job vs hunting trip? any one else had problems?

[sageadvice]

When younger, i bounced around a bit with different jobs. Twice, when i was interviewed, i did my best to get the position but had made it clear that when hunting season rolled around i would be going out of state hunting mule deer.

"No problem" they said until a few weeks before the hunt i was told that because of this or that, i couldn't be given the time off. My responce was, "Hey, i'm going, if my job is still here when i get back, great." Hunting big mulie bucks has always been a major passion and priority.

Anybody else have similar situations?

 

[hunter1]

I quit a job before i left for an elk hunt because they wouldnt give me the time off i had ask for. half way through my hunt i had a voice mail that said i was approved for the leave and have a good trip see you when you return. ya sure you will.

 

[sageadvice]

hunter1, Thanks, that's a hard core hunter move for sure bro. i got my jobs back also once i got back. Didn't even cross my mind while was on the hunt though. Some bosses just have no sence of values. lol

 

[264Magnum]

I quit a job under the same circumstances a few years ago. I had been approved for the time off, and a week before I was too leave they changed their minds. My supervisor, who I got along with very well, did everything he could to get me the time off. His boss would have none of it, so I walked out Friday and spent the next week chasing muleys in Wyoming.
_____________________________
Farmers harvest. Hunters kill

 

[B_F_E]

I think it depends on your situation, for a young whippersnapper its the right thing to do, for those like me with a small family & a large wife to feed it takes on some added (gravity) plus I think by paying my dues now I'll be able to hunt many years into the future because I'll be established, not like someone that has to look for a new job each fall.

 

[sageadvice]

264, yep, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!

B_F_E, Yes, i agree completely. Also, i saw that picture of your wife with bino's so...i, ah, can understand how that may...influence your discretion and independence.

Much easier to do if;
1. your a good certified weilder
2. no wife, no kids
3. you never liked that job anyway

 

[marley]

My boss lets me off to hunt whenever I want. He's the best boss in the world. If I took an entire month off to hunt he wouldn't even bat an eye at the notion.

P.S. My boss is me =)

 

[264Magnum]

I was 22 I think when I did that. Wouldn't even dream of doing that now. With my new job, its pretty easy for me to get whatever time off that I need or want.
_____________________________
Farmers harvest. Hunters kill

 

[tageater]

I work a 7 on/7 off job, so every other week i'm on vacation/hunting. No need to quit if i can just hang in there for 7 days. and being as i'm a bow hunter, it ends up being a lot of available time in the woods.

 

[supersider34]

Thats why you need to be self employed and have a damn good wife to be your sugar momma with an excellent job.

 

[sageadvice]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-14-07 AT 06:54PM (MST)[p]supersider, well, at least i got the self empolyed right. It's not all that great, i can tell ya, but at least i can make the TIME to go hunting.

Now about the wife part with a excellent job, sounds like a good gig, where do i apply. lol

 

[widetrackjack]

Here are a few things I have done since graduating from college that have helped me satisfy my annual blood letting addictions.
1. Choose a career/trade as early on in life as you can that will give you time off in the fall.
2. Work your trade/profession as hard as you can when you get started to establish dominance in your field.(this makes you hard to replace at almost any price)
3. Work as much overtime during the "hunting off season" as you can to build up "chits" with your employer or supervisor.(make them want to reward you by giving you the time off)
4.Dont talk too much about hunting in your workplace. Be discreet.
5.Never tell them what your going to do with your vacation time. If they insist on knowing then tell them that you're going to a family reunion. I have never heard of anyone being refused on those grounds.
6. Sign up for vacation as early in the year as possible and get it approved well before hunting season gets close.
7. If you still find yourself in the same position then fire up your resume and start over at suggestion number 1!

 

[deerhuntr4885]

Yep, I quit a job a year or so after high school over a high buck hunt. I had it on the schedule as my vacation for about 6 months. One day I noticed it was scratched off so I wrote it back on the calender. When I returned to work it was scratched off again. No word from my boss, just scratched it off. When I asked her about it she said I could not have it off. No reason given. So I went looking for a new job the next day. Got a new one, gave my two weeks notice. Left the for the hunt one after the two weeks and started my new job after I got back.

Mike Henne

 

[nv_hunter]

>>a large wife to feed



Thats wrong but funny!!

 

[sageadvice]

widetrack, Sounds like a plan. i do question #'s 4&5 if you are able to work at a place and feel the need to refrain from talking about, what you like to do, your hunts in general, or hunting at all in order to do so, you're cut from different stock than i. Just doesn't sound like a place that i could possibly exist.

4885 Mike, there's a good lad.

It's great when you are able to yearly chase big mulie's, sustain a great family life and all the while, get taller and taller while standing on ones wallet. i am not one to have done so. no regrets, just didn't work out that way for me. looking back i'd have to say that i'm glad for every single hunt and the sometimes bizar things that i had to do to make them happen. For some, the price one pays to play this game adds to more than money.

 

[B_F_E]

Correction,....I meant a large family & a small wife
Not visa-versa ;-)

 

[Dean Parisian]

I married at 37 and was always self-employed and always will be. When younger I could have plenty of time to hunt, it's just I was never making money when hunting. The same is true now except there's so much more accountability and responsibility to my current position. They take time.

For you young bucks who love to hunt, remember this; a great wife and a good job will ruin alot of great hunting.


Dean Parisian
Chippewa Partners
Team Muleys Pro Staff
http://chippewapartners.blogspot.com

 

[OutdoorWriter]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-15-07 AT 02:48PM (MST)[p]Sage,

I could have easily posted the exact message you did because it's a mirror image of what happened with me in 1968 or so.

I had gone to work selling major appliances in a Sear's satellite store. Other than the appliances, it's major function was a catalog order and pick-up location.

There were two other salesmen besides me, and we were open 6 days a week from 9 am to 10 pm, and Sundays from 10 to 6 pm. So one of the three of us had to be there for those hours. We worked on straight commission.

Long story short:

Several friends planned a DIY pack-in on horseback combo elk/deer hunt in SW Colo. So before I agreed to go, I asked the store manager and got his blessing. We then made deposits on rental horses and sent off for licenses.

A week before the trip, one of the other salesman quit, thus leaving two of us to man the floor until a new guy could be hired.

No problem; the third one told the manager he would be happy to work every hour of every day while I was gone for a total of six days. He knew he would make a bundle in commissions, of course.

The manager wouldn't even consider it. He told me if I went, I likely wouldn't have a job when I returned. At that point, I KNEW I wouldn't have one.

So I told him to straight to his face, "I didn't have a job when I got this one, so I guess I'll just have to go through the process again." Then I said, "Don't wait for me to call you when I get back."

I later talked to the other salesman who said he did wind up working all by himself for nearly two weeks. They eventually transferred another guy from one of the other PHX stores.

At the time, I had three kids under 7 years old, and my wife was making all of $70 per week working for Mountain Bell!

Two days after I returned, I went to work in what then was the largest gun shop in Phoenix. That led to a career of selling hunting & fishing gear on both the retail and wholesale level for 15 years, until I bought a lodge within 5 miles of that first pack trip. I never looked back.

Then in 1984, I turned my part-time outdoor writing and photography into a full-time self-employment opportunity. Since then, the only one I ask for time off is my wife of 46 years. ;-) -TONY

 

[sageadvice]

B_F_E, OK,... but i thought your first line was funnier. So who's this from your hunt swap thread?

If she were mine and i could get her in the camper door, she'd be with me on every hunt. lol

 

[sageadvice]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-15-07 AT 03:25PM (MST)[p]Dean, thanks for sharing some excellent wisdom. I loved your closing statement, doesn't have to be that way, but in a lot of cases, so very true.

Tony, Sounds like you got some King Salmon blood in you. You found exactly the right branch of creek go up and get done what you needed to do. I'm envious. Congrats!, and thanks for your comments.

 

[B_F_E]

Ain't she a tender dove ?
As you can see, she was gettin a little too big for her britches, thats why I traded her to Bess.
He takes over payments next week.

 

[sageadvice]

B_F_E, you have fast become one of my favorite posters. Sage wisdom, vast knowledge, all mixed with a sence of humor. i do enjoy your posts.

If by chance you must re-posess for some reason, gimmie a crack at swapping for her. i figure i can always cut a bigger door for that camper, even if i got to go somehow with custom tail lights.lol!