Where do you find the time to hunt so much??

[bigboarstopper]

Ive been reading a lot of posts from people in here and they talk about getting the dogs out 3-4 days a week and hunting or just going for a run. Where do you find the time? How do you afford it? Do you work seasonally? Are you wealthy? Are you devorced or single?

I would truly like your answers. Trying not to be too funny about it. I hunt every other weekend if im really lucky. Usually I will hunt both days of the weekend if I dont kill anything too big that requires lots of skinning/butchering time or if we dont have some kind of train wreck like a missing or really injured dog. Sometimes the first hunt is a marathon and I dont sleep that first night so the second day is a wash. My wife is a piece of cake when it comes to me hunting, she lets me go whenever I want without complaint. I just dont see how I could get out 3-4 days a week like some in here do without losing the old lady or skipping work.

If anybody is inclined to respond Id really like to know how much you hunt and what makes you able or unable to hunt as much as you want, From what kind of business you do that enables you to have that freedom or the lack of or what deal you have made with the wife and kids that keeps you married.

[sheimer]

Good question BBS. It's something I've often wondered. I'm a very fortunate guy who has a good wife about me hunting. She doesn't say much if I keep it to a reasonable ammout. She's OK with a morning here and a day there and an afternoon now and then and all weekend during Cat season is OK. I work on a ranch with absentee owners who are in the phase of just getting the place into shape after several decades of letting the place just sit. It allows me to run the hounds down the creek on my place as often as I want. That doesn't constitute hunting most of the time, just exercise. Of course, they strike a coon every once in a while. As far as real hunting, our cat season runs from Dec 1 through April 14, so I really only hunt when I can for the 135 day season. That means mostly after a fresh snow for a couple days. With all that said, I still want to know how these guys can put 150 -200 days in the field actually pounding out tracks. To add in, how do some of these guys afford to go to several states to hunt?

Scott

[Huntintony]

I own an outfitting business. In the field all the time scouting and hunting. Also l get invited to run on new ranches in hopes that I can put some kind of a hunting program together for the owner. It's a tough job but somebody has to do it...

[high desert hounds]

Here is how I do it, My wife is probley the perfect wife, She understands that it is more than a hobie. The flip side is if my wife askes me to do something, i do it without question. Has worked well for 12 years. I own a construction company and when i'm out of town my brother takes care of the daily stuff. Even at that we don't have alot of coin but we also don't have alot of debt. I could care less about the jones's. We have two vehicles that are nice by our standard but nothing newer than a 2000 model. I hunt out of a 1980 toyota flat bed that gets 20+ miles to the gallon. And we camp alot with the family during the summer. I buy used gear whenever possible. and every dollar that is assigned to me goes into dog food and gas. And finaly bobcat hides they are usualy the kicker. A good season will pay for my years dog food and some gear. I ran a bunch of extra dogs this year and I definately felt the added expence. It was way worth it though to get a tast of some other dogs. Here is where I have fell on some good fortune, We just signed a contract to build a house on a 60,000 acre ranch right on the Oregon Nevada border. So I will be hunting six nights a week for bobcats and spending alot of weekends in nevada hunting lions. We wil be staying in there spare house so little or no additional expense there, And my wife and kids can come down whenever they feel like it. Finaly it takes sacrifice by everyone in the family, Lucky for me they all love to hunt. Thats how we do It. Good luck

[bob baldwin jr]

BBS: I am retired ,My son is retired Air Force , Last 5 years I worked a 2nd job to pay for the toys. Don't owe anybody a dime . If I can't pay cash I don't need it. Always hunted Maine 2 weeks of the year and was able to hunt most of the Canadian provinces ,usually week to 10 days per year . All boils down to " How Bad Do YOU Want it" I've been able to hunt behind a lot of outfitters hounds some good but lots were TRASH. Soon as we finish the house up there and get this one sold here we will probably start gathering our own pack.Has both good and bad points to have waited this long to get started.Only feel it is right to do if you can give the time ,training ,and resources to the endeavor.

[pegleg]

priorities and determination are the main factors as a kid it's risking the ass chewing to go. so you learn to feed and check everything before and while your out " multi tasking now a days" ! as a adult you find a way to hunt enough if it means no sleep then it's your choice as is moving or living in a area that makes getting out easier. I hunt 4 days a week or a little more on average. I make sure I am home in the evenings or afternoons and on my days off do a little dirt work or tractor work to pay for my job it's like anything a man really wants to do if the desire is strong enough, it will motivate you to find a way to do it. I rather have 4-6 good hounds to feed then 10 + sorry hounds costing me money I could use to be out hunting. I don't use a new rig to hunt in, or a gps tracker and keep cost down in ways like that. my family has a choice as well they can spend unlimited time with me IF they want to ride along for the hunt. I also make sure if the kids have a game etc. I am there for them. It has cost me in some ways but there isn't a life choice you can make that won't cost you somehow.

[LCK]

Balance is the key to me. I hunt when I can and don't sweat it when I can't. I earn a public servant salary and train dogs to supplement it. The wife works a full time job as well. We both run hounds when we can. Running hounds is what we do when we are not working. No fancy toys, cruises or vacations to pay for. Load the dogs, a pack of hot dogs and we make do. Ive seen a lot of folks hit it hard for a few years and then burn out. I think balance is what has kept me in the dog sports for 30 plus years with no end in sight.

[kuntryboy]

once a week I get out, when the wife is at work, the kids are in school or daycare and i get a few hours to get out, but

[liontracker]

I'm in excavation, which is about as seasonal as it gets. In the winter, the guys plow snow and things are pretty much on autopilot.
My wife is a one in a million type.
My kids are grown and on their own.
Plus I have the added benefit of 4,500 acres in my back yard for a training grounds.

[REB]

Im just getting started with hounds but,Im a underground miner I work a 12Hr shift 4 on 4 off. My two youngest kids are in college. my Wife loves to hunt and the dogs.
Only live about 20 Min. from the hills
Rick,

[U.R.E.]

I work in mental health services....AKA ass job. It leaves me with energy to spend after work when the weather is right.

I like to get out Tuesday, Thursday and the weekend.

[Brady Davis]

I married a perfect wife. She is passionate about ballet and she dances a good bit so she understands how passionate we can be with hounds. I own 2 businesses that allow me some real flexibility and I work with great people who can keep things afloat when I disappear. I also am lucky as I have made some real good connections with large land owners.

All that said I think a guy needs to know when to say when. Balance is key.

[Hi Tech]

I took the job I have now just for the time off. We work a three day on and two day off schedule. I only work 14 days a month and my overtime is comp time so I get it off. I let my time build up then take it when hunting season is in. So I take 2 weeks in July, the month of Sept, and Dec. Then any time in between I hunt on my days off. The only thing is our seasons could be longer. So I am lucky I guess.

[LBell]

BBS, I was getting on here today to ask the same question, it's crazy to think about how some are able to spend so much timehunting in the hills. Myself not so much, I have one heck of a wife cooks, cleans, take care of it all and real easy on the eyes. She's real good about letting me get out when I can, she is a stay at home women who raises our daughter. I run a paper route in the morning then go to work for the day as a welder for a transformer building outfit hear in pocatello, and pedal dog food were I can. If I am lucky I get out once a week and thats cause I hunt coons on the outskirts of town. As for cats not alot, but as much as I can. Bear hunting is a joke, money, bait, gas, time and then finding a spot were somebody else dosn't already "own the mountian". I just enjoy getting what I can were I can, the only one who needs be impressed with what I do with what I got is me. As for you lucky pot lickers live it up you worked for it you deserve it. Lance

[Ike]

Work 4-10s these days, have an understanding wife and grown kids, don't owe a dime on anything, pay cash like said above. I have alot of flexiblity with my job and plenty of vacation time. I run hounds year round on lions and on bears when open, hunt a few hunters as well. Trade off like above, as my wife has dragged me to England five times in recent years and on one of those boat things to Alaska. We both work and we both get what we need out of life. Give and take is the key and we've been doing it for over thirty years...........

ike