Cant deal with my lack of hunting time!

[jonsimoneau]

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?

[adkmountainken]

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.

[Steve in Canton]

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.

[sweeney3]

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.

[BOWMARKS]

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

[Thumper Dunker]

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.

[Steve O]

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...

[USN_Sam1385]

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.

[Dirtybird]

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.

[Hot Hap]

Wow x2
Jon-Retirement works fine.
Hap

[Friend]

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!!

[ozy clint]

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!

[Whip]

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!

[Joseph]

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  

[jimmerc]

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

[adkmountainken]

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.

[Izzy]

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.

[jcarter]

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!

[Bonebuster]

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.