Alsatian

I was surprised that my wife supported my taking up deer hunting at the age of about 45. She is surprisingly tolerant of this. Of course, for years I have supported, nay encouraged, her yearly weekend trip out of state with a bevy of lady friends to a weekend-long craft show. They stay in a nice hotel. They go out to dinner. They walk through this craft show all weekend long. They spend a lot of money on what I consider tacky junk. And the have a great time. I guess she must see it in that vein.

Additionally, the circumstances of my deer hunting have always been such that my behavior on the hunt was beyond question. I stayed at my mother-in-law's house and was either on the hunting ground or at my mother-in-law's house. I wasn't out at "deer camp" playing cards and drinking bourbon with the boys and maybe driving in to town for dinner at night.

Nevertheless, I think if played right many women would support their husband participating in deer hunting. First, don't squelch every idea you wife has for doing something social with her girl friends. Don't get in trouble when you are on your own -- this leads to the reasonable expectation that when you are off on your own deer hunting you are liable to get in trouble there too! You might take you kids deer hunting, which unless your wife is a liberal, animal rights person, she will view as a wholesome, character building exercise for your children.

Sure, it is very possible to get support from wives for deer hunting. Don't overdo it, though. Don't be gone all the time hunting -- first dove hunting, then duck hunting, then deer hunting, then turkey hunting, then some other damn thing. That can get old pretty quickly, leaving the wife home holding the bag all the time -- feeding kids, referreeing kid fights alone, loading up the kids to go to the grocery store because they are too young to leave alone at home and you aren't there to babysit while she goes shopping.