bambikiller6

so you found that new rifle now how do you get the wife on your side and to understand if you are pro hunting and she eats the meat a bit but is NOT anti at the same time not so much pro hunting?
anyone understand me? at all?

Tomster

bambi,

I have been hunting here in PA since '95, and my wife has never gotten use to it. Even though she eats and cooks the meat and loves the back straps. These last few years I have been hunting more and more and she just hates it. So how do you get beyond this, you do but she doesn't. You do what you have to do, talk to your wife about it, and go from there. You need time for scouting, range time, putting up stands, more scouting, and than using the stands. I hunt in Archery, muzzleloader, and rifle seasons in PA and from October to January, my wife makes me feel guilty every tme I hit the woods. Now I'm use to it and eventually I hope she will. This is my favorite hobby and I will not give it up. I gave up softball when we had kids, gave up my friends when we were married, and my family in favor of my wife's family, but hunting especially deer is where I draw the line. Every weekend I work on the yard and house and if I do 20 things but did not do that 21st thing, she is not happy. I always remind her that I could be more like my neighbor and spend the weekend in the shed, drinking beer, and watching football.

Absense makes the heart grow founder.

Good luck....

T

Aught Six

I have a very understanding wife, although she's not quite as enthusiastic about hunting or shooting as I am. But if I'm looking at a rifle for myself, I don't really see the need to justify the purchase to her. I don't force her to buy things she doesn't want, and she doesn't force me not to buy things I want. If she doesn't want me to kill critters, then too bad. She can stay at home, and I'll go and do my thing.

skeeter 7MM

Funny when my wife and I met she knew and didn't care about my passion for hunting. Then when the time had come to ask her to marry me, I did so with a clause(a hunting clause if you will, as I had been seeing some signs of her displeasure in my hunting endeavors). I must admit the first 3 years she was AOK, but it began to dwindle and now with kids I seem to get more down the eye and off the cuff remarks. I am not complaining b/c she will never say no, basically b/c I don't ask....I just tell. However she knows how much I love doing it, her and the kids love seeing the pics and hearing all the stories of the hunts. So may I suggest you explain why you do it, showing her your passion and just keeping her involved in whatever way is best suited for HER. My wife loves wild meat and fish, so I have a real nice carrot there but make sure she realizes you do it for other reason not just the kill. My wife knows that the whole experience is what makes me love this sport. Also don't ask her to understand but to accept your hunting. Things I do is communicate with my wife and share in her interests. I also do things through out the year to allow her alone time(since we have 2 girls). I always buy her flowers when I go on a hunting trip(I know it might seem like a bought farewell but it shows her I care). Marriage is about comprimise, in no way can we never do anything that won't please the other...we're humans and while compatiblity is important completely is unobtainable. My wife know how much I love to hunt and would never want to take it away, but I admit I must be fair with her as well (which means sometimes not going on additional trips or hunting a certain day). You must be considerate, as she should of you.

llbts1

Wow, this ones deep! When I was growing up I had a grandmother that hunted all the time. My mom and other ladies would go shopping and Grandma would come with us hunting. One day I asked her why she hunted. She told me that when she got married and had children that my grandfather would always take my dad and uncle hunting all the time. She finally figured out that if she wanted to see her family that she would have to hunt also. So she started and loved it. She had several guns of her own and could shoot equal to anyone. I have now inherited her guns as she has passed on. (boy I miss her) Now I am married and have two boys of my own. They love to hunt as I do. Now my wife can't get to far from a mall or she has seizures. Hunting is something that messes up our social schedule, but she has activities of her own that keep her busy also so I figure it all evens out. No she doesn't complain to my face. Where were the girls like grandma when I was dating?????? Gee, now I feel guilty about going quail hunting tomorrow. I'll get over it though, I'm such a sensitive guy. Larry

halcon

My hunting and fishing has never been a problem in thirty some years of marriage . I have had a few employers to get upset when I took off from work but never my wife . The way it works is whatever I spend she can match . She even encourages me to go on a hunting trip or buy a rifle .

Gobbling Buck

I married a woman that likes to hunt (or so she says) she still hasn't been hunting with me (been pregnant). One of our vows to each other was I'd buy her a place in town as long as she never said a word about how much I: 1. spent on hunting/fishing 2. never complained about how much I went. She's tried to take that one back once or twice, but I would pull the card out and remind her of it. We have a baby girl due any day (she'll be our 3rd) maybe she'll (wife) will be able to go with me next year. If not, my boys will be along for some of them, which will give her a break and help her understanding.

JagMagMan

Bambikiller6,
Your wife sounds a lots like my wife when we first got married, almost 30 years ago.
She did not, and does not hunt, and never will! She will go camping and fishing, but she just is not up to killing deer.
At first, she ate only backstraps (reluctantly), but over the years, she has come to like all venison.
Also, she was a little cool to me going hunting the first couple of years, but now she knows that come October through December, I'm going to be in the woods a lot, and she doesn't mind it a bit!
As to buying more guns, I have not had any problems there. If I want one, she is OK with it. I just don't take advantage of that, I'll get something new every 3 or 4 years, so I guess I'm just not pushing my luck!
With any luck at all your wife will come around too!

dpv

Overall, I'm one of the lucky ones. When I met my wife I didn't hunt any more. I had but that was years before. I already owned a few guns but they were not hunting weapons. I also carried a handgun and if a woman I dated had ever made an issue of it I would have shown her the exit.
About a year and a half ago my wife found "the perfect house". I don't agree it's perfect but it is very close. We are 30-40 minutes outside the city with lots of woods all around. The deer eat every plant we put in and we see them around the neighborhood every couple of weeks. I guess it was just a matter of time. about a month after we moved in I approached my wife out of the blue and said "would you mind me deer hunting?". She asked how much it was going t cost. I bought the most barebones crossbow I could find for just over a hundred dollars and took my first deer the 3rd day of the season.
Come Christmas I saw a 30-06 for a good deal at Kmart. Her only concern was that it not interfear with us getting the bills paid. I figured out how to make it happen and put that one in the gun case. (took a button with it this year)
This christmas I got a bonus and instead of buying a gun, I spent the money on our kids. One day while we were shopping I went to the gun counter in Galyans and they had a great deal on a shotgun. She said "Merry Christmas to you". I said no. it was a great deal but I had already decided how I was going to spend the extra money. I let the deal pass but said "when the tax money comes, I'll buy something." I bought a Marlin 30-30 this week on Gunbroker. She hasn't given me any problems about the guns but has said a few things about the time I spend hunting. Last year her mother suggested to her that since I had only killed 1 deer and had been hunting all season that I wasn't actually in the woods. We had a fight and I cut her mother's visit short. This year I adjusted a bit. I didn't hunt every weekend. I volunteered for weekend work during the year with the agreement of my supervisors that I would have some extra time off during hunting season. I was able to do a good bit of my hunting during the work week. It still bothered her a bit that I was gone so much, especially since we have 3 kids. She knows hunting is very important to me. She also knows that I want to pass it on to my boys. This Marlin that I just bought will be the first hunting rifle for our 8 year old when he goes deer hunting with me in a couple years. This may sound hokie, but I have actually said it to her. "One of the reasons I'm buying guns is so that they can aquire history while I'm young enough to hunt with my kids. Then I will hand these guns down to my kids and God willing, to a few grandchildren as well. This is one of the things that will give me a sense of completeness to my life. " If she argues with that, what the hell are we doing married?

David

James B

My wife is a life long hunter and almost always goes with me hunting. She likes to shoot and really likes guns in general. Yesterday she bought me a Remington 30-06 Pump with the synthetic stock for my birthday. Its not until next month but we were looking around in a gun shop and I was looking at it like an old friend. She said lets get it. I didn't argue. I used to have one in 270 and one of the Carbine lenght ones in 30-06. My shooting shoulder is getting bad and the pump is the only thing I can use real well. I mounted a 6X40 Simmons straight 6X power scope on it today and put the bore sighter on it. I hope to try it out Monday weather permitting. Thats my wifes day off. She still suprises me once in a while even after 36 years. What a Gal