CPAjeff
Well-known member
While hunting is part of who I am, I would never sacrifice providing for my family in the best way possible, to hunt. The best way possible looks different for every single person.
How big of a roll does hunting play in your life?
- Thread starter Nambaster
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TheBenHoyle
Well-known member
Hunting is probably one of maybe 6 pillars of my existence. I can't put that many days into as some, but I do have my eye out for any and every opportunity to get out to the woods. I might be able to grab some more days in a few years when my youngest graduates from High School.
thebestusernamesaretaken
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- Feb 19, 2021
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I can't sacrifice providing for my family but it is a constant struggle making life decisions. My wife seems to think that I view most things through the lenses of hunting and reminds me that there is more to life such as another trip to Disney. If I didn't have a family, I would likely be living with the earth hunting as much as possible.
D4570
Well-known member
My kids, grandkids, my wife, and then comes hunting. I retired early so I could hunt more.
I pick up some extra overnight security shifts to pay for Hunting supplies. I AM A HUNTAHALIC!
I pick up some extra overnight security shifts to pay for Hunting supplies. I AM A HUNTAHALIC!
The way you feel about hunting is how I felt about rock climbing for about 15 years. I sacrificed any hope for having a successful career. Instead I've been working in the trenches for most of my adult life until I recently retired. I still managed to have kids and a small "career" after I was done with my climbing obsession. I have zero regrets about my decisions.
P.S. One advantage of working in the trenches is you aren't nearly as likely to get laid off, because you are doing the work that actually makes revenue for the company.
P.S. One advantage of working in the trenches is you aren't nearly as likely to get laid off, because you are doing the work that actually makes revenue for the company.
Nick87
Well-known member
I am not sure if you guys are familiar with Tony Abbott, but he wrote a book called the Sportsman’s IQ. It goes into how employment can be navigated in order to truly pursue your passions. I also follow him on Facebook and Instagram and you can see how he works as a guide for large amounts of the year.
This year an opportunity to guide was offered to me but I feel that would detract from my genuine hunting experience if I was paid to bring someone to game. One of the biggest detractors for guiding was that the lay was insufficient.
The more and more I go down the rabbit hole the more realistic it is to suffer through being an independent contractor throughout the year to earn my freedom in the other parts of the year. The imbalance that I am finding is trying to get freed up for shed hunting, morel picking, huckleberry season, steelhead, and chinook salmon.
It seems the only way to genuinely have it all and my cake too is just to make a large surplus of income.
I won’t always be in the physical condition to pack a bull elk out by myself.
This year an opportunity to guide was offered to me but I feel that would detract from my genuine hunting experience if I was paid to bring someone to game. One of the biggest detractors for guiding was that the lay was insufficient.
The more and more I go down the rabbit hole the more realistic it is to suffer through being an independent contractor throughout the year to earn my freedom in the other parts of the year. The imbalance that I am finding is trying to get freed up for shed hunting, morel picking, huckleberry season, steelhead, and chinook salmon.
It seems the only way to genuinely have it all and my cake too is just to make a large surplus of income.
I won’t always be in the physical condition to pack a bull elk out by myself.
kodiakisland
Well-known member
I think the hard part is knowing when enough is enough. Some get caught up in the pursuit of wealth and lose sight of any other goals. My kids have always been a huge part of my hunting life. I enjoy spending time with them, and hunting and other outdoor pursuits has been the best way to do it. You can't do that if you are at work every day.
Nick87
Well-known member
You can't do a whole lot of it if you dont work much either. It's a balancing act that I struggle with all the time. You've only got so much time. However when I look at how much harder it is for each generation to get ahead. I don't feel right about not trying to give my kids somewhat of a leg up. As insignificant as that leg up may be in comparison to others. Especially with hunting where it's unfortunately becoming a pay to play sport.
kodiakisland
Well-known member
A lot of that is encouraging them into careers that pay well but don't require 60+ hour weeks. As you say, there's only so much time, and work is not where you should be spending it.
I think my daughter got the picture. She's an ER MD and works 10 shifts a month. Has plenty of time for hunting, and she does like shooting stuff. She could make a lot more money, but for her enough is enough.
Generational wealth is a real thing and you are correct about starting them out better than the previous generation. We were able to get our kids through college with no debt. The rest is up to them.
Nick87
Well-known member
No argument there.
I have hunted every year since 1966. Minus two years that Uncle Sam had me playing soldier in a foreign land. When I was a younger man, I was obsessed with hunting. Sometimes it seemed like it was all I could think about. I'll swear there might even have been times I was thinking about hunting while having sex with my wife. It was a disease the same as opioid addiction is a disease. I loved fishing, mushrooming, shed hunting, hiking, foraging and swimming naked in mountain lakes but from late August to mid January it was all about hunting.
As I got older though it became more about just enjoying conversing with nature. I now love wildlife viewing almost as much as I ever loved hunting and that is what my hunting trips are mostly about anymore. I still love hunting but not so much the killing. I mostly go hunting now just because it is something I have always done and the only reason I shoot anything nowadays is because I want to eat it. I am more apt to pass on a shot because I just don't feel like messing with all the work that comes after the shot, than I am to take a shot.
So, I guess you could say hunting's role in my life has diminished drastically over the years.
As I got older though it became more about just enjoying conversing with nature. I now love wildlife viewing almost as much as I ever loved hunting and that is what my hunting trips are mostly about anymore. I still love hunting but not so much the killing. I mostly go hunting now just because it is something I have always done and the only reason I shoot anything nowadays is because I want to eat it. I am more apt to pass on a shot because I just don't feel like messing with all the work that comes after the shot, than I am to take a shot.
So, I guess you could say hunting's role in my life has diminished drastically over the years.
Forgive me for not wanting to get to that point, yet.
This thread has kept me preoccupied just long enough that tomorrow I finally get to leave to go elk hunting.
Hunt&FishCO
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- Nov 5, 2020
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- 296
I fish to pass the time between hunting seasons. And if I could legally bow / spearfish where I live; I’d hunt fish too.
TheGrayRider
Well-known member
WHY I HUNT
I hunt because my father hunted, and he took me with him, and so we built a bond that I still cherish.
I do not need to hunt to eat, but I need to hunt to be fully who I am.
I hunt because it links me with the boy I used to be and with the young man my father was then.
I hunt because if I did not, I would have seen fewer eagles and ospreys, minks and beavers, foxes and bears, antelope and moose.
I hunt because it is never boring or disappointing to be out-of-doors with a purpose, even when no game is spotted.
I hunt for the satisfying exhaustion after a long day in the woods, for the new stories that every day of hunting gives us, and for the soft snoring and dream whimpering and twitching of sleeping dogs on the backseat as we drive home through the darkness.
I hunt because it keeps my passions alive and my memories fresh and my sense alert even as my beard grows gray, and because I am afraid that if I stopped hunting, I would instantly become an old man, and because I believe that as long as I hunt, I will remain young.
Author Anonymous.
I hunt because my father hunted, and he took me with him, and so we built a bond that I still cherish.
I do not need to hunt to eat, but I need to hunt to be fully who I am.
I hunt because it links me with the boy I used to be and with the young man my father was then.
I hunt because if I did not, I would have seen fewer eagles and ospreys, minks and beavers, foxes and bears, antelope and moose.
I hunt because it is never boring or disappointing to be out-of-doors with a purpose, even when no game is spotted.
I hunt for the satisfying exhaustion after a long day in the woods, for the new stories that every day of hunting gives us, and for the soft snoring and dream whimpering and twitching of sleeping dogs on the backseat as we drive home through the darkness.
I hunt because it keeps my passions alive and my memories fresh and my sense alert even as my beard grows gray, and because I am afraid that if I stopped hunting, I would instantly become an old man, and because I believe that as long as I hunt, I will remain young.
Author Anonymous.
Mallardsx2
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- Apr 4, 2015
- Messages
- 3,271
I’m almost always doing something related to hunting.
I still fish a lot but not like I used to. To be honest, I don’t care much for pole and line fishing. I prefer bowfishing.
I still fish a lot but not like I used to. To be honest, I don’t care much for pole and line fishing. I prefer bowfishing.
I was lucky enough to have friends and relatives, got me started probably 12 years old, never stopped. My mom would make anything I shot, my dad supported my hunting but after military service, lost interest. Started my business, semi-seasonal being earthwork, but late fall I could always get away. First wife, eh, second wife, hit the jackpot, lol, as she would hunt deer and ducks, and always come along.
I hunted western states as often as I could, but business always came first. My wife decided she wanted to try a hunt with me in 2019 and since then she only hunts out west with me, the crowds in WI just turned her off.
On our way to CO in a few weeks, cow tags.
I hunted western states as often as I could, but business always came first. My wife decided she wanted to try a hunt with me in 2019 and since then she only hunts out west with me, the crowds in WI just turned her off.
On our way to CO in a few weeks, cow tags.
A big role. Starting hunting as a kid into the 60s. Now I'm in my 60s and wishing I could get out more. Just like then. Moving to Alaska as a 21 year old young man that saw the mountains and the land and knew I was going to hang my hat here.
When our kids were smaller and money tighter. Hunting, fishing, gardening, raised meat livestock. And used my vacation time to harvest a moose. We kinda depended on it. I'd be out for a week or so refill and head back out any time off.
I knew I'd get oller. Got the opportunity to stake 20 acres of remote cabin property in the middle of a kazillion acres of remote public lands. And built a log cabin. Kinda like I dremt of near 45 years ago. I've spent up m to 3 months out there. And going out weeks at a time with beautiful wife on snogos. I enjoy riding and looking for tracks for trapping. Just kinda keeping track of what critters are where. Particularly the wolves.
Moose season is a great time in the bush. And usually spend the 6 weeks out there. Have to say. I had a knee replaced and have a bulged disk in back so can't get out like I'd like. And it's also bear season. We can harvest 3 black bear and 2 brown each year without permits so I'm generally interested in getting out after them also.
Not being able to get out like I've done for so many years. Killin me man ! Long story
Anyhows just got some pictures of our son n his family on top of a mountain moose hunting. Granddaughters 3 n 5. And carrying a red rider. So knowing that we have instilled this lifestyle into our kids is great. We'll take them all out on snogos for a family thing. Beautiful wife n me n grandkids have been able to get out n get a bunch of wild berries for jams and just getting out. Always looking for signs of game to teach kids. It's a lifestyle
Yeah, hunting is a big part and doing my best to insure that others will always have the opportunity is also important. And believe in take one make one. Never know about that kid or neighbor that never had the opportunity and just might get them started on a great opportunity to spend time with the family and harvest your food supplies
When our kids were smaller and money tighter. Hunting, fishing, gardening, raised meat livestock. And used my vacation time to harvest a moose. We kinda depended on it. I'd be out for a week or so refill and head back out any time off.
I knew I'd get oller. Got the opportunity to stake 20 acres of remote cabin property in the middle of a kazillion acres of remote public lands. And built a log cabin. Kinda like I dremt of near 45 years ago. I've spent up m to 3 months out there. And going out weeks at a time with beautiful wife on snogos. I enjoy riding and looking for tracks for trapping. Just kinda keeping track of what critters are where. Particularly the wolves.
Moose season is a great time in the bush. And usually spend the 6 weeks out there. Have to say. I had a knee replaced and have a bulged disk in back so can't get out like I'd like. And it's also bear season. We can harvest 3 black bear and 2 brown each year without permits so I'm generally interested in getting out after them also.
Not being able to get out like I've done for so many years. Killin me man ! Long story
Anyhows just got some pictures of our son n his family on top of a mountain moose hunting. Granddaughters 3 n 5. And carrying a red rider. So knowing that we have instilled this lifestyle into our kids is great. We'll take them all out on snogos for a family thing. Beautiful wife n me n grandkids have been able to get out n get a bunch of wild berries for jams and just getting out. Always looking for signs of game to teach kids. It's a lifestyle
Yeah, hunting is a big part and doing my best to insure that others will always have the opportunity is also important. And believe in take one make one. Never know about that kid or neighbor that never had the opportunity and just might get them started on a great opportunity to spend time with the family and harvest your food supplies
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