What do you do for work/profession?

[hunterjmj]

Supermarket Refrigeration here, but I'm not the owner. I do love the work most of the time, and it has allowed me to afford a nice life and a wife who was able to raise our children rather than having to manage competing schedules.

It is an extremely demanding field and being one of the "go to" guys even more so.

In the past few years, I've reached a point where I can take a week to hunt but for many years, I got a few Saturday Mornings and maybe the opener.

Since I went on my own and it's just me I don't do supermarkets. Kind of miss working on racks and protocols but no way a one man shop can take that on. My wife stays home as well and runs the kids around and all the other stuff she does.

 

[eamyrick]

Large city pd. 18 years, 14 years of which have been 24/7 365 on call. Currently supervisor level over high risk operations. As long as I’m out of state, basically unlimited time off. If I’m in town, even on vacation, I’ll get sucked into something. Pretty flexible schedule otherwise. 5.5 years to retirement and plan to hunt/fish/volunteer/large event management consult.

 

[CMF]

1. NDE/Weld inspector, currently work nuclear outages(spring and fall). Usually starts at the beginning February and work through Mid May at two or three different plants, then from end of August to Mid Nov., but I usually pass on the first half of the fall season. Can occasionally get project work in summer or winter. Have been able to hunt most/all of September the last several years in addition to other hunts in Nov, Dec., Jan.
2. It's alright
3. 100+ days in the field If I wanted to
4. Helps with time off and azz time at work to research and apply for hunts. Hurts with fitness

 

[3gunyotehtr]

Just a lowly laser operator in a fab shop. But benefits are awesome, and I get to go out west 4 weeks every year, usually divided between spring bear, resident mule deer, and elk. Locally probably 2-3 days a week from December through March coyote hunting.

 

[velvet muley]

Underground miner, work about 5 1/2 months of the year with the schedule we have. Also have around 300 Hrs of PTO a year. Jobs OK but I hunt a shit load.

 

[hoosierhunter11]

Management role in pharmaceutical industry - develop medicines for heart disease. I get about 6 weeks of PTO every year. I typically hunt turkeys for 3-4 days in the spring, elk for 10 days in the fall, and whitetail for 7-10 days in the fall. Throw in a few days here and there for small game. I’d love to hunt more but we also have two young children at home so prioritize family time as much as possible. I’d love to have multiple out of state hunts per year once the kids are older and I think my career should provide that.

 

[Oregon]

Charter boat captain.
Love it when it isn’t rough as a cob.
Only work March 15 thru Sep 30.
Hunt or fish 310 days a year. Big game only 15-20 days but birds 80-90 days.
Damn! I got to go back to work in 10 days!

 

[2tuna]

Architect. Have a 8 person firm that specializes in high-end residential in coastal CA.

Work load, client management, and regualtory BS allow me to categorically state that George Costanza was delusional. Though I still like designing.

A couple local weekend trips annually for blacktail and 7 - 10 days whenever I draw an elk tag - which is maybe every three years. 1 or 2 days a year for waterfowl and that's it.

And I ALWAYS feel guilty missing work, though it's my firm. Always feel like I need to set the pace. Which, looking at turning 60 this year, is tiresome,.

 

[Lawnboi]

Fire department. Once a good job that I would recommend for outdoor enthusiast. Now a days many municipalities believe you should be on call 24/7 365. And it’s only going to get worse. Choose wisely if you go this route, retirement from these jobs means sticking around.

 

[Devonian]

GIS analyst / cartographer, recovering archaeologist.

 

[khart_6882]

That's interesting. I've had thoughts of trying to get into that. My thoughts were to work NW or PNW spring through fall, then come home for winter.

Currently my profession is a guy who drives a truck.. I've still got several interest in career choices that I'd like to try before I'm done. I've slowed it down a lot recently and may sell out and do something different.

If you live on the wet side of the mountains I’d go for it. Those guys have it a lot better than we do in NE Washington/N Idaho.
They have it a lot better as far as log hauling goes…

 

[BigMiss]

1. Sales - Construction related.
2. I enjoy construction, understanding how things work and are built, but hate "sales."
3. I don't have tracked PTO, but I try to limit myself to 4 weeks as it's a small company and being gone means others have to cover for me. I take the majority of my time in the fall. For the 2025/2026 season, I did 18 days afield upland hunting, 4 days whitetail hunting, and 7 days on a mule deer hunt. I do a lot of 3 days weekends in the fall hunting pheasants/grouse or going a couple hours north to hunt whitetails. I could have hunted more had I wanted to fill more tags.
4. Job definitely helps my opportunities to hunt. We're only open during the week, so I am a big weekend warrior. They're also very understanding of the seasonality of my hobbies. It pays very fairly too, so I consider myself as having gotten lucky.

 

[Pharmseller]

Management role in pharmaceutical industry - develop medicines for heart disease. I get about 6 weeks of PTO every year. I typically hunt turkeys for 3-4 days in the spring, elk for 10 days in the fall, and whitetail for 7-10 days in the fall. Throw in a few days here and there for small game. I’d love to hunt more but we also have two young children at home so prioritize family time as much as possible. I’d love to have multiple out of state hunts per year once the kids are older and I think my career should provide that.

I sold Entresto once upon a time.

 

[JFK]

1. Firefighter here in Ca
2. Overall, I love it.
3. I have two young kids and a wife so I don’t maximize my time in the field the way some of the younger guys do. Getting large chunks of time off is not an issue though with the schedule. Could easily take a month or more off every hunting season and still take family vacations in the summer. Being off mid week is good for hunting public spots.
4. I’d say my job helps hunting opportunity because it allows me the time off, and plentiful overtime allows me to financially make it work.

 

[cday34]

Own an insurance agency. Overall I don't care for the work, sitting at a desk most days..but the pros well outweigh the cons. I can hunt as much as I want. Kids at home limit my time away more than work does.

 

[Jpsmith1]

Since I went on my own and it's just me I don't do supermarkets. Kind of miss working on racks and protocols but no way a one man shop can take that on. My wife stays home as well and runs the kids around and all the other stuff she does.

Sometimes I wonder if life would be smoother if I moved into the industrial sector

Yeah, Id smell of ammonia most of the time, but the hours are definitely better

 

[IdahoBeav]

1. Licensed civil engineer specializing in commercial and industrial site development

2. Soft yes

3. I get 20-30 days in the field each year, but my career doesn't limit this, my family does, which is absolutely fine.

4. It helps, both by providing the funds and PTO, which I take full advantage of.

 

[dtrkyman]

How would you recommend a guy gets into the guiding business? I simply can’t afford to work for $15 an hour in the shop for a year to build rep first.

I kind of fell into it initially, worked at an archery shop and met a guy starting an outfitting business.

Just reach out to any outfitters in your area that guide for animals you have experience with, good reliable guides can be hard to come by.

Fishing guide would be easier to start if you are knowledgeable on local waters, just start your own or hit up a fly shop or some charter captains.

Just don’t plan on hunting a lot yourself!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Customweld]

1. Water/Wastewater Project Manager.
2. Yes, I enjoy it.
3. I 'm able to take enough time off that by the end of the year I'm normally tired of hunting.
4. Where I live happens to affect my hunting more than anything. Elk hunting is as close as a half hour. Same with deer.

 

[satchamo]

Data analyst/part time entrepreneur

I work for a major advertising company doing data analytics for some pharmaceutical brands. I work from home so I’m able to churn a bit of a side hustle that specializes in web sites/digital marking and such with a few partners. We’ve done a few sites for some popular brands around here so that’s been cool and I enjoy it immensely.

My FT gives me generous time off, isn’t overly demanding and pays me well but the work itself is mind numbing and the people I work with are exhausting… think corporate/east coast/corporate try hards. It honestly it’s all just a movie and the best actors get paid the best. I’m not much of an actor tho

I can hunt as much as a guy with 3 kids can. Work isn’t really my bottleneck for hunting time but rather just balancing family life and vacations and such which I’m perfectly content with. It has made me appreciate my time afield that much more.