Unemployed Hunters
 

I was wondering how many of you my fellow Hunters are currently out of work? I will be joining your ranks very shortly unless a financial miracle takes place at our company. Like so many small buisnesses and major corporations we are feeling the crunch of a slugish economy. Our sales have droped 80% in the past two years and I'm surprised we have remained open this long. I'm trying to look for a bright spot in all this and by the grace of GOD there are a few. One possible good one is that if I do get laid off I will have unemployment to help pay the bills until I find work,a real chore in this economy for a guy 55 with limited skills. My wife is a Nurse and makes good money and that will help us keep our home. Deer season is not far away and I hope the added stress of not being employed does'nt ruin my favorite time of the year. I must admit some selfishness in all this though and that is that I will have a lot of time to hunt if I get laid off. That part of it I kind of like,having more time in the woods while I search for work in between. Anyone else in a similar situation? How are you dealing with it and has it affected your hunting enjoyment in a negative way? I think most of us want to work and provide for our families it's part of what makes us men and helps us to be fulfilled in life. I hope bringing home some meat will help me through this struggle of being a hunter,gatherer and protector of my family. Did'nt mean to take so long sharing but hey we all need some encouragement and to know others are where your headed and that they are dealing with it and can share some real world realities.

I thought I was going to get laid off last October 1st but somehow USPS came through and renewed our contract. I inspect post office buildings for repairs. I guess we'll always have stuff to fix. I was all ready for 3 months of hunting, but it was not to be. I am 50 years old and have never collected one unemployment check in my life. I worked for myself for 20 of the years. Since I have 3 kids I'd get a full check from Illinois if I ever applied.

You are certainly lucky to have a wife that works. Mine flushed her 4 year college degree and never paid a penny for our family bills. What a total joke. That is why she is my ex-wife now. Since then, all my dates have good jobs. Wow did I ever find a loser. All 4 of my sisters have professional careers and always supported their families in hard times. Those who still claim being a housewife is a full time job are delussional. My ex layed in bed watching Jerry Springer for 5 hours a day. All of my sister's families get all the housework and kid schooling/activites just fine sharing the load.

Look at the bright side and enjoy your hunting, then look for a job come January.

Last summer I was out of work from October 1st until the 3rd week in November. The only bright spot for me was That I knew that come the end of November, I would be working a ton of hours. I work for a mall company that paints the Nascar Race Haulers, and our busy season is usually from Thanksgiving until April. Now this summer, I have been out of work since the end of May. Suppose to go back the end of this week, but we will see. We are what you would call "on call". If there is a trailer to paint, we will work, but if not we dont work. Its a good thing I can claim unemployment.

i'm in the same boat!

i'm in sales for a small business and am surprised i have a desk to sit at right now. except i'm single without another income.

being laid off during deer season sounds great with unemployment but my lease is an hour and a half from my house and my truck gets 10 mpg so if it were to happen it doesnt look like i'd be able to hunt too much.

doetrain, I feel your pain. Our jobs are being eliminated on November 1st. My wife has done told me she was kicking me out for rifle season (yes, all 2 weeks of it), LOL.

As for "dealing with it" . . well, I'm not sure right now??? I'm kind of holding out a little bit of hope that the company that Humana is outsourcing our jobs to, will hire us. But, we'll see when November comes.

I am self employed and me and my wife's business has also felt the wrath of our dismal economy. Out of work hunters do not buy hunts so our sales have dropped maybe even more than 80% in the last 2 years. Good thing it is just her and I running the business or I would have had to let people go as well. By the Grace of God we're just barely hanging on. But it will get better.

Im not unemployed but i dont get to work like i would want to. Im in my last year of college and its hard to go when all your friends either went to just a 2 yr school or didnt go at all and theyre all working and buying new things but hopefully itll pay off in the end for me. And like my dad always used to tell me everything happens for a reason so just look for the better in life. God may have bigger and better plans for you in the future.

Thar sucks.We have lost alot of contracts ourselves and alot of employees have had to be let go.I'm not worried myself mind you but it is sad to see friends out of work.
We have got enough work for the next 3 years but its a skeleton crew
and no overtime.Not that I care I signed a contract guartanteeing me a nice salary till 2015.In which case I have the option of renegotiating or go my own way.I always get told they want me to stay.
Yeah you might as well enjoy the hunting and take your mind off of reality for a bit. My biggest concern for my co workers is depression especially when Christmas gets closer.Biggest thing is don't get depressed as long as you keep your bills current and stay away from those blessed credit cards you'll be ok.
Bottem line hunting and fishing will help pull you people through it.
It gives people a reason to wake up in the morn, and get out of the house. Hunting and fishing excersises your mind and body.

Holy cow!
 

If you know it's coming, or you have a instinct (gut) that it's coming for your family's sake GET OUT IN FRONT of it...retrain, go back to school, I LIVED company LOYALTY, but a company thats going down is only loyal to it's self NOT you.:confused0024:

I saw trouble coming up to a point and started geting rid of my toys about a year ago,motorcycle,new truck no big vacations etc. We hired a new salesman who has worked his butt off trying to get sales but the banks don't seem to want to lend money for people investing in Car Wash buisnesses which is what we do. I had hoped we would get back on our feet so I have hung in there with the company because it is a great place to work and they have been good to me. Thanks for you encouragements and challenges to man up and press on. I've lived through some pretty tough times and so has my wife so I think we will be OK,we will just have to make adjustments in our life together. I enjoy a Hunter writer named Steve Chapman,he writes great hunting devotionals and books about hunting stories that are very inspirational. You guys know better than most the good being in the woods does to the spirit and soul. May everyone have a great season this fall and winter and I'll keep you all in my prayers and thoughts when I get to the stand level on my first hunt October 1.