What do you do for work/profession?

[Boarmaster]

I’m an industrial income property broker and leasing agent.
I hunt about 40 days per year at my out of state lease in Alabama. New tech allows me to be out of town several weeks at a time.
I also hunt out of state in Ohio for a week after Thanksgiving. I love my job and never plan to retire fully. I’m 63. Business in in Florida. I am single , live in a mice but modest home. I can’t have it all.

 

[Balderdash]

Retired big city cop of 28 years. Mixed in with 18 years combined Army and NG Infantry. Used to enjoy it, most of the time. Current “retirement job” work at an elementary school for active shooter deterrence.

Currently I hunt once a year (4-5 days) in CA where I’m originally from. ( moved to Texas for family and cost of living for retirement) I hunt quite a bit here (30 plus days) but it’s not the same.

My old job used to allow me to have some week days off to hunt and fish. Also 10/12 hr shift work allowed for 3 or sometimes 4 days a week off, but I chose to work a lot of overtime. When I went back in the NG that ate up outdoor time also. I told myself I would make up for it when I retired, as I was staying in shape. That was a lie. Had major health problems upon retirement and it greatly affects my ability to hunt the mountains the way I used to. Chasing bad guys and dollars was great until it wasn’t. Get out and do what you love as much as you can now.

The cops by us (medium sized city) work a rotating 4 and 5 day on off schedule. They love it. 4 vacation days gets them 14 days off when they pick it right. They're definately busy when on duty, and its gotten worse, but pay and retirement is decent. Unlike years ago when it was difficult to get a police/fire/EMS job, their roster hasn't been full in years. Can't find people to hire.

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

Home service company, specializing in high end residential window cleaning.
Pure water/water fed pole system.
12th season coming up. No employees, just my wife and I.

The relationships developed with clients are the largest source of satisfaction from this job. Admin is mostly automated and the physical work is satisfying, though not very challenging, like the commercial fishing I used to do.

Work season is Late April till early Nov. I take off appx. 4-5 weeks during hunting season. (Aug-Sept), before a final push of 6 weeks of work. More time spent hunting in Nov/Dec. as well.
Dec.-April is travel, backcountry snowboarding, surf etc.

My hunting is definitely not hindered by my job.

 

[Idaho4x4Bronco]

Shout out to the PD and first responders in here, didn't realize we had so many on the forum until I read through this thread. You folks are not lost among us and are very appreciated!

 

[UPThunderbolt]

Retired Wildlife Biologist: 15 years as a field bio, 3 years as a field supervisor, nearly 10 years as a Regional Manager. On every step of that ladder, I felt I had the best job in the State.

 

[Blacktail_]

Logistics 3pl, not bad but not what I want to do forever, good upside but being gone for 2 weeks at a time is a money killer

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

1. General Contractor (Commercial), in operations (Project Management). Coming up on 8 years in. Fun stat, worked on projects totaling ~2.16 Billion worth (our contract values) of work so far.

2. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I consider shifting careers every year. Estimating, precon, owner's rep, work for a sub, etc. (If anyone in ID or MT is hiring...DM me...)

3. Two or three full weeks worth of PTO for hunting with plenty of weekends per year. Probably close to 30 days in the field between deer, elk, bear, predator, and turkey. Spend the other weekends shooting, fishing, and golfing.

4. I'd say it's in the middle compared to what other guys have said. We have "untracked" PTO, but that doesn't mean I can take 8 weeks off. Average 4-5 weeks off and a couple of those are for family. I book fall trips way in advance so it's hard for my project team/manager to say "no" to the time off.

 

[Matt5266]

LEO, Narcotics Detective, SWAT, firearms, less lethal, flash bang, and use of force instructor. Its a crazy ride , which i love most the time. Goes without saying its not all fun.

 

[MTForester]

I work in natural resources for a State Agency.

The job can be fun but time off can also be scarce. 3 weeks of PTO but very hard to be gone for a full week. But it allows me to live in an awesome place where I can maximize weekends.
Typically hunt 12 or so days a year. Try to scatter 3 day weekends throughout the year for backpacking, climbing, skiing, scouting, etc.

 

[Shivaess]

Software developer. Its been a good run for a long time but things are starting to get kind of dicey with AI of late. The tools are great but the job prospects are definitely starting to get a lot rockier.

 

[FarmerWI]

Dairy farmer, we seem to work a lot. As the dairy has grown, I feel like a computer farmer now. Spend all day on the phone or computer. I joke with the boss lady that it'll slow down soon. That being said, 99% of the time I love it. Everyday is different.
I'll have to look up what PTO means?(joking)
We spend 15-20 days on hunting/fishing trips. 10 days out west and 2 destination family ice fishing trips. This year, we are able to add an extra trip. My wife and I are going to Alaska for 15 days, starting in late July.
Short of planting and corn silage season, our schedules have the flexibility to sneak out for an AM sit or leave early for the afternoon. But none of this would be possible without our amazing team at the dairy.

 

[tkhuntsman]

Archery Tech. It's a good job and I enjoy it. I get out 2 days a week during all open seasons and to fish in the summer. A few days during the peak times I get out early or late around my schedule. I take 1 week off I. The spring and usually 2 in the fall. I spent 18 years as a professional hunting and fishing guide I spent more days outside hunting and fishing then but far less on my own endeavors.

 

[Saluki91]

A few questions for the group:

1. What’s your job or profession?
2. Do you enjoy it overall?
3. How much time are you realistically able to dedicate to hunting each year (days in the field)?
4. Does your job help or hurt your hunting opportunities?

1 - Elementary teacher (music, K-6)
2 - More and more each year
3 - Sufficient, but it never feels like enough.
4 - By in large, it helps. I have plenty of sick leave for occasional bouts of opening day flu (deer and turkey).

Better yet is my building's balanced calendar. We start in mid-July, and take three week breaks in October and March (before ending in late May/early June). The October break coincides with a lot of great hunting opportunities. My summers are shorter than most in my field, but they afford me plenty of time to help maintain trails, shooting lanes, etc. on club ground.

The only place I feel like my job hurts is waterfowl season. The birds move when they move - they don't always wait until a weekend. My buddies (all retired) had a banner season this year, while I only had one truly productive hunt. They were able to get in the blind at opportune times (and limited out more times than I can count). Me... not so much. Retirement is just around the corner!

 

[Mangata]

1 - Emergency Medicine doc.

2 - love it

3 - I work five 24 hour shifts / month, and work day on day off so a total of ten days dedicated to work each month. Pretty much three weeks free to hunt and/or fish each month. September, October, and November are dedicated to moose, black tail, and long range tuna respectively. Hunt the road system for black tail in August. Summer months are boating and fishing primarily.

4 - Job definitely helps my outdoor activities. I work on the Emerald Isle.

 

[Don Qui Puncher]

1. I have two full time gigs, I work overnight at an oil terminal, and I own and operate a commercial lobster boat.
2. I really enjoy both of them. The terminal job is great I have some of the best benefits in the area and a ton of freedom. I work 9:30 pm to 5:30 AM which usually puts me on the boat around 6:15 AM. On bad weather days during hunting season I’ll hunt every day, good days I go fishing.
3. From October through December pretty much any day I don’t fish because of weather I go hunting. Usually quick sits in the morning but probably 30-40 ish times a year. I try and keep Saturdays open during gun season to take the kids.
4. Both jobs allow me to hunt locally a lot. I get 4 weeks of vacation a year and 15 sick plus 3 personal and all the holidays. Most times I take time off it’s to go fishing or after 5 days of fishing in a row and working overnight I’m burned out and take a couple days off to crash out. During the summer I try and work 6 nights a week and fish Monday through Friday so I can have the weekends for beach/boat days with the family. In the fall/winter when the weather doesn’t cooperate for fishing I work a lot at the terminal. Pretty much work 70-80+ hours a week year round.