a lot you need time and money buys time. When you can leave home for a week at a time and don't have to worry about making ends meet, it makes things a lot more fun. It also helps to ease the tensions at home with the wife when you aren't living pay check to pay check barely getting by and want to go hunting for a week, several times a year.
I guide, but I only guide 2-3 weeks in October. This leaves me all of Sep and Nov to go on personal hunts. I will say that guiding has kept me from going on hunts I want every year since I started. There are a lot of tags available in a lot of states in Oct when I am working. Guiding is not glamorous and it does not pay well. About the only benefit it has for a guy with an established career path is discounts on gear. In most cases there are no retirement or health benefits, and good luck finding a job that provides those things and will let you be gone 3 months out of the year. Most likely you will need to start a business of your own, or working for a pretty understanding tradesman. No way I would move across the country to guide for 3 months out of the year. I would move for a good career and try to hunt as much as possible.
Somebody once said, if you want to hunt a lot you need time and money buys time. When you can leave home for a week at a time and don't have to worry about making ends meet, it makes things a lot more fun. It also helps to ease the tensions at home with the wife when you aren't living pay check to pay check barely getting by and want to go hunting for a week, several times a year.
I guide, but I only guide 2-3 weeks in October. This leaves me all of Sep and Nov to go on personal hunts. I will say that guiding has kept me from going on hunts I want every year since I started. There are a lot of tags available in a lot of states in Oct when I am working. Guiding is not glamorous and it does not pay well. About the only benefit it has for a guy with an established career path is discounts on gear. In most cases there are no retirement or health benefits, and good luck finding a job that provides those things and will let you be gone 3 months out of the year. Most likely you will need to start a business of your own, or working for a pretty understanding tradesman. No way I would move across the country to guide for 3 months out of the year. I would move for a good career and try to hunt as much as possible.
I am 22. The summer after a graduated high school I moved out to Alaska and worked for a few months. Spent a year and a half in college then decided it wasn't worth going into debt for. Moved out to Oregon 4 months later. Haven't regretted any of it one bit. I always wanted to come out west and I am so glad I did. Don't get me wrong I still miss things about the south, but for me it is much cheaper and easier to live out here and visit home a couple of times a year; especially when I have a lifetime Georgia hunting license haha. Jobs are plentiful especially if you know a trade ( construction, electrician, plumber ect). Do it while you're young. Work a bunch, save your money, fish and hunt when you can and stay and out of debt. It can be hard to hunt and fish when your broke haha.
Tod osier
WKR
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2015
When I said move (and I think this is true for many of the others too), I was assuming move for a good job as a construction pm that he is trained for and is doing now, not move with no prospect.
elkduds
WKR
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2016
- Location
- CO Springs
Bear in mind that advice is what another person would do in your situation. It may be applicable for you, or it could be the opposite of what suits you. Advisors are telling you about their own choices.
It sounds like you are intelligent, competent and hard working. Those attributes will serve you in any state, and every career field. @ 23, you have ample time to veer from a singleminded career and life path. In doing so you may find directions that you have not considered yet, you may return to the path you are on now. You have time for all that, and more. Its your life, not a race against anyone. Nobody else is competing for your future.
It sounds like you are intelligent, competent and hard working. Those attributes will serve you in any state, and every career field. @ 23, you have ample time to veer from a singleminded career and life path. In doing so you may find directions that you have not considered yet, you may return to the path you are on now. You have time for all that, and more. Its your life, not a race against anyone. Nobody else is competing for your future.
I'd be sending @cnelk a private message and start networking now and keep grinding at your current job until you find a great one out west that'll pay you a salary you're happy with, and also throw in enough to cover your full relocation expenses, that way you're not set back by the move.
You'll enjoy the move out of the city. I left Oregon right after college and took a guiding job in Montana and Idaho. Kept me employed about 9 months of the year, and then for the last couple years spent the off time in Alaska working for a fly out fishing lodge. Those were by far some of the best times of my life. Footloose and fancy free. But I thankfully didn't have any debt so my earning could go to new gear, cheap beer, and fast women.
Plan this out well and you won't loose any progress on paying off your debt, which honestly should be a major consideration. But it clearly sounds like you've got your head on straight and I bet you'll make a great decision.
You'll enjoy the move out of the city. I left Oregon right after college and took a guiding job in Montana and Idaho. Kept me employed about 9 months of the year, and then for the last couple years spent the off time in Alaska working for a fly out fishing lodge. Those were by far some of the best times of my life. Footloose and fancy free. But I thankfully didn't have any debt so my earning could go to new gear, cheap beer, and fast women.
Plan this out well and you won't loose any progress on paying off your debt, which honestly should be a major consideration. But it clearly sounds like you've got your head on straight and I bet you'll make a great decision.
MThoundhunter
FNG
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2015
- Location
- Butte, MT
Three years ago I left my job to be a guide, now I just guide in AK but I'm happy with my decision. Wasn't getting enough time outside and now I catch more salmon and go on more sheep hunts in a season than most guys do in a lifetime. I wasn't big on the deer/elk guiding, I found the more expensive hunts draw in the better clientele which is why I stick to AK now. Was worth it for me, my only regret is not doing it sooner.
Oregon
WKR
- Joined
- May 15, 2018
- Location
- Oregon coast
Do what you got to do. But it is a fact that the older you get it is harder to “just pick up and move”.
Good luck, and don’t listen to a single person on here. Even me. Follow your gut. It never lies.
Good luck, and don’t listen to a single person on here. Even me. Follow your gut. It never lies.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2012
- Location
- Kun Lunn, Iceland
Only you can decide what will be the right decision for you. That being said you live once, decide what will make you happy for decades financially, mentally and physically. Rank your priorities and understand the time value of money towards your future. Decades will click by some faster than others. Good luck on your decision making
Ndbowhunter
WKR
- Joined
- May 24, 2016
Quit ur job, get a job in the oil patch for as long as ur debts are paid off and you got 30k stashed (6 months?)
Get a good retirement fund going.
Then go to Nz for a year. You can work a bit so you don't burn ur cash stash. Oh and you might bump into a few cute European girls along the way.
trip through South Asia on the way back for a few months. There's a lot of neat stuff to see and do outside of hunting
Did the whole "guide" thing years ago.. It's a lot more fun being the paying customer then the guy dealing with Joe public for a pay check
Get a good retirement fund going.
Then go to Nz for a year. You can work a bit so you don't burn ur cash stash. Oh and you might bump into a few cute European girls along the way.
trip through South Asia on the way back for a few months. There's a lot of neat stuff to see and do outside of hunting
Did the whole "guide" thing years ago.. It's a lot more fun being the paying customer then the guy dealing with Joe public for a pay check
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