Probably less than 20 days spent in the woods hunting this year -- maybe closer to 15 for deer & turkey combined.
3 of those were with my son, who wasn't yet 7 years old during the turkey season. We backpacked in about 3 miles and camped along a riverbank. We only got about 45 minutes each day of hunting. The rest was spent playing in creeks, splashing in the river, finding salamanders & whacking the bushes with sticks -- exactly the kind of "serious hunting" he needs to do right now. Nights were spent talking over a campfire and under the open sky about life, nature and the beginnings of things he'll need to know to be a man. I wouldn't have spent that time any other way.
But aside from hunting:
6 backpacking trips (half were hunting-related)
4 nights camped with just my wife
3 nights camped with just my boys
2 nights camped with a good friend
6 nights camped completely alone.
Untold miles under my feet and invaluable time with some of the people I love most in the places I love the most.
I made some business changes last year that allowed me to spend more time out in the woods and out of cell phone range than in the previous 10 years combined. No complaints here. Life is good!
Topic: How many days do you hunt each year? (Read 1931 times)
