Careers and tradlife

[KevO]

I am a wildlife biologist in western Illinois.  I'm not getting rich, but I'm outside a lot.  My duties are too numerous to mention, but the most favorite aspect of my job is working with private landowners interested in improving habitat.  Been at it 21 yr's.

[WRV]

Short order cook at several restaurants in my teens. Started working at a local funeral home right out of high school doing maintenance work. Really enjoyed what I was doing and went to work with another funeral home as an apprentice in 1980. Along with two other partners, bought the company 2004. Can't imagine doing anything else. Don't always have the time to hunt/shoot as much as I would like but usually manage to get in a little shooting time in the garage at work.

[va]

Hey Scifres - I'm a safety guy too.

Great thread btw...

I got my CSP in 1997 after 6 years as a safety guy for a gov contractor.  Now I am about to start as the safety guy for an oil and gas drilling company in Kansas.

Remember - work always turns into work at some point so make the people the priority.  What we own ends up owning us so give something away whenever you can.

It is not the title or the toys it is the people.

My favorite title is Dad.

va

[awbowman]

I'm a registered professional in Civil and Environmental Engineering.  Been doing it for almost 30 years now.  It's not as chalenging or as rewarding as it used to be, but I have a little ways to go before retirement.  

I have one more to finish college then it's part-time for me if the stock market can at least stay put.lol

Looking forward to spending LOTS of time and money hunting and at the camp.

[woodworker]

Woodworker and home builder for most of my life and after what I call a 30 year apprenticeship I now work for the National Park Service at Fort Laramie, NHS.  All the skills that I have learned over the years I get to put to work there as an exhibit specialist in historic preservation.  I am fortunate that I love my job and get to work with a great group of people.  This job has also afforded me the opportunity to move to Wyoming which I also love with my family.  Not doing the wood working business full time has given me more time to spend with family and be out of doors, I get to be Dad and husband again.  The schedule is so that I should have plenty of opportunity to take the kids out hunting so I really could not ask for more, best move I have ever made.

[monterey]

I'm about to turn 65 and have only been employed for eight years of my life, including three years in the Army.  Rest of the time I have been self employed, mostly in sales.  Feast and famine!  My life has not been any special finanacial succes, but it's been good.  I have two wonderful daughters who are married to good men and have given me seven grandchildren.  All of them live within three miles of me.  I spend a lot of time taking grand kids fishing, shooting and hunting.  The oldest is 17 and can bench press a full olympic bar.  He can also carry a whole lot of boned out elk!

I'll retire when bed ridden!      That's both by choice and necessity.  

[Cyclic-Rivers]

I currently work as a regional transportation coordinator for the nations largest (for profit) drug and alcohol Detox and Rehab facilty.

Most days I get out late and a so stressed out that I cannot shoot.  I love my job but our clientele is anything but reliable.

Our company wants beds filled at all costs.  Since this is a Union shop I am often put in impossible situations with staff vs corporate office.

Its tough to get time off, I should get paid a lot more (held back by the union!) but I love the challenges presented to me. I am able to be a creative problem solver and have made humongous gains for the corporation.  The days go by fast and I am gaining a lot of valuable experience for my next position, when I move.  I have to deal with many situations that police often look at me and ask wether I have to deal with this type of stuff often. I shrug and say yep daily often twice daily.

My previous Job was a Tropical Fish Hatchery. I loved it but I ceilinged out in 2 years and family obligations caused a move. the state shut down many of their hatcheries and I couldnt find anything close. Before that I was a substitute teacher for about a year and a half.

I was a bit peaved in College, I was naieve and thought the only outdoor job was "Game Worden" which i wasnt interested in. Now I know how wrong I was.  I went to school for PR and hoped to work for a  company in the outdoor industry! Funny how you end up doing something completly different. I always thought that wouldnt be me.

[Michael Pfander]

I am lucky enough to be one of those people that is self employed.  I own a small [much smaller now] construction co.  My wife of 28 years is the only person I always pay attention to.  Lately all my work has been for people that I know or know me that makes the jobs go much smoother.  It looks like I may get to build a custom home in Russia east of the Ural mnt.  So I may get to do a little bow hunting over there.  I can normally hunt when ever I choose to.
MAP

[7 Lakes]

I worked 30 years for a system of Wilderness Camps/Schools for kids in trouble.  The first 5 years (before marriage) I was able to take month long canoe trips with the kids along with extended backback trips pretty much anytime I wanted to.

[gobblegrunter]

Nothin' fancy here...I'm a utility worker with a Natural Gas company. Doesn't make me rich, but is a steady, reliable income. It allows for plenty of down-time with my family and some time here and there for hunting/fishing. Very interesting thread, BTW!

[Red Tailed Hawk]

Im a maintenance mechanic for the school district. Started off working for a local plumber when young. I stuck with the plumbing and heating and became licensed and at one point started my own plumbing heating company. Well business just wasnt to be my thing and am happy with my current maintenance job. Just real happy to be employed in this economy.

[critter69]

Ill keep it short. Full time iam HVAC tech. My wife just asked me the other day if I was happy with my life.  I said the only thing I hate about my life is my job. On the side I do Taxidermy, paint wildlife,build beer pong tables.Most fun is when I get to hunt and fish with my two boys and my dog.

[Buckeye Trad Hunter]

Like others here I started out to be a forest ranger but I just didn't have the discipline for school at the time.  Now I work for a large food manufacturer as a mechanic/operator of one of the largest anhydrous ammonia refrigeration systems in North America.  Not a bad job and actually the best labor job a person can get in this area but it's not what I want to retire from.

[dnovo]

I've been in construction all of my working life. Born and raised on a farm so it came natural. I have had my own company ( small company) for 21 years now. It has enabled me to do the hunts I have done the last fewe years. I hunt with a couple buddies who are the same and we decided years back that when we were old we would tell stories about what we did and where we went instead of the same old "I wish I had done this". Can't look back.

[Easykeeper]

Graduated from the University of Minnesota aiming to teach Industrial Arts in a small town high school but got sidetracked by a job as a graphics and photography technician at a large newspaper that paid double what a starting teacher made.  Great job, good benefits, lots of time off for hunting.  Worked there for twenty years until I got laid off when the newspaper industry and the economy tanked simultaneously.

Too young to retire and having never used my teaching degree I am now back in college working on a Mechanical Engineering degree with hardly any time for hunting.  You don't get any smarter as you get older, the young people I am around every day are a really impressive bunch.  Fortunately old age and treachery can usually keep up with youth and talent...  

[Glenn Hickey Jr.]

Great Thread!!!  I’ve lived my entire life in a small town in south central Kentucky, growing up riding our bicycles to the farm ponds to fish or hunting small game when in season.  Got hooked-up with archery at a KY State Fish & Wildlife camp and received my first recurve for my 11th birthday.
I’m a second generation funeral director and purchased the family business in 1999.  The business sets my schedule and it seems I’m always the busiest when I should be hunting but it also has several advantages.  I know all the farmers and land owners and have an open door to most places.  Second, the building has several large rooms where I set up a target and backstop and can practice out to 20 yards.
I enjoy anything outdoors from riding motorcycles to raising a garden.  I also volunteer with Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief and Baptist Global Response. With BGR I have literally traveled the world giving a cup of water in the name of our Lord.

[PaddyMac]

I've been an outdoor writer/editor for 30 years. Then an opinionator on a daily newspaper. Then I got smart and got a contract liquor store (in WA the state runs the liquor stores and in small town contracts out to people to run them.)

[Bow Bum]

I started out in HVAC. Went to college for it and continued with it until I burnt out on the hours. Through some twists and turns...I've been a program/project manager for a small division of a large company and oversee Automotive cooling component validation, and other automotive validation testing for the past 4 years. Its a fairly fullfilling job, and I like the company I work for. It can be alot of stress and long hours dealing with the auto supply chain. The upside is I have nearly 4 weeks of vacation, most of which is taken in the fall.

I have a beautful wife and 2 beautiful children. I make enough to get by and GOD has been good to me. I manage to shoot my recurve nearly every night.

Cool thread!

Brian

[Wary Buck]

Son of a teacher-coach (father) and small-town newspaper publisher/editor (mother).  And I'm a social studies teacher-coach who writes a weekly outdoor recreation column for the local daily paper and freelances for a few magazines and authored a book, My Neck of the Woods.  Working on the second one right now.  I guess the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

[When I left for college, torn between sporting goods, wildlife biology, journalism, teaching].

Teaching doesn't pay much, but is largely recession-proof.  The hours are very similar to one's children, which is a good thing.  It would be an ideal job for a guy whose passion is fishing.  It's not bad for a whitetail bowhunter who does not coach in the fall (I've turned down opportunities to coach cross country, another passion).  Most schools have tight leave policies which in my case have severely hampered my non-resident hunt dreams.

Think I've got 7 years until early retirement, but may stay in it until my daughters graduate (10 years) so I can keep an eye on 'em and they don't leave the house wearing one set of clothes only to change into something unacceptable.  I'll also have a better feel for the guys that may be lurking around the house.  Ha.

[cliffy]

Army 23 years and still going....haven't figured out what I'm going to do when I grow up