Hunting and family life ??

Shermie

Shermie

Well-known member
well since most here are like minded we live to hunt born bred hunters all our life.
The question i put to you ;be you a lass or a guy how do you handle yourself with your spouse or significant other when the leaves start turning and you get that look in your eyes and your running around getting the boats and gear in order..

With me Sheila new the first year, i HUNT and if i didnt get to hunt i was not worth being around..Its part of the package its like join me or put up with it >She`s is GREAT! she has been hunting a time or two and she always buys me hunting gear, if she can she will go out of her way so i can hunt.So i im lucky real lucky,I spend the whole year doing the daddy family thing and then when the heat wave breaks and the cool air starts i transform into the neandrathal knuckle draggin hunter gatherer, it takes over me for 4 months of the year...then i go back to being DADDY ,,

So how do you guys fear in this transformation at this time of year.
 
I don't do many weekend or overnight trips but during hunting season Saturday mornings are "mine". Even when I lived just outside of Boston I have always focused on spots around home. I get up at "O dark thirty" & hit it. I'm typically home by noon. Keeping the outings to mostly in the AM has worked for me.

I live in RI now and Sunday hunting is legal so Sundays are on my list too. I don't golf. Don't care much about watching sports on TV.
 
Well, at this time of the year and the cool weather starts south, my neck begins to swell,and by the end of October I'm in full rut, for deer season. About mid November I'm cured and the sneak boat is grassed, decoys are complete, bought new motor and trailer and off I go. Between hunting woodies/geese in Georgia and then south to Florida it's ring necks,teal and Florida mallards. (look similiar to black ducks). Oh yeah! I take off for 2 months just to hunt.
But the rest of the year I work double shifts, honey do lists and be a grandpa, which is rewarding. My wife doesn't mind at all as long as I shoot a medium doe for meat and enough duck to make gumbo.
 
My wife celebrates!!!! Aside from the fact that she loves all aspects of fall, she also loves me being gone hunting so she can do her stuff... She also claims that the house stays cleaner when I am not around!
 
Its not much different when season arrives. I am doing decoys or working on my boat and so many other hunting things that it is no bother to her. Towards the end of the season I can tell it starts to work on her but thats only becasue I hunt 4 days a week and go out of state very often. But she is fine with it for the most part. For what I can tell anyway, haha.
 
Well I don't know...I've been told by potential suitors, more often than not, that I'm too intimidating.

My family often knows that it's hunting season because I'm just not home, my brother has made the comment several times...And WHEN is hunting season? Is it here yet??

The only bad thing about this time of year...my truck turns into a National Disaster area.
 
Let me start by saying I have a wife and three children, 11, 3 and 1. My life is a balance between daddy, husband, hunting and job, not always in that order. I must say, I am truly blessed by my family. My wife understands that I have an addiction I can not help, and have no desire to. She gives me a free pass for hunting throughout the season, and I must say I take full advantage. She will even go as far as to arrange family fuctions later in the day to just to give me the opportunity to hunt the morning. I hunt every free moment I get! Probably like the wrest of us here, I am truly addicted to duck hunting, it has gone far beyond the hobby status, I live for it! She understands it is my passion and she enjoys seeing me happy. Now I know this is not the most manly thing to say but I will put it out there... I desire to see my wife happy, even more than hunting. We each truly care more about the needs of the other than our own. She knows that if she asked me to do something other than hunting that made her happy on the opening day of duck hunting, I would do it with no questions asked and not feel as though I was missing out on something. There may be a day I can't make it out to hunt anymore, but hopefully my family will still be there. I don't ever want them to feel like they were the second most important thing in my life.

Take Care,
Gene
 
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The only bad thing about this time of year...my truck turns into a National Disaster area.
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Dani,

You sure you haven't been looking in the back seat of my truck????? One can always tell just what the current and the previous seasons are just by checking out my truck. Seems like it's never really ever cleaned out as there are always remnants of the previous trip(s) lurking everywhere.

Course the up side to that is I can usually find a pair of extra gloves, a jacket, extra boots or even an MRE or two, if I forget to grab everything heading out the door some morning. :>) :>)


To answer the original question. I'm glad to be in the stage of life that I am right now. My two girls are grown up and raising a family of their own. My wife has learned that there is nothing she can do or say that will change me now, ( she gave up on that years ago) so I can pretty much come and go as I please.

I will say that when my daughters were young I greatly curtailed my time away and have no regrets at all about that. I believe if you are going to choose to have children, you need to choose to follow up with the commitment that goes along with having children. If they choose to pursue the same hobbies and interests that you have, well that's great. If they find that they have other interests, then you need to follow and support them if what ever trips their trigger.

Sorry if it sounds like I got on a soap box, I just see too many parents now days whom just plain ignore their kids.[/font]
 
At one time in my life duck hunting was the most important thing there was. After three kids it is down on the list of importance by far. When I was single there were several relationships ended during hunting seasons. I remember one lady who became upset during duck season. After duck season she started getting mad in Mid March as fishing started. When I came home from a 10 day turkey hunting/fishing trip she was gone. Looking back on that day it was one of the best days of my life. My wife does not complain about me hunting and holds her tounge about me carving, afterall it she gave me permission to do it.
 
My wife didn't come from a hunting background but I'll say she's been great and we're going on 23 years of being married. The kids are gone and my youngest is closing on a house tommorrow. My wife has accepted employment with a company in Florida (which I'll have to stay behind for the entire hunting season...;-) and sell the house...hopefully) and wasn't even mad when I started making plans to go see her for a visit with a side trip to hunt with Hitch while I'm there.

Here's a picture of just one wall in the livingroom. As you can see there is one little green thing (hers) amongest the deer pictures, deer mount and waterfowl art. AND she'll cook it too!

Picture171.jpg


Take care,

Ed L.
 
With my wife, it was actually a requirement before we got married that I would still be hunting. I gave up some other stuff that took a bunch of time but we agreed that during the hunting season (of which I only hunt ducks and a couple of pheasant hunts), I can do pretty much as I please. I also don't abuse the free pass and believe I have found a happy medium where I still get to hunt as much as I want, but am also home for every family event. I am very firtunate in this as several of my buddies don't have the same understanding.

Also helps that my wifey is a small SoDak farmers daughter who grew up with 3 older brothers who hunted all the time. She is the one bugging me to get to the SoDak opener and bring friends along. how's that?

Mark W
 
as a new dad and soon too be husband so far we just incorperate scouting as a family adventure and hunting is fine by the ol lady as long as i dont "make a habit" of missing church my pastor is jelous lol. we went shed hunting alot this summer too no avail but it helped with the deer scouting we make it work
 
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My wife works and leaves at 6am. I work from home and save enough vacation time to take morning off to hunt a couple of days a week. I'll hunt Saturday if I have access to some private land. I don't do public land on weekends. She has been great about all of it. We fish, clam and crab together all summer. SHe knows from October to February is hunting. Even got a new sneakbox this year. I have no complaints. The kids are gone so I don't have that to deal with.
 
I know I hunt too much, but I can't stop myself. I'm the guy on your street that doesn't cut his grass much or trim his hedges. He has brand new boat motors on old beat up hulls being pulled by a beater truck. I don't own a suit or ever have, but have spent $250 on a rain coat before. If my kids can't come, I don't want to go. My wife doesn't hunt but her family does, so she knows people like us live by the seasons maybe a little more than regular folks. I know she wishes I was more available for house chores in the fall, but we have an understanding, and I make a point of celebrating that we are still married after each fall season. When she's planning winter vacations she says stuff like, "If we go to Florida at Christmas is there anything you want to hunt while we're there?" I love her.

Mike

PS, Remember this picture? How can anyone stay indoors when monsters like that are running around!?!?!

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What a great topic. I am in my second marriage. No doubt my first had issues with the amount of time I spent hunting.. Let's get the record straight though. I don't hunt 4 months a year. I scout for two, Hunt for four, scout for another two all those places I wanted to scout during hunting season but would rather of hunted and didn't get around to it and then it's time to work the dog for another 2 months and then repeat the process. I have found over the last year that the biggest mistake I have made in life is trying to hunt and not scout. Far better to have fewer better hunts than twice as many empty bag hunts. That said, my current wife , unlike my first wife does hunt. Loves Turkey, likes pheasant and grouse, but hates waterfowling. "too cold and wet". Last year was tough (our first year married). She was resistant many times and HATED the extra time taken to scout. This year something happened. Not sure what but it's been a lot better. She is more understanding and something with me has also happened. I bite the bullet sometimes. Instead of hunting or scouting. I stay home and do yardwork, or take the car to get washed. I think we both gave in a little to make the other happier. The result is when I do go hunting, it's stress free. The payoff is worth it. I also let her do more. If you love something... set it free. It will come back.
 
Life is constantly changing that one thing is sure!

my children are growing. My wife and I just celibrated 10 years this summer and I am going into my 4th year of living where I have always wanted to live. By all accounts life is good.

I run my own business and my wife runs the resort we own ( we are trying to sell it) so life is busy. My son took an interest in scouting that means many saturdays will not be spent on the water. But you know what Its fine with me. I will still get plenty of sunrises and sunsets this season the puppy will pick up a few birds and best of all my son, my daughter, my wife, and somtimes all three will join me for a few of those hunts.

Something changed in me recently and I am enjoying my hunts more then ever and dont care exactly how many time the gun goes bang. Watching the birds work, watching the dog work, laughing outload as you realize how silly you as a duck hunter really are to be out in the wind and weather.... Right now thats where its at for me.

So how do I deal with life and duck hunting. I meet my responsibilities. I always have. But now I take a few more days off and get enough sleep and make life a bit easier for my wife by doing more then just my responsibilities require she apreaciates it and I enjoy the time in the field that much more because of it.
 
I wish I had been a duck hunter more than a deer hunter when I could and did hunt 4-5 days a week, saturdays and before and after work. I kept the freezer full but I didn't have a lot of joy except when an arrow found it's mark. Now with a growing family and bigger house/property I've backed off the deer and really ENJOY hooking up the boat and floating some nice blocks. Sometime the ducks even show up!

I spent two long years trying to do it all, deer hunt, duck hunt, fish, family obligations, house maintenance.... Wow, those were rough years and I can't believe my wife handled it as well as she did. I've come to the point where her happiness is the most important thing and that makes me happy. I'm fortunate she doesn't ask for much and that she is also interested in my happiness. So, we find a way to make it work and I can enjoy both the hunting and family time without wishing I was somewhere else or feeling guilty about hunting when I should elsewhere.

Now that my son Luke is big enough to tag along on most hunts that makes it easier to get a pass to go. Doesn't always make it easier for me, but permission is easier if it gets both of us out of the house and my wife doesn't have to hear "when's Daddy coming home?" again and again for hours.

I'd like to kill another good buck someday but I don't think I'll ever invest the time and energy into it that I have in the past.

I'll be happy with a few good days hunting ducks for now.

Gene
 
before i got married 36yrs. ago my dad took my little lady aside and told her that i would always be good to her and take care of her and any children we had -- BUT -- you'll never get him to stop leaving his jeans and sweatshirt at the end of the bed AND he'll be hunting from october through december -- if you can't accept the last two you'll never be happy with him

well its 36 years and his statement still holds tru -- its who i am -- its who my wife has accepted and who she loves (thank god) -- and i created the same monster in my son

the wife doesn't hunt, likes to fish, and likes all wild game and being outdoors and has NEVER stopped me from doing what i love in the fall and winter.

i suppose like many of you i make concessions in my llife to do the things she loves to do - turnabout is fair play -- and so far its worked good
 
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