Hello all,

First and foremost, I would like to wish all of you a great up and coming hunting season. Personally, I will not get to enjoy it as I did in previous seasons. One of the reasons is that I've been a full time student since Jan. 2011 and I have to take a minimum of 12 credit hours (4 classes) during the spring and fall semesters to maintain my Govt. funding which pays the whole shot (books, tuition, and unemployment wages).
Here's the problem, if it really is a problem...I was recentley hired by a Texas based firm as a salesman in one of their regional offices near my home. The starting salary was very good...topping what I previously made as a machinist by a considerable amount plus they have good benefits and VERY GOOD quarterly bonuses.
The jobsite is 45 minutes from home and it's 8-5 so I will not get home in time to hunt evenings...(especially after the daylight savings time changes) so I'll be lucky to squeak in a Saturday morning or afternoon here and there between working fulltime now and finishing up my last semester of school for my degree, which takes up a lot of my used-to-be free time.
Not to mention the fact that I'll be placed on call one week a month once I'm fully trained and there's no sense in sitting in a treestand or blind and having your phone go off at any time and you have to leave to take care of the customer.
At my age, I'm extremely thankfull to be back in the workforce but I will have to sacrifice my passions (hunting and fishing) for a paycheck. I hope none of you ever have to face this dilemma.

BPS

Congrats on the good fortune and career change BPS. I hope it pays off for you big time.

About all you can do this season is to work in a little hunting time when you can, and be thankful for whatever you can manage. Next year you will likely have more options. That usually happens once you're settled in a new job.

Heck, who knows, you might meet a co-worker with prime land or have some other business connection and end up with great hunting opportunities in the future.

I spent years getting in a day here and there to hunt. So while it's bad now, it does get better. Good luck with your career. I hope you can get a chance to hunt still.

Dang, sure sorry you have to work and can't hunt as much as you would like...

Your new life sounds like the life I've lived for the past 30 years.

I never considered my season shot. It's just the way it is, work when you must and play when you can.

I was a truck driver, and I always had an understanding when I took a job that I was going to take off two weeks a year to go hunting. I told them they didn't have to pay me. They always said yes.

This year is different. I have all the time in the world to do what I want, but my cracked rib is not healing. It feels worse this morning than it did 4 days ago. I don't see a way to start the hunt tomorrow.

Congrats on a exciting new job. I know its hard to not be able to pursue your passion as much. Good Luck

Congrats on the new job.

It sounds like you have a full plate before you. When I was in the army, I danced to their fiddle for 20 yrs. Many of them, I was lucky to get a day or two for hunting especially deer.

Squeak them in when you can. There is nothing better to re-charge the batteries.

Good luck in your studies and new carreer!!!

HA

best of luck with the new job it'll get better