Hunting Family Work

Roughneck71 · #1 11-04-2010, 07:27 PM

hey guys was just wondering what everyone does...i live in gp but work on the road usually in stony or red deer 10 days on 4 off....so every second wed night im home. And we have a 2 and a half year old girl as well. i get to talk to her every night on the rd. i stay in hotels at least not camps..problem is when i get home on the wed night samara is so happy and if she wakes up thursday and im gone hunting....not a good day and if i tell her im going when i get home wed its a long night....love spending all the time with sam as possible but it kills me when i stay home and dont hunt, but feel so guilty when i do i think of her all day.... when its not hunting season im with her all 4 days all the time..man this year its killing me especially when working seeing all the deer around red deer!!lo dont want to sound like a whinner but its been a tough season...... I love my little girl more than anything but its still hard during hunting season....
Darrelll

CaberTosser · #2 11-04-2010, 08:08 PM

I hear you there; our son Tristan is the same age as your girl, and I wish I had more time to spend with him. I know it's a matter of making the time, but I have to finish building our new house; we're tiring of the Gypsy life we've been living during it's extended build time. His Mom has the patience of a Saint though, what with enduring my pickiness about the project. She knows at least the finished home will be worth the sacrifices. I hunted opening day, complete with occasional guilt pangs, but won't allow myself out again until the drywallers are started mid next week.

It kind of sucks when a favorite activity like hunting is only possible at certain times, and we wind up feeling guilty making time for ourselves. When you think about it, we deserve our time as well. Just strive for balance with family time and work, don't go working to an early grave and think about what might have been; make the trip worthwhile, don't merely focus on the destination.

KegRiver · #3 11-04-2010, 08:14 PM

Sorry to hear of your dilemma. Darrelll

I am past those problems, so I took on another. LOL

Yup, my kids are all grown and married, it's just me and the missus, and I'm home every night. But.

I live north of Manning. And I work highway maintenance, IE. Snow Plow Operator. Yeah I know all the jokes, department of holidays and all that.
To some extent it is true. There are days when we have trouble finding things to do.
The flip side of that is, that from October 15 to April 30 all of us are on call, 24/7. When it snows, we get called out, and we work until the roads are all clear or until we hour out.
Because of this I have missed the last several hunting seasons. I bought licenses, did all the prep work and then it started snowing, and didn't stop long enough for me to get away to hunt.

Good thing I love my job more then I love hunting. LOL

TreeGuy · #4 11-04-2010, 08:41 PM

Hang in there boys, it'll get easier.

Mine are 5 and just shy of 9 now. Previous to the oldest, I rifle hunted up to 30 days a season, but mostly solo. That pretty much changed in a hurry. Getting into bowhunting has been a Godsend.

These days, the 'Shrubs' can tag along. The past two seasons have been mostly ground blind stuff, with a nice two person treestand getting hung up next year.

So trust me, it WILL get easier.

EDIT: Hey Keg, count me as another poor sucker pushing snow. We do it mostly with shovels though, and it pretty much sucks. Gotta pay the bills somehow though........

Rocks · #5 11-04-2010, 08:41 PM

Start taking your girl with you. You won't be able to do some things like hike 10 miles, or sit in a stand for hours, but you can hunt with kids that age. I used to take mine out occasionally, and she loved it. Do short hikes, set up and sit as long as she can stand it, do some road hunting, etc, mix it up a bit. Oh and mom will appreciate it too...

Make sure to have ear protection for her if you do any shooting.

Roughneck71 · #6 11-04-2010, 09:35 PM

ya last days off i bought a child carrying back pack(never heard of one before) we went on a 30 min bird hunt gun scared her a little but touching the grouse was cool...lol

KegRiver · #7 11-05-2010, 12:23 AM

Gee Treeguy I'd hate to have to use a shovel for that!! If it doesn't have eighteen gears It's not for me! LOL

Yeah it sure was great taking the kids out. Soon my grandson will be old enough. He goes fish with me already. Now that's special. Not quite as special as my daughters first Moose. But close.

Taking the kids adds a whole new world of pleasure to hunting.

Tracker34 · #8 11-05-2010, 10:24 AM

My boys are only 16 months and we go cruising in the ol' camo truck for birds now and then. They love it. The windows are up and the truck door is closed before I pull the trigger. Can't wait until next year when they can come out walking with me a bit.
I only get out about 10% of the time I did before the boys were born. It will slowly start to work back up to the norm.
Like Rocks said. Mama appreciates it when I take the boys with me.

Whiskey Wish · #9 11-06-2010, 07:45 AM

My children are all grown and gone and I have 7 grandchildren so I have an idea of what the OP is talking about. I have come to the conclusion that to be the best Dad you can possibly be for Sam means you have to take care of yourself. Physically, mentally and emotionally. Ask any doctor or therapist and they will tell you that exercise and having a hobby are two very good things to help a person stay in shape in all three ways. So by going hunting you are keeping yourself healthy so you can be the best Dad you can be for Sam when you are with her.
That's my two one hundredths of a dollar.

Keep Your Powder Dry,
Dave.

Roughneck71 · #10 11-06-2010, 08:44 PM

thanks guys for the replies, since a bought the child carrier we are going to concentrrate on some grouse hunts the rest of the season...she talks about going all the time even told the day home lady that she shot it...lol thanks again for listeneing..
Darrell

theycallmeNoah · #11 11-06-2010, 09:50 PM

This is the first year that we've been a hunting family. We compromise in that we bird hunt as a family and my hubby goes big game hunting with his buddies.

I have a friend whose husband takes ALL of his holidays for hunting and does not take his son or wife. That would NOT be OK with me. So my hubby saves some holidays for family time and takes a good chunk of them for hunting.

You just need to find the balance that will work for your family.

sheepguide · #12 11-06-2010, 10:12 PM

Ive taken my kids since they could breath pretty much. When they couldnt walk we drove. When they could kinda walk we drove and walked a little and just kept working up as their capabilities grew.
Here is my youngest when he was under 3.
Nothing can beat having your kids out there with you. Sure hunting will be alot different than before but to me its way better.

DSC00074.JPG

SG

Arn?Narn. · #13 11-06-2010, 10:16 PM

Time to start bring her along...
It can be limiting to what you can do, but rewarding beyond any animal you will ever shoot...

Gonehuntin' · #14 11-07-2010, 02:28 PM

Yup, family changes it. Our two boys are 3 yers and 3 months old, respectively. Lot less time to hunt, and I'm finding that I gotta change up my methods quite a bit.I want to get them out a bit more, that's for sure. Which, at this point, means driving more, sitting in the truck, and generally me learning more patience.

Last year's season kinda pi$$'d me off a bit, our older son was 2, the wife was 3-4 months pregnant and constantly queasy, and her with a cow moose tag! So I got walk in permission for a 3/4 block of land, and it happened to be surrounded by county road. So we cut laps, sat in good spots to get a view, and stayed around the truck a lot more than I generally like to do.And I had to learn to save the walking and stalking till after we had spotted a critter, she tuckered out quick.

So this landowner and his wife, who owns across the road from the area we have permission on, who I have seen from first light on into the morning and evening, cutting the same loop for a week that we were, stops us one morning and tells me that him and his neighbors are getting choked about road hunters, and that we have been identified as such. Of course, in a snotty tone. Which makes him a hypocrite. I did not, however, notice a toddler in a car seat, or a queasy looking pregnant wife in his truck.Just a bad attitude and the distinct smaell of pucky emanating from his window, his breath, possibly?

And this from a guy that owns a substantial amount of land, on which I had seen the moose many a time, but he's out road hunting {for moose},checking out everybody elses land and giving me and mine crapola for spotting and stalking, and cruising the backroads.....

Again, not my preferred style, but a guy's gotta learn to adapt to the circumstances, or leave the family at home, which I don't wanna do. Rant over.