Family life and hunting life

[luke moffat]

Have you had luck running into any hot single ladies in the woods? I had to find mine in the city...

I had to move to a slightly more urban setting and give up being able to hunt moose and caribou in a National Park to find my wife, worth it, but I don't let her forget what I gave up to find her.

 

[dreamingbig]

I think the sacrifice to find balance is worth it but I am always thinking about the woods or the water. I have basically given up fishing to keep elk and deer hunting. Even then I only get about 14 days afield each year but I make the most of them. My wife knows I would go crazy without my time in the mountains. My 2 yr old daughter will always have the option of joining me; I am not sure how that is going to play out but I am going to do my best to get her hooked on the mountains. Men are wild at heart!

 

[justin davis]

Have you had luck running into any hot single ladies in the woods? I had to find mine in the city...

Nope. No luck what so ever. They are rare up in my neck of the woods!

 

[Backpack Hunter]

Juggling family time, and personal time can be a delicate endeavor for sure. My wife does not hunt..she did take her hunters education class a year ago though.
Either way, we both enjoy the outdoors so it was natural to include our children in our hiking, backpacking, camping adventures. As the kids have gotten older it was natural for them to want to go with daddy so they joined me in my hunting adventures.
Seeing as how they are young and their attention spans are still quite short some things are different. Shorter hunts and shorter distances traveled mostly, extra drinks/snacks etc. Anyways, this approach has worked out well for our family so far.

 

[keep]

I was lucky and was able to get them involved as well. They all bowhunt with me. We are taking a family trip to BC and I will goat hunt while they hang out then once I'm done, we'll fish and site see together.
The kids have been going with us since they were born. Below is a pic from years ago of a javi hunt where my wife had my 6mo old son on her back and our daughter (7 yr old) lead the stalk.
What I have learned is that when they are involved the emphasis needs to be removed from animal size or even shooting one and placed on making sure the kids like it. If successful in that, you end up with a wife and kids that hunt therefore getting you in the field more.

 

[Becca]

The kids have been going with us since they were born. Below is a pic from years ago of a javi hunt where my wife had my 6mo old son on her back and our daughter (7 yr old) lead the stalk.
What I have learned is that when they are involved the emphasis needs to be removed from animal size or even shooting one and placed on making sure the kids like it. If successful in that, you end up with a wife and kids that hunt therefore getting you in the field more.

I loved seeing your photos, it's great to see a family where everyone can be involved! Thanks for sharing Keep!

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

Family vets, thanks for the insight. Family life is fast approaching for me and the insight has been helpful!

 

[Travis Bertrand]

Id like to get some feed back on this subject. I love the outdoors and love to hunt. I'm married with three kids, 2 boys and one girl. I have a blue collar job with a little more the 2 weeks of vacation a year. Both of my boys are heavily involved with sports and my girl is only 4 months old. With my past experince and research I do I've learned in order to be a successful hunter year in and year out I need to spend all of my vacation time and most of my weekends out in the field ( which I'd really enjoy doing that) with that being said how does a family man commit to his kids , his wife , his job, and still have ALL that time one needs to be outdoors??

If you figure it out, please share. Im in the same boat except two kids.

 

[Josh Wright]

I have my first on the way. A boy, due in July.

I know everyone deals with things differently, but here's my experience:

Marriage #1 - Sucked. Did not last long, thank goodness. It was a mistake on both our parts. I did not feel like I could be myself and some of things I enjoyed doing suffered.

Marriage #2 - The love of my life. However, after going through #1, the expectations were set by the 2nd date. I had decided I liked who I was and what I like to do. I told her, the first 8.5 months I will available to do just about anything, except for 1 week for turkey season. After that, I don't know where I will be, but it will be based around hunting.

I do elk hunting every year with my uncle, 57. I'm 31. I know that won't last long so I am enjoying and learning as much as I can from him. I guess I set the expectations up early and give her plenty throughout the year. She deer hunts with me at home and likes to go. Her first deer was a wallhanger and she likes to brag that she only kills big deer. She now has her sites set on a mule deer hunt in Colorado. We started putting in PP's this year. She only went a little crazy when she knew I was going elk hunting again this year even though we will have a 4 month old at home, but if there is anything wrong then I won't go.

I run my own show in insurance, so my job provides me with ample amount of free time. This also makes it easier. I just wish I lived closer to the Rocky Mountains.