"HOW" do you do it?!

[Juan_ID]

What do you guys do for a living that you are lucky enough to have the amounts of time off for your hunting each year? And how do you manage it into your annual spendings? I am just 21, married, and just bought a house and no way have funds to be able to take entire seasons off/ can afford to apply in neighboring states! Maybe that'll change one day, or atleast I hope it will! So how do you guys manage??

 

[robby denning]

we're all old. Seriously, when you're 21, all that stuff seems impossible, BUT, if you take great care of that little lady you married AND your kids AND your boss (company, whatever), AND stay out of debt, (including not going "house poor") you might be surprised what you can do when you're 40.

Also, the truth is hardly anyone takes the whole season off. Maybe if it's a week long but not the whole fall. Besides, I know I'd get totally sick of hunting if I did. Great hunters don't need much time off anyway. The best buck hunter I know in SE Idaho hunts the opener for a few days, then the weekends. Shoots way more big stuff than I do...

 

[Doj4Whlr]

Agree with all Robby. I'm 50 now and certainly wasn't doing what I'm doing now when I was 21.

 

[dirtytough]

I work in the oilfields now. 2 weeks on 1 off. Good money but not a good family life.

 

[Aron Snyder]

I've structured everything in my life around hunting and scouting....BUT, there's a lot I have sacrificed to make this happen.

 

[Ross]

Robby nailed it for me. Im 48 soon to be 49. Married for 25 yrs and no kids. I put my time in with the wife during the off season and structure my life around hunting season and shed season. A good wife can make or break your time afield for sure! Luckily I get to be out hunting about 20-40 yrs a year. I will dispute the great hunters dont need much time though theory. In the OTC environment you can plan, scout train and do it all right but sometimes it just does not come together and if it was easy everyone would want to do it..there can be sacrifices as Aaron but the rewards can be awesome. Good luck in the coming years!

 

[Aron Snyder]

This can happen when you sacrifice to much!

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[les welch]

What do you guys do for a living that you are lucky enough to have the amounts of time off for your hunting each year? And how do you manage it into your annual spendings? I am just 21, married, and just bought a house and no way have funds to be able to take entire seasons off/ can afford to apply in neighboring states! Maybe that'll change one day, or atleast I hope it will! So how do you guys manage??

Dude. Plain and simple. START NOW. Save $120 over this summer. Come July by a WY Antelope, Deer, and Elk point. Right now spend the $70 and get a Utah Elk point. Next year get it before this date and that point is free. So for $310 over 2 YEARS you will have 2 elk points in 2 states. 2 deer and antelope points in Wyoming. Let me break that down farther, less than a can of pop a day. You can find that somewhere. Start now, you WILL regret it later if you don't.

 

[les welch]

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Or this Aron

 

[BMB]

wife is a surgeon and i own a small gunsmith company, it's a lot easier now then when we were both in school.

 

[Matt Cashell]

wife is a surgeon

Bingo! I knew I did something wrong.

 

[Ross]

Now that is funny Aaron and Les!

 

[Backpack Hunter]

I took a lot of time off after high school and before college. Since college, and getting married and having kids, and running a business it is a constant juggling act for time. The bottom line is if it is worth it to you then you will find a way to do it.
My family has a budget (my wife and I are accountable to each other for it), we are very judicial with vacation times, I work side jobs for extra hunting money/gear/trips, I often take my kids on hunting trips, and quite frankly I have the best wife in the world.

 

[luke moffat]

I work in the oil field 2 weeks on/off at a time. My wife is an RN that works 6-8 days when I'm on my two weeks at work and only 2 days when I am on my two weeks at home without taking vacation. Its not the perfect schedule for many, but we love it. We esentially get two week vacations every month to do whatever we want. I usually safe all my vacation time for hunting season. For eample I will be off August 8th-Sept 19th, work two weeks and then be off Oct 3rd-Oct 24th nearly all that time off will be spent on sheep, mountain goat, caribou, moose, and bear hunts, the only time we come home during that time is the wash our stinky clothes, repack food for the next trip and drop off meat at the processors and any trophies we wanted mounted off at the taxidermist.

We don't have kids and we usually hunt together which I feel is the biggest key. No way could our relationship work if I spent the amount of time in the field away from my house I do if she wasn't along. In fact between May 1st and beginning of October I think I spent less than 15 nights at home. The rest of the time was in the field or at work.

I'm 28 right now but have had my job since I was 21 and been having 6 weeks off or more for hunting season ever since then. I am blessed with the resources, time and wife I have to make it all possible. Just try not to take it for granted and realize how blessed I truly am.

While i realize many can't pull this off you'd be surprised what you can make happen when you prioritize whats important. Make no mistake though, spending time with the family should always be #1....so take 'em along if you can. Good luck sir.

 

[Evan Williams]

I like Luke am 28 yrs old. My wife and I are expecting our first within 2 weeks!!!

The last 3 years I have compiled a total of just over 200 days in the field HUNTING not counting scouting. I am fortunate to live within 3 hours of my hunting holes in CO so I can make quick weekend recon trips with her by my side when she wants to go. We have a budget book that we keep and are very meticulous about NOW!!! I also hunt Kansas for EVERYTHING since I grew up there. I have ground that I can be to within 4-6 hours depending on what I am hunting and where I find the quality of animals I am looking for. She is a turkey FREAK!!!! and so getting that time off is easy with her. Things will change this year with the baby BUT I know my areas well enough that I can kill the quality I am looking for in one 7-10 day trip with TONS of confidence.

As for work...I am a full-time Pro-Shop guy. I am putting in 50-60 hours a week normally in the off-season and because of that when hunting season rolls around my boss is VERY liberal with getting me out of it so that I don't "burn myself out" . For the 2012 seasons I am planning only 37 days in the field at best and plan on tagging 180" Mule Deer in CO and KS, at least 2 KS Turkeys plus hopefully 6 total called in for family/friends, and possibly a CO Antelope. I have to make some calls on ground there.

Its really all about planning, preparation and for me...knowing your area well enough to have the confidence to know what quality of animal it holds and where they are so you can make the most with the time you are given just like robby stated. Its all about your approach and mentality about things. Put your finances down on paper and you'd be AMAZED at what you truly can do with some planning and prep.

I like the rest of the guys have made some sacrifices. All through college I may have hunted 30 days. As an NCAA Division I athlete I had 0 control over my time while I was in season. Which for me meant from AUG 20th when I arrived for Athlete Orientation every year until the last week of FEB when we had our conference championships. Growing up in the outdoors and being an EAGLE SCOUT that KILLED me. I have put everything into my job to be the BEST at it so that when something as great as RokSlide comes along my name came up somewhere along the way in conversation. I have been very fortunate in that regard and that I work at a TOP Pro-Shop in the state of Colorado.

 

[Juan_ID]

Dude. Plain and simple. START NOW. Save $120 over this summer. Come July by a WY Antelope, Deer, and Elk point. Right now spend the $70 and get a Utah Elk point. Next year get it before this date and that point is free. So for $310 over 2 YEARS you will have 2 elk points in 2 states. 2 deer and antelope points in Wyoming. Let me break that down farther, less than a can of pop a day. You can find that somewhere. Start now, you WILL regret it later if you don't.

Now that is very doable! To make it even a little easier, I don't drink pop! And one state that is at the top of my list is Colorado! Now I just got to start researching a little for the upcoming years! Thanks for the info!

 

[BMB]

Bingo! I knew I did something wrong.

hahahaha......yeah, it has it's perks but it also came with a little over $240K in student loans. i have my doctorate, and was going to teach at a University in oregon but i figured why ruin a good thing when i'm my own boss, make enough money to cover our home expenses and can take off whenever i want.

 

[bearguide]

hay aron, i guess you really are a tree hugger

 

[bearguide]

you don't have to have thee expensive gear to go hunting / make your wife part of all you do, keep her happy and you will be happy too/ sacrifice