Throughout Spring gobbler season I hunted every day before work but by the time archery rules around there is minimal time to hunt before work without having to leave in prime time and instead of disturbing the area, I leave my mornings to only days off which include only Saturdays and then my annual 2 weeks off in Nov....

I worked an office job for nearly 6 years, and hunted many mornings before work. During the rut nearly everyday! The farm I hunted on was only 5 minutes from work. The best part was that because I was the manager/supervisor, I could come in a little later (started work at 9 a.m.) if the hunt was good.

Now I am mostly self employed and its just not possible. I Suck![:@][:@][:@]

I have hunted before and after work. I prefer after work because I am not being rushed and also because I have to be at work at 8am. It is much easier to change out of a suit into camo than out of camo into a suit. What if it rains? What if you slip and get mud all over you?? Do you have time to take a shower?? What if you kill one or wound one??? This isn't even half of the things you have to consider w/ a professional job.I would much rather be hunting than working but hunting doesn't exactly pay the bills

I wrote a whole helpful page on this yesterday only to be lost in the posting process. Here is my brief version.

Hunting before work makes you real choosy for the deer you shoot. It's not worth the trouble is its not a trophy. Second it's very easy to deal with the deer if it's cold out. Just gut the deer and drag it to a cool spot in the woods. Come back after work and get him out. If you worried about other hunters just cover him up a little bit. In cooler weather he'll be fine.

The last problem you may have this year is the fact that Day light savings has been pushed back a month this fall. This makes evening hunts better since you'll have more time. It won't be til after thanksgiving when morning hunting allows enough time.

Good luck!

I hunt right behind where my brother works so I have a place to change and clean up before I go to work. I usually only go on Friday's and I let my boss know the day before there's a chance I may be late and she's fine with that as long as I bring in some deer meat if I get one.

Hate to burst your bubble Fieldmouse but I don't think the change will take effect until next Fall. I think that is what was originally called for but that the government reduced the amount of time it would be extended dramatically. Here's what I found, though this may be outdated. I would have loved the extra time after work!

"On August 8, 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This Act changed the time change dates for Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. Beginning in 2007, DST will begin on the second Sunday of March and end the first Sunday of November. The Secretary of Energy will report the impact of this change to Congress. Congress retains the right to revert the Daylight Saving Time back to the 2005 time schedule once the Department of Energy study is complete."

I worked day shift from 6-2 for 8.5 years. Last year I switched shifts just for hunting. I now work from 10 pm- 6am. I absolutely love it. The only bad thing last archery season I was averaging 15 hours of sleep between Monday-Friday. I was actually looking forward for Sundays. Watching football and lots of sleeping.

Thanks for the info. It doesn't burst my bubble though. I try to hunt like hell all season long. I even do conference calls from 30' up. If I have to participate more then the simple yes and no I'll hunt near a highway/road with noise to cover up voice.

The burst your bubble thing was just an expression Fieldmouse.And sounds somewhat like me. I got my first deer ever with my bow on Columbus Day. That will be a "holiday" I'll always remember. Anyway, even though we had that day off, it was a "floater" so I chose to take another day off and worked from home. I was on the computer all morning working. At noon, I ate some lunch, showered and geared up and headed out into our woods bow in hand. I took a nice doe out of my stand shortly after I was all settled in to my stand though I had spent many weeks of hard hunting before then. I gutted her out, dragged her back to the house and finished up my work for the day on the computer. It was pretty dang hard to work though.

Yes and with laptops getting smaller and my PCS Vision card, a treestand I might be!