How many days per year do you spend in the field?

krist003

Active Member
Nov 15, 2017
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My curiosity is getting the better of me and I was wondering how many days other hunters spend in the field hunting. I’m always trying to balance family life with the urge to hunt as much as humanly possible. I spend around 30-40 days in the field, with about 15 of those being over night. Hoping to grow those numbers as my boys get older, but it seems to be a decent balance for me right now. It also keeps me married, barely.

I understand different life situations play a big part of this, so please feel free to explain. For example, I am married with a 4 and an 8 year old.
 
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I consider scouting hunting...So, probably well over 200...Of course, I've been divorced for 29 years and have gone thru a number of good women...:angery:

ps...Can I count bass hunting too?...:blush:

Geeze Sprig, its not a competition :) But you do seem to have a winning formula, congrats. And by all means count fishing too. I only spend about 10-15 days a year fishing and a lot of that is with my boys so its pretty guilt-free. Although I guess i'm not fishing when i'm with them either, just untangling lines and dealing out snacks.
 
Geeze Sprig, its not a competition :) But you do seem to have a winning formula, congrats. And by all means count fishing too. I only spend about 10-15 days a year fishing and a lot of that is with my boys so its pretty guilt-free. Although I guess i'm not fishing when i'm with them either, just untangling lines and dealing out snacks.

Never thought of it as a competition...Just a supreme desire to hunt & fish...And I've always thought of scouting as the real hunting part...Finding game is where it's at, because anybody can pull the trigger.

ps...Got me thinking...I've kept a diary (journal) since about 1980...In 2011 (last year before retiring)...I hunted & fished 179 days...2019, I hunted & fished about 221.

Wow!...About 144 days of doing nothin'...lol
 
I get out any chance I can. Before we had are first girl I told her don't have her on SEP 1st. We have 4 girls , the oldest loves to hunt and the youngest is following her big sister.
GOOD FOR ME

I hear that brother, our youngest daughter was born on august 31st. The nerve of that kid. She had quite a few birthdays along the river near palo verde.
 
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my spawn was born on sept 15....... i hope to see one of her birthdays soon.

hunting is not recreation its part of who you are. i do not count the days but things are not to evil with just big game and shit birds till about mid nov. Then i eat turkey on a thursday, after that its game on, the ordeal has started. i will hunt every weekend from then till then of FEB. since i am doing the lords work everyone i know understands. Sure i have been divorced twice and left a trail of shattered women but as i always point out... you knew what i did going in so no crying now! all ducks must die and die now
 
my spawn was born on sept 15....... i hope to see one of her birthdays soon.

hunting is not recreation its part of who you are. i do not count the days but things are not to evil with just big game and shit birds till about mid nov. Then i eat turkey on a thursday, after that its game on, the ordeal has started. i will hunt every weekend from then till then of FEB. since i am doing the lords work everyone i know understands. Sure i have been divorced twice and left a trail of shattered women but as i always point out... you knew what i did going in so no crying now! all ducks must die and die now
In my youth I used to give the women in my life the Popeye speech -"I yam what I yam" and I went through women like folks go through paper towels some lasted longer than others but they always quit me with the same words "you're never home !". There was no off season fishing or hunting every weekend and weekdays in the spring and summer after work surf fishing. It took me to age 48 to get married and it was to a women that likes all the same things I do. I think I was born with it.
 
In my youth I used to give the women in my life the Popeye speech -"I yam what I yam" and I went through women like folks go through paper towels some lasted longer than others but they always quit me with the same words "you're never home !". There was no off season fishing or hunting every weekend and weekdays in the spring and summer after work surf fishing. It took me to age 48 to get married and it was to a women that likes all the same things I do. I think I was born with it.
I might add I never cheated on the women of the moment who were at hand and always promised that and kept it sacred I just could not leave what drew me to the natural world and kept me balanced in every other way. My current wife was the biggest relief to me because I did not want to be alone through life but needed the right combo and she fulfilled that in a heart beat when we got together because she liked and adored the same lifestyle. It was the two best years of my life. Sadly she got sick after that but I still have no regrets she was and still is the coolest women I have ever known and could have ever hoped for. Sieze the moment or watch it go by..Carpe Diem...
 
If I started hunting before I met my wife I probably wouldn't be married...on year 9 of marriage and finishing off my 2nd season of hunting still trying to find the balance. We have an 8yr old daughter. I spent 2 dozen days in the field hunting this year which was almost 3 times more then my first year. Buying a shotgun allowed me to get in the field more. I didn't like going alone at first because I didn't know what I was even looking for but after a few trips I got more confident and go alone most of the time now. The wife has been overall supportive of me hunting so can't complain. She's got an uncle in Idaho who hunts and wants to show me the ropes..he's been trying to get us to move out there. Been trying to convince the wife it's time!
 
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If I started hunting before I met my wife I probably wouldn't be married...on year 9 of marriage and finishing off my 2nd season of hunting still trying to find the balance. We have an 8yr old daughter. I spent 2 dozen days in the field hunting this year which was almost 3 times more then my first year. Buying a shotgun allowed me to get in the field more. I didn't like going alone at first because I didn't know what I was even looking for but after a few trips I got more confident and go alone most of the time now. The wife has been overall supportive of me hunting so can't complain. She's got an uncle in Idaho who hunts and wants to show me the ropes..he's been trying to get us to move out there. Been trying to convince the wife it's time!
ITS TIME TO GO TO IDAHO
 
I am in the field hunting I would say about 52 days a year... then I go scouting/Hiking with my wife another 30. When there is no hunting season I tend to bring her on hikes and she loves that so it is a win win for us. Every year she asks when the seasons start and ends and for each specie. She has a calendar with those dates, She plans our vacations and family gatherings around that. I love my wife... Like @HATCHET1 says... She's lucky to have me...
 

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