What do you do for work/profession?

[jmez]

1. What’s your job or profession? Veterinarian. I'm board certified in Equine surgery and only work on horses.
2. Do you enjoy it overall? Not as much as I used to. I love doing surgery but when you are realisitic with people as to outcomes and prices you get a lot more no's. They are also big and dangerous, many made more dangerous by things out of my control. Equine owners are the top of the food chain in the "voodoo medicine" world. They are also experts on everything, it is taking it's toll. Being on call SUCKS and those who aren't in a profession that requires it don't understand.
3. How much time are you realistically able to dedicate to hunting each year (days in the field)? Pretty much when I want. Fall and espeically winter is the slow time in a Northern horse practice so I'm not busy. I bird hunt a lot.
4. Does your job help or hurt your hunting opportunities? It helps. I get permission on a lot of private ground through my job, and as I said above Oct-Feb is my slow time.

 

[Bannedinshortorder!]

No shoes and a mule is best.

Horses??
4 is better.
Higher is better, if they can walk after.
Toe and heel shoes.

In the Rocky Mountains?
or
In the subdivisions at the base of the Rocky Mountains?

 

[OregonSteeler]

Derrickhand on a drilling rig. Been in the patch for 5 years. Work 7 days on, 7 days off. I take a week of work off for September and get 21 days to hunt. Other than that I have all the time in the world for turkey, deer, family vacations, etc. The pay is pretty great for no college degree and work is pretty easy most days, but can get hectic. If it wasn't for the time off, it'd be a tough job. And to boot, my rig has been within 30 minutes if my house for 4 years now, so home every night.

The up and down in the oil market is a big drawback. Currently laid off until April 15th, but its the middle of the walleye spawn in Oklahoma so no complaints from me.

Wonder if your profession has seen in uptick in job applications since the show Landman with BB Thornton came out?

 

[Fatcamp]

I'm a nurse in the operating room at a major hospital.

I do enjoy it. What we do is extremely meaningful and the team of people I work with are amazing. It does take a toll. There is a bit of call but worse is we take charge shifts on nights and weekends. We are witness to people on the worst day of their lives and that isn't great. Being a nurse in any serious capacity isn't for the weak.

I get four weeks of pto a year and I only work 3 days a week. Make plenty of money. Pretty much self schedule and at this point if I want time off I get it so I have lots of opportunity.

It helps for sure. My wife teaches though and that screws everything up for the Fall.

 

[madtinker]

Mechanical engineer. Overall I enjoy it but as I’ve gotten more experience I deal more with people, which isn’t where I wanted to be.

I could hunt a lot more than I do, but my kids are young. I have six weeks vacation a year, and I end up hunting 5-10 days for big game. Maybe this year I’ll take the kids with me and get a little more time out. We’ll see.

Overall the job helps with my opportunities. I can generally get any time off I want and my team is able to cover for me when I’m gone.

 

[Kingofthemountain83]

Been in the construction industry for 27 years... I'm now in the beginnings of becoming an inside lineman... That's a commercial electrician... So I'm back at school, in college... Taking algebra... It's like trying to read hieroglyphics to me...

 

[RogerC11]

I'm a professional short term rental host. I have about 20 or so properties that are all on airbnb. I can pretty much hunt anytime I want but the main problem is finding friends who also have the time and resources to come with me.

 

[Tobe_B]

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. I’m a professional workaholic. My full time job is managing a ranch; cattle, hay, and horses. My wife and I also own a small hay farm we manage together, although a lot of it falls on me to get accomplished. In my spare time I still shoe a few horses, started shoeing 15 years ago and quit full time for the ranch management thing. It’s a perishable skill that I don’t want to lose after all the time I’ve invested to get good at it. Very occasionally I sneak away and help some outfitter friends pack during the busy season in the wilderness

2. Generally yes. Some seasons get busier and worse than others. But I enjoy working with animals and being outside every day.

3. I get one full week a year for big game, weekends and other evenings for some tags. I don’t travel to hunt and have no interest in that. Small game and varmints are almost daily.

4. I don’t have a lot of free time so I’d say all the work hurts my time in the woods. But I’m outside every day and have plenty of wildlife interaction daily, so I don’t really notice the lack of dedicated hunting time. Having young kids and a family also requires my attention and focus.

 

[Lowell]

More nails isn't how to keep horse shoes on better. Most guys i see that drive 4 nails per side also drive the nails like half an inch high, and the shoes don't fit. If you fit the shoe and spike your nails, 4-6 nails is plenty. The less holes I can poke in the foot, the less I compromise the integrity of the hoof capsule, and the less damage is done if a shoe does get pulled. Every time I see a horse pull a shoe that had 8 low nails, they absolutely wreck the foot. But what do I know, I've only got 150-200 horses in shoes in the Rocky mountains year round. Are you a farrier?

The feet below had previously been shod by a guy who drove 8-10 nails, some of which were so low the clinches touched the shoe. He couldn't keep shoes on this horse, because his trim and shoe fit was poor. This picture was taken the first time I shod the horse, obviously before I clinched and finished. The horse has never pulled a shoe for me. Why do horses pull shoes?
View attachment 1035574

Nice work

 

[OverInfinite]

1. What’s your job or profession? Engineer. Work for the BLM.
2. Do you enjoy it overall? I am mechanical by education and interest. I switched to civil for the career as a federal employee. Ive been out of college for 9 years and I have to pretty much keep myself busy with hobbys that let me dive deep into experiments and testing. My career has become more babysitting and paper pushing than anything.
3. How much time are you realistically able to dedicate to hunting each year (days in the field)? I acquire 160 hours of use or lose annually. And I get quite a bit of comp time built up during the summer. I work 4-10's. So its not uncommon for me to take off 5 weeks to go hunting. My wife hunts alot with me so she is understanding when I am gone for 5-10 days at a time.
4. Does your job help or hurt your hunting opportunities? It helps. I try not to hunt in my district at all or very little. When I do its typically javelina, doves, quail... I get to spend a fair amount of time around like minded people and our leadership team is understanding with time off.

Engineering is one of the best careers out there. A very wide range of work and jobs all over the country.

 

[Still Hunter]

Been in the construction industry for 27 years... I'm now in the beginnings of becoming an inside lineman... That's a commercial electrician... So I'm back at school, in college... Taking algebra... It's like trying to read hieroglyphics to me...

It's just teaching you the ability to use common electrical formulas that as an electrician, you will utilize all the time without much thought. Once you learn the electrical formulas you will not think of it as "Algebra". It will become a standard process you use with many different formulas to determine information you need to size your equipment and the electrical loads. This will determine based upon the load and the voltage and then the length of the wire to determine the amperage and determine the protective devices, breakers ,fuses, proper size wire conductors etc. Good luck, Smart Move. AI will not replace electricians and the industry is in desperate need for more qualified electricians.

 

[UPThunderbolt]

Been in the construction industry for 27 years... I'm now in the beginnings of becoming an inside lineman... That's a commercial electrician... So I'm back at school, in college... Taking algebra... It's like trying to read hieroglyphics to me...

GOOD FOR YOU! One thing to remember, the professors are being paid to teach you. Don’t let them off the hook. If you are struggling, pay them an office visit. As an example: I made a career shift and went to college nine years after high school ( wasn’t a good student in high school). I was struggling to understand some of the concepts in one of my physics classes. On one particular day before an exam, I spent six hours in the professor’s office (I recognize not all profs will be so patient). If he had to leave to teach another class, I was there waiting for him when he came back. It took a lot of work on both of our parts, but he taught and I learned.

Good luck in your new career!

 

[RickDalton]

1. I’m licensed as a CPA, but I own and operate my own firm that helps business owners with wealth and tax planning.
2. I love running my own shop. The first decade of my career working for other people/firms was an absolute grind, getting used and abused. 3,000+ hour years were typical.
3. We’ve got 3 kids under 4, so time in the field is minimal. We’re getting to a point with the oldest where she can keep it on the tracks on a hike or casting a line, so we’re getting close to getting into some fun times.
4. I’ve got a great client base all over the country, and a few locals. I’m a remote shop, but those locals get the invite over to the house anytime they want to sit down over a beer or food and talk shop. I’ve got a couple clients I’ll hunt/fish/shoot with too. If there’s internet, I can work from there, so my job can lead to some definite travel opportunities.

Sounds like the best outcome out of the handful of CPAs I know.

 

[RickDalton]

It's just teaching you the ability to use common electrical formulas that as an electrician, you will utilize all the time without much thought. Once you learn the electrical formulas you will not think of it as "Algebra". It will become a standard process you use with many different formulas to determine information you need to size your equipment and the electrical loads. This will determine based upon the load and the voltage and then the length of the wire to determine the amperage and determine the protective devices, breakers ,fuses, proper size wire conductors etc. Good luck, Smart Move. AI will not replace electricians and the industry is in desperate need for more qualified electricians.

I agree with this but AI is going to touch all industries in some way, construction included. Talking to a friend in construction and he mentioned for certain builds they are experimenting with leveraging AI to have every piece of wood perfectly precut and ready to be assembled (think prefab rafters that come to sites but pretty much the whole house.) interesting stuff… I wouldn’t want to be just about to go to college these days for sure..

 

[Customweld]

Been in the construction industry for 27 years... I'm now in the beginnings of becoming an inside lineman... That's a commercial electrician... So I'm back at school, in college... Taking algebra... It's like trying to read hieroglyphics to me...

My middle daughter is a commercial/industrial electrician, there is a crazy demand for electricians in the Boise area,

 

[CorbLand]

Been in the construction industry for 27 years... I'm now in the beginnings of becoming an inside lineman... That's a commercial electrician... So I'm back at school, in college... Taking algebra... It's like trying to read hieroglyphics to me...

This website saved my ass in college.

Client Challenge

 

[NormNorm]

Sounds like the best outcome out of the handful of CPAs I know.

Agreed - I know plenty of fellow CPAs who just can’t get out of their own way. Pumping out $300 tax returns 80 hours a week ain’t it.

 

[Clarkdale17]

Superintendent for a large commercial general contractor. I enjoy the building process as well as the problem solving side of it. The increasing corporate paperwork/processes, compressed schedule deadlines with unrealistic expectations, and poor work hours make me question it everyday. I'd like to see myself getting out of it within the next 5 years, but not sure what else I'd do. Certainly a love hate relationship but the grass isn't always greener.

Depending on the project and where we're at determines how much time I can take off. I've been able to take off weeks at a time during some projects or in a lull, while others are a few long weekends here and there when we're in crunch time. I'd say the career definitely hurts my hunting opportunities.

 

[bucksnbirds]

Wonder if your profession has seen in uptick in job applications since the show Landman with BB Thornton came out?

There's always guys trying to get into the industry until they realize Landman relates as closely to the patch as Yellowstone does to Montana. You'll get a few that will stick around for a couple months, the rest dont hack it more than a couple hitches when they realize we don't get the action of drug smugglers landing planes on locations