What do you do for work/profession?

[jjschuh]

The gray beards know their stuff for sure.

If you're fortunate enough as an apprentice to get a good mentor it can really take you a long ways. Plenty good guys out there that have forgot more than they can remember to teach.

 

[2DSWAMP]

Retired. Decide what to do each day when I waken

 

[jjschuh]

Hell yeah man. I got my Mech E degree before ending up as a MFGE, but all the most valuable things I learned were from machinists and t&d makers.

Those old tool makers almost always have good tricks to show you. I was fortunate to have a good mentor, and I'm glad I had the time hands on before I got into designing fixtures and tooling. Hands on gets you a good ways there but design is a whole new set of challenges. Especially when it comes to production robotic welding having to worry about heat, part warp, part adjustability, and even just loading and unloading parts. Once I started design it made me realize why some previous engineers did what they did. Might not always be the best choice but sometimes it's the only choice or only thing that works.

 

[Taylormade820]

Firefighter. 24on 48 off with easy flexibility for vacation/ subbing off for hunting season. I used to take off the whole month of November for the whitetail rut but young kids in sports etc are my only hurdle now. Wouldn’t change anything though. I am now getting to take them hunting and have them sit behind the gun, which is even more fun

 

[Nova]

I just retired after 35 years. I worked as a scientist in optics. The first 28 years I worked in Fiber Optics. The last few years I worked mostly on display glass.

I really loved working in the labs, but I enjoyed hunting more. Now I can hunt anytime I want.

 

[hicountry1]

Im an EE, official title is Engineering Program Manager, aka Cat Herder. The Cat Herding is keeping the young buck engineers between the white and yellow lines. Can be a chore.. The days of designing things, having fun, are few and far between. In between herding cats, I'm a Power Point Engineer......I.e. making charts for status mtgs.

I work for a large DOD contractor, and currently manage 4 projects. I have teams of ME, EE, Programmers, and Production.

Can't really say exactly what we do, but it is extremely important to one branch of the military.

Anyway, like my job, and it definitely pays well, but also comes with a lot of responsibility. I'm very fortunate to have good people on my teams.

Have a decent amount of PTO, and save it for the fall.

 

[Rowdy99]

Nuclear Power Plant operator. Work a 5 week DuPont schedule. Pans out to working about 18 of the 35 day rotation. Pretty good life at the moment

 

[eaglemountainman]

Retired construction electrician.
IBEW #3 NYC

 

[Balderdash]

Firefighter in a medium sized city. Been at it 25 years. I work on a ladder truck at our downtown station. In addition to fires, we take care of water/ice rescue and specialty rescue like ropes, structure collapse, etc. Its generally busy, which is a lot of fun with a good crew. Nothing quite like it. Was my goal since as long as I can remember and its still what I want to do.

Always had a side hustle. Ran my own carpentry business for about 15 years. Worked in carpentry for a small company from the time I was 14 all through college and then went on my own after I got hired on the FD. Between hunting/fishing/shooting/working 2 jobs, wasn't ever home. After having kids a little later than most, I mostly quit doing construction jobs for other people and bought a few rentals and an older house in the country that needs work, so still building, but now on my own stuff and at my own pace; kids' sports games and just spending time together take priority. The time window is short.

As much as I've always liked the job and have a ton of respect for the people who are doing EMS/Fire/LE, I'm not sure I would try to talk a lot of folks into it, unless they have a passion for it and nothing else will do. We're away from home a lot, you experience a lot of things that stay with you, it takes a physical toll, and the nights get really long on a 24 hour shift - even longer if you get mandated for OT. And the pay hasn't kept pace with other careers with which it used to be comparable. Right now, if you want to ever afford a decent home or property as a FF or LE, you'll likely have to have a pretty robust side hustle, work a pile of OT, or marry well.

Before kids I used to hunt and fish a ton. Would go walleye fishing in the spring/summer and shooting or hunting in the fall/winter most evenings after working on the side. Sometimes mutliple western hunts per year and a couple of extended grouse and deer hunting trips around my home area of the upper midwest. Also did a bunch of walleye tournaments here and there. Time off through shift trades and vacation are nice and a major perc of the job; however, downside being that with a wife and kids, its tough to be gone a few days for working normal shifts plus OT or trades, then turn around and leave for a hunting/fishing trip to be gone even more days, and then go back to work to be away from home for a couole more full days. I have a few buddies who work a regular schedule, take vacation and a few long weekends all fall that do as much hunting as any FF I know. A good friend of mine works 5 AM to 1pm with no lunch break, and he likely does more fishing/ hunting/shooting/reloading than anyone I know.

 

[AKmatt]

1. What’s your job or profession?

ER Nurse at one of the local hospitals in Anchorage.

2 Do you enjoy it overall?

3. How much time are you realistically able to dedicate to hunting each year (days in the field)?

Realistically? Work isn't what is keeping me home these days. It is the family. I think nursing is the best work/life balance profession there is (3 12hr shifts per week). I can manipulate my schedule to allow 8 consecutive days off without taking pto. If I do take pto I can stretch that 8 days into 15 days with only using 1 weeks worth of pto. 2025 season I spent close to 30 days in the feild. This year it is looking to be the same

4. Does your job help or hurt your hunting opportunities?

Definitely doesn't hurt my hunting opportunites

 

[MtnHunter6]

Project management in construction. I do enjoy it, for a multitude of reasons. Nice to be off the tools now, at an age when I can still enjoy being active with what I want to be active on. I get about a little over a month off combining vacation and personal days, which is enough to be able to take the wife somewhere for a couple weeks to keep her happy and also have a couple long hunting trips and extend some weekend for hunting too. Loving an hour drive away from public hunting in the mountains helps a lot. And my job pays me money who can helps with hunting haha

 

[jcaud]

I’m always curious what everyone on Rokslide does for a living and how it impacts your ability to hunt.

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?

Some careers seem to allow a ton of flexibility for hunting seasons, while others make it tough to get away.

Interested to hear what different paths look like and how guys balance work with time in the mountains along with various tradeoffs.

1. Licensed civil engineer working in gas and water department in town.
2. Most days I do, we have close relationships with our construction team that allows us to sneak to the field often, and I enjoy the engineers and designers that work for me. Management can be rough to deal with sometimes, and I am wound much tighter than some of those that I work for, which can lead to frustration more than I would like.
3. I am lucky to live near some decent public land, and have some decent private access within an hour for whitetail. I can archery hunt after work before time changes, which helps a lot too. Go out west once per year. Realistically hunted 20-25 days last year.
4. We don't have an abundance of vacation - I have been there 3 years so I get two weeks off. Take a week to go out west and a week for family vacation, but they are flexible with time and allow me to flex time, switch schedules, etc. during rifle season.

 

[dylanvb]

1. Roofing sales and project manager for a small roofing company.
2. Yes, unless its hail season. Also I wouldn't be in sales if it wasn't for my boss, he is easy to work for.
3. I make my own schedule.
4. I would say my job helps me hunt more because when season comes around I can move jobs around etc. I have many clients in the mountains which is always easy for me to go scouting or hunting after a meeting. I can work from home if I wanted to but work in the office most days since I go to the gym every day and the office is 5 mins from the gym.

My wife limits me more than my job does lol.