Trad Gang

I'm sure it is the same for most of you guys too.  But I simply cannot deal with only being able to hunt on weekends when deer are in season.  I mean damnit, I work hard all year long.  When it is time to hunt...I wanna hunt!  Unpaid...I don't care.  Just wanna be doing what I do.  The season comes and goes too fast!  I gotta find a job that allows me to hunt more.  My goal since I was 20 has been to not work at all during the month of November.  I'll gladly eat ramin noodles and do without alot for the chance to hunt more.  
   I just took a new job.  I used to be able to hunt after 3:30 p.m. but now I do not get off of work 'till 5:00 p.m.  It's killing me!  
 What about you guys?

well bro i tell ya what, for the last 2 years now i took 2 weeks of for the start of bow season. last year my Newfoundlad passed away and i am a dog LOVER, broke my heart, could not even think of going in the woods. this year just before i start vaction my wife is having some medical problems and my new newf had surgery, my hunting vaction is over before it began AGAIN as family comes first! i hope to get a couple weekends now and look forward to them.

Get a life, there is way more important things than hunting deer.  You must not have kids or you would realize that deer are an afterthought when the kids are young.  You also took this new job, nobody forced you to take a job that makes you work to the late time of 5 pm.  I would love to be able to get off work by 5 along with alot of other people on this site.  Do yourself a favor and quit worrying about you lack of time and enjoy the hours that you can spend in the woods.

Quit your job, get a divorce, sell all non-bows and non-fly rods and you're home free.  Work a series of pissant disposable jobs during the off season.  If you think I'm joking, find a few of my other posts.

When I worked always was a 2nd shifter until hunting season then always managed to get some 3rd shift time in to head right out after getting off in the morning. Most eventfull hunts never made it to my stands

What Steve said +2.

if you like going on canoe trips all summer, the choice is easy a school teacher. If you want to hunt all fall, you could become a songwriter/penny stocks gambler. But be warned it is a boom/bust existence. I am thankful that everything I have is paid for.

Jon, you just have to get more efficient.  If you think it is bad now, just wait until you and your sweetie take a few buns out of the oven...

I work 60 hours a week, have a wife and 2 kids, and my only days off are Sunday and Wednesday.

Just got to get creative. I will capitalize on the time that I do have. Hunt the best weather conditions, try to shift my Wed. off for Saturday so that I can have 2 days in a row. Get out there real early and hunt until about 9:30, then come home and spend time with family until 4 or 5 p.m, stack a few more hours til bout 7, then watch a movie with the family.

Like some of these guys said. Once u get a whole family ur time will all but dissapear.

Just gotta get creative to make the most of the time alloted.

I figure that once I retire, (if that is still a possibility at that time), then I will just hunt, fish, and ride my Harley until I die.

Wow, I think Jon was just expressing his passion for the outdoors.  We all would love to be in the woods more but priorities prevent that from happening sometimes.  You have to learn to appreciate the time you do get and cherish those memories.

Wow x2
Jon-Retirement works fine.
Hap

Ah!!!!! The dues we must pay.

Hopefully, you will find your answer. Your prep time now may not pay their dividends until much further in the future.

Please remain focused on fulfilling your primary priorities first.

All the best!!

you could do what i do and live in australia.

season, what season?  LOL

i spent 6 months in BC, canada a couple of years ago. sent me round the bend not being able to do any hunting when i was surrounded by all the 'exotic game'

i was so glad to get back home where a man can just go out and hunt.....whenever he feels like it!

No need to come down on a guy just because he wishes he could spend more time hunting.  Seems like a worthy goal to me!  The fact that he took a new job shows that in reality he knows where the priorities lay.  Just gets frustrating to know how short the season we love so much really is.  

Jon, I used to work a job that kept me until 5 or later every day.  I was limited to weekends only - or so I thought.  I finally decided to try mornings before work.  Once daylight savings time switches over I was able to get in a very short hunt before work.  Maybe only a 1/2 hour in the stand, but it was the best 1/2 hour of the day!

I would love to be able to hunt more myself but with a 20 month old daughter and my wife being gone to college 3 of my 4 days off a week time for hunting has become almost non-existent.  I spent years hunting or being out 4 days a week from Sept through the end of November.  Now I have my memories to keep me going until my daughter gets a little older  :knothead:

Jon, I started out just like you some 38 years back! I wanted the same, to beable to hunt more! I took a job with a good company working 2ed shift! That gave me any mornings to hunt but sleep was limited, It was hard but I got what I wanted! Had to put in the time for vacation, but after 5 years I got 2 weeks off(used in the fall for hunting) 15 years in and got 3 weeks( used in the fall again) at 18 years I got the 4th week, again I used it in the fall and loved every minute! I'll add here that this didn't go over well with the x"s! (divorced 2 times) Both of the x's new that is what I did before getting into it! now married for the third time to a wonderful women who understands! Now after 26 years with the same company they up and shut down! I struggled to find work for over a year, and landed a job working 3ed shift and no vacation time for a year! So now I have mornings or eves to hunt,but back to very limited sleep- and at my age we need our sleep!LOL  So there are ways to get what you want if you look hard enough!!  Good luck in your quest!!!  Jim

i DO feel your pain. when i was younger i just about LIVED in the woods and hunted every spare minute. just can not do that now, i miss it but prioritys call.

Ouch! You've got the wrong job I suspect. Today is my last weekend working til December and in addition to my regular pass days Ill have 4 days off to hunt per week, 2 of them paid. Now the only thing holding me back from hunting is those unexpected things that pop up and whatever my sons need me for. Time with my kids makes hunting a non issue, Ill sometimes daydream about hunting while Im with em but anything with those 2 animals is way more rewarding than anything other than hunting with them. You see? That's what you need, kids, it will put everything into perspective and  you'll often  be too tired to hunt . Good luck hunting man, but take a minute to smile. There are a bunch of hungry Americans out there right now without incomes.

i'm having the same struggle....My previous job allowed me to take off whenever i wanted and to basically do whatever i wanted. I DID NOT MISS ONE SINGLE day of the missouri archery season for three years. I lost my job, got a new one and now work 5 days a week, from 745 to 615 EVERYDAY!!!! except weekends....IT SUCKS!!! I just make the best of the time i have, I seem to really cherish my time in the woods more than i did before. REMEMBER>>>EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON!

It is the same issue for most of us.

There is a newer country song and a line in it says "cost of living is high...and going up"

You gotta take two steps to get done what one step used to do...and you gotta step faster.

Today is Saturday, but I am not hunting because my wife needs me today...I am missing time in the woods but I don`t mind a bit. Life is good.

***Merely a suggestion Jon***

Limited hunt time likely severely cuts down  scout and prep time.

Finding even greater enjoyment in enterpretting changing patterns establishing higher potential strategies for prime time may pay big dividends.

Many a season, some hunters(myself included) may spend well over 50% of their time, even during the season scouting,studying and strategizing for prime time. In my case, I may have four carefully selected and prepped set-ups established by prime time that I absolutely don't hunt until prime time. Stealthy entry and exit routes are established even though I have to walk an additional 30" out of my way.

It is quite possible to find yourself enjoying this part of the hunt plan being equal to and/or exceeding the fulfillment of the actual hunt. Have many times found myself hunting a perimeter stand which was not providing any additional future strategic information, since I was focused on prime time, and just tortured myself even though I was still seeing activity.

Several days of hunting both ideal location and timing may yield far more than a total season of hunts where constant prep time took a much lower priority.

Best of luck!!!!

It could be worst.  I've got all the time off, can't work.  However due to medical reasons my legs hurt so much I can't even get out there to try and hunt.  Nothin' worst than havin' all the time ya want, but not bein' able to get out there and do it.  Frustratin' to say the least.  Between the pain and the drugs just can't seem to do anything that want to.
 If you can hunt be thankful, no matter how little time ya got.  Good luck, go get 'em.

Jon,

 I used to hunt quite a bit as well and appreciate what little time I do get..My wife and I are near 50 years old and adopted two girls and about to adopt another so time right now is limited for me as well till they get a bit older...My last year hunt was only 3 or 4 sittings but I enjoyed what time I had and didn't get any shots what so ever...I try to go during the rut as much as possible and save what vacation is left from doing family vacations,Dr.appointments,school closing or daycare vacations for just a few days in the woods and appreciate those days ...I know what ya going through and jobs and family can have an effect on your time in the woods but do enjoy what little time you may have when you do go hunting...You have had some really great hunts and reflect on those and if you miss a season it's no big deal...I missed about 4 season's when I severed my right hand in a logsplitter but I got through it and I am thankful to God for letting me still be able to pull a string....I get to see other's success and it does bother me not being able to go just yet..I haven't been to a campsite with trad hunters since about 10 to 15 years ago or to any traditional gatherings like Baltimore Bowman,Denton Hill or any 3 -d shoots in a few years...I seem to go and help get the range cleaned up etc. but no time to really shoot except in my backyard here and there when my neighbors are gone from their weekend retreat next door...I got to go shoot with my girls around August 5th and enjoyed that day more then a hunt and one day after the hurricane "Irene" to help a friend clean up our range...I shot a few that day but wasn't quite into it for some reason or another but I did cherish those two times I had one with my girls and the other with a dear friend of mine...I feel your pain but the time will come when you do get the chance and you'll cherish every second of it....God Bless,
                               Keefer's <")))><

Hey I feel for you. I dont understand some of the comments made, I was pretty sure we are all hunters here.  I love my family more than anything but right after them in priority is hunting. God first because he says so,  wife and children next, then hunting!  Nothing else to live for in my estimation.  I know the passion you feel and my advice to you while you are young is to evaluate your priorities and then take positive steps to make your dreams happen.  Make decisions regarding jobs and obligations that will provide you with the time you need to do what you want.  Do it now because before to long other obligations start creeping in and you are too far in to see your way out.  As a farm boy from ohio I had no idea the possibilities that existed. I would not still  be in ohio now let me tell you.  I would probably be a roughneck guiding somewhere in montana or wyoming.  I have let everyone of my boys know all of the possibilities that exist out there and that I am willing to help them realize those dreams anyway that I can so they do not look back and say " I should have ..."  Hindsight is twenty twenty,  make your decisions now to have the life you want later.  Peace,  FUDD

Yeah responsibility!  I generally leave @ 4:20 am & get home @ 8pm. Have / had 110hr work weeks. With 7kids and. Beautiful better half I do what I have to.

Having said that I'm sitting in a treestand in th rain in Montana cause my BETTER HALF understands.  Yes i am a lucky man.

Jon I feel for you. It all works out!

Richard,
  You are supposed to be hunting not on Tradgang while in the woods! I wish I could one day just walk the grounds in Montana...It's bad when you are out in the wilderness and keeping up what's happening on Tradgang!   :laughing:

Jon,you must think of it this way.Since you can't hunt this year.Those 140+'' 4 year old deer willbe 160+'' 5 year old deer next season because you didn't kill them!
Hope that helps

Hey Jon,
Sometimes it only takes one sitting in the right spot to connect. To me shooting any deer is a trophy with the stick. Wish you the best of luck when you get to hunt. Time is always the problem for everybody these days. This old world is going way to fast. Release your pressure and maybe harvest a doe. Those HORNS don't taste good anyway.

enjoy the time you get and have a good time doing it, life can get more complicated as we get older.  

If you can get a CDL, your looking to work 2 weeks on with 1 wk off and make 80-100k you could always move to north dakota.

good luck and happy huntin!

Until daylight savings, you might be able to get in the woods for the last hour n 15 minutes of shooting light. After that maybe you can go in the morning like previously stated. Also weekends can be ok if you are willing to walk further than the other guys. Stay with it and shoot straight!

Good luck!   :thumbsup:

John,

If I was young, and it was a "Perfect World", I would have Andy Ivy as my brother and be sharing in the type of lifestyle he's enjoying    :thumbsup:        :notworthy:    

As it is now, I'm retired and with a decent railroad retirement.  However, with the economy as it is, I'm back to taking care of a 40+ year old Step son and his family who has recently lost his job and has moved back in with us...

I'll trade you places... I'll gladly go back work and you can take over for me.  Hopefully at some point I'll be able to enjoy this retirement I have worked so many years for and get to enjoy it... I guess what I'm saying is it could be worse.    :(    

Gene    

I would love to hunt more also and know how it is to spend all year waiting for this time of year and then not be able to do much.  I am in the same boat.  I work till aftef 6 now 4 days. Lost my close tthe house spot for quick hunts.  Kid with Saturday sport, and a wife in school with hard schedule to finish up her degree this fall.  I had a delay in big project schedule and now it just took out my main hunting vacation this year.  I have a boy's group this year on Wednesday night and teaching Sunday school.  i had a 4 day shot to hunt this next week with the wife gone and kids at the grand parents. Now the grand parents had to go out of town and the back up didn't work out. There goes my hunt.  So far I have been out for three sets and seen zero deer in bow season.  I am very happy to have my family and a good job in these times. Life is good, but the hunting is not at leat not so far this year.  I may get out tonight. It should be a cool 80 when I head out.  If I shoot a deer I will be up very late getting it home and cut up for the cooler and then kids to teach tomorrow morning.  I should stay home. But I am going hunting and going to enjoy it!   :thumbsup:    :thumbsup:

be thankful you can hunt weekends...right now im with my son in a navy hosp after he stepped on an IED.
No season for me or him for a long time. he tells me he is so sorry i have to miss deer season.

We are all blessed to be able to hunt when we can.

I understand Jon's passion and his frustration.  I also know most of these comments are speaking truth - that we all should be content and thankful whereever we are in life (I think the Bible tells us that!).  I know this - life is hard - and it doesn't seem to get easier the older I get - so I'm trying my best to squelch the frustrations and selfishness that is so prevelent in my life and be thankful for each and every day and the things God allows me to partake of that day.  Every day I spend chasing whitetails is a true blessing!

The river industry needs people badly. I can get you a job as a deckhand on a towboat. 28 days on 28 days off. Before I became a Captain I worked all winter and summer then took off October through the end of November every year. I usually shot a nice buck and I still got a check every two weeks. I also took off April and May to turkey hunt and fish.
   Now I work in the harbor with a 4 days on 4 off schedule with 2 weeks vacation. Not a bad gig either for an outdoorsman.

I'm sorry if you feel that some came down on you a little hard. (maybe so)

But truthfully you are blessed if you take a little time and think it through.

We all have so much to be thankful for. There isn't anything that's as bad as it could be.

Keep your chin up, go hunt as often as you can and thank God that you can enjoy what He has made for us!

God bless,Mudd

Believe it our not it gets harder sometimes to find time to hunt the older you get. I've been retired 4 years and last year it was three months getting my mother's house ready to sell, selling it and getting her into an independent living facility during the months of October, November, December. Also jury duty during mid October.

I thought this would be the year but alas she has had a set back and is now in the care facility hoping to get back to her apartment. It's constant visits and tending to her financial health since I'm her power of atty and only local child.

I also work a part time job where the boss thinks I'm full time.

I hunted last evening and this morning for the first time this season and relished the moments.

Jon, I read your post as simply saying you wished you had more time to hunt...and frankly am surprised a couple guys came down on you so hard.  (And I'm guessing deep down, they too wish they could hunt more).  

I get to hunt a lot and I still want to hunt more.  What's bad about that?  I didn't hear you say you were shirking other duties, so don't understand the animosity.

Hey guys...I never took any of the posts as being negative.  Sounds like lots of us are in the same boat.  Makes me feel better to know I'm not the only one.  I hope everyone has the best season of their lives!  Good luck out there...and have fun!
I know I will!

:bigsmyl:    :bigsmyl:    :bigsmyl:    :bigsmyl:    :bigsmyl:

I planned my career around hunting.  I work 3 days a week and have over a month of vacation.  Also can bid opposite work weeks and get another 2 weeks if I need.  Took the month of Sept off for elk, 2 weeks for muledeer this Nov, 2 week long trips to WI to visit family and dive, a week for Javies, a week for tx exotics and load down my 401 and 457 every month.  When I hit 50 I'm done!

I had three weeks scheduled off for hunting but the company lost the contract. I was lucky to find anouther job. I work day shift 12hrs for 5 days and 8hrs on saturday so not much time to hunt. but if I make it a year I will get a week off I know when I will take it off.

gehrke145, what do you do for a living ?

Jon, I am with ya brother. I do have a job I can "make" the time and go hunt but I own my own business. When I am not there the business makes zero money. Good for hunting bad for bills! I have become the 1 hour hunt man in the evenings after work and when the time changes I will be a morning hunter for an hour. I have a friend who gets the whole month of November off to hunt...sometimes I wanna tell him to stick it  :)

Pat B I'm a Police Officer, can't see myself doing anything else anymore.  Love the job. Should of added my time rolls over every year, as long as I don't get over 300 some hours.

Hey dude, my love for hunting is second to no one else' love for hunting. I lived for it when I was a young boy and it continued up until I had kids. Had three of them and wouldn't trade having kids for anything in the world. But, my time in the woods dwindled greatly until they got older to where we didn't have to watch their every move. I still don't get to hunt near as much as I did when I was growing up, but I appreciate every minute I spend out there, now more than ever.

I would love to kill a huge buck every year. But the fact is, if I resort to "trophy" hunting only, I will probably never, or seldom ever, kill anything at all. I just don't have the time, nor the money, that it takes to be that kind of hunter. So, I still get a thrill out of any size deer I kill with the bow, no matter how big or small.

Now that the kids are getting older I find that I am now spending more time with them fishing and hunting as a family. So, between working and home chores, I still don't have a lot of time just to myself for bowhunting. But, that's okay. I've got my priorities right and I still hope to someday have the time to go hunting when I want and stay as long as I want. But until then, I'm just gonna keep appreciating the few minutes I do get to be in the woods.

Nothing wrong with wanting to hunt more. I am divorced and my daughter is grown. I work three days a week and hunt the rest. Life is what you make it.

i am sitting here this morning as i just hit TWO weeks vaction. waiting on contractors this morning, waiting on news of my wifes health problem and nursing my New back to health! ARRRGGGHHHHH.

jon, know the feeling.  this year I had a total knee replacement, and it is really killing me.  I cann't use a stand this year and only been out twice so far.  My only concetion is that I can be strong enough for november and be off all month for once.

I work as a boiler plant operator at a hospital so it's "Any day, any shift, as needed..."

Plus I have a busy 10 year old daughter so getting out to hunt is hard to schedule, and getting harder...  :(

Everyone pays their dues, like it or not.  If you can work more hunting into your schedule, go for it.  You obviously have the desire.

HOWEVER!  Unless you are ready to live in a tent and eat field mice I suggest you think past hunting a bit.  Things like a mortgage, kids and retirement at some point in the future have to figure in your plans.

Moderation in ALL things.

Jon, I know exactly how you feel. I work in NYC so I leave home at 6:30am and don't get home to 7pm. My hunting spot is an hour and half away so it is weekends only or days off. Right now I would love to be hunting weekends but i have to wait at least two more weeks ( 4 weeks in total ) since i gave my wife a kidney and i am not allowed to shoot. So keep dreaming about hunting more but be happy with what you have.

QuoteOriginally posted by Mudd:
I'm sorry if you feel that some came down on you a little hard. (maybe so)

But truthfully you are blessed if you take a little time and think it through.

We all have so much to be thankful for. There isn't anything that's as bad as it could be.

Keep your chin up, go hunt as often as you can and thank God that you can enjoy what He has made for us!

God bless,Mudd

Well said, Mudd! My thoughts exactly.

Wow x whatever we are on now!  Sorry you aren't hunting as much as you would like to Jon.  Get after them when you can.  I'm in the same boat this year.

Yea, you could have it worse, but that doesn't mean you can't wish it was better.  Work hard and keep looking and an opportunity will come your way.

Sorry, with 3 little kids and my hunting grounds almost 3 hours away I can't feel too much sympathy, but understand the venting.  I'm lucky if I get to camp and everything is actually in my truck!  I'm thinking I picked a bad time to try to get more serious.  :D    A much closer place is dry as a desert with no water source, but I'm going to do some scouting and maybe sneak in a hunt tomorrow afternoon.

i am with ya there i wish i could hunt every day , but job comes first , but I hunt on every day off I get , thats 2 times a week plus if I want to go out in the eveings. I can. But still have to make it to work!

I was on second shift at work for 15 years and loved it for deer hunting.I was in bed by 12:30 and up by 5:00 to go hunting.
Some days I would go back and take a nap and somedays I wouldn't.I hunt public land and pretty much had the WMA to myself.

QuoteOriginally posted by Steve in Canton:
Get a life,  

That's not the way we talk to one another at TradGang
                         

I have to say that I'm blessed with a very good job that pays well and gives me alot of time to hunt.I work 12hr shifts at a tire manufacturing co. but we work a 2-2-3 schedule.I work 2 then am off 2,work 3,off 2,work 2,then off 3.This also gives me alot of time to spend at home with my family.I like to hunt but there are also other obligations like God/church,family,etc...

I can understand and appreciate the "want to" you feel Jon.  I can also say, from one that's been there, jobs become careers, relationships become partnerships and eventually ... witnessing your children doing all the things you "used to do" becomes more important than all the above.  

It's tough now and may get a little tougher but life has it's rewards.  The trick is not missing them - any of them.  Get the most out of what you've got and keep an eye open for a new opportunities (at work and to hunt).  Things are seldom as permanent as they seem.

I used to think of it as "giving up" what I wanted but "trading" is more truthful.  I may not have many opportunities to bowhunt, especially for trophies, but I GET alot of very special, very cool moments in the field that are different yet just as rewarding.

What I just said will apply to 90% of people ... but there are those who have one consumate goal and nothing can stand in the way.  Some have posted here, and I truly respect that.  If hunting is an all consuming desire then pursue it by any means.  Just be prepared when that one priority consumes the other good things that are in the way.  Go into it understanding that.  Personally, I just don't like the odds of putting one passion (excluding God) above all others because you miss some great stuff and ultimately when that one thing is gone, you have nothing left.

I know this post comes late but so far the last 3 trips I had planned to scout/stump/hunt have had family and/or work interfere. I just figure it will make me enjoy my time in the woods all the more when I finally do get out. I Still sometimes miss my younger days though when there were less responsibilities.

But, it feels good to have a family that needs me and a job that allows me to afford my lifestyle.

I get plenty of vac time but I'm on call 24-7-365 and when the snow starts I'm married to my job. I go when I can and shoot what is presented to me. Almost all of us have family obligations not to mention every thing else that gets in the way. All I can say is treasure the days you get to go and don't sweat the ones you don't, no sense in worrying about the things you have no control over.
Matthew 6:34 says it all.

Jon,
I've been down that road once or twice before. You are not alone in your thoughts or situation.
I am in my mid 50s and lost my job of 34 years. After a long search I found a new job that does not allow me much extra time to hunt anymore. The new job does not pay much so I had to take on extra side jobs, plus I have Family commitments that seem to eat up the rest of my time. I spent this past week looking forward to getting out hunting today and came down sick. I have also lost access to much of my previous hunting grounds. I am not looking for sympathy just letting you know that others go through it also. Some folks have plenty of time while others do not. It is just the way it is. One thing that I have attempted to do is take advantage of the long small game season so I at least get out in the woods more. I know it ain't the same as hunting deer but it is something. Best of luck.