• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

New baby, hunting time

Our second son was born last October. I’ve never hunted out of state but hunt my brother’s property three hours away. So I kept closer to home for the most part and only got out maybe half a dozen times. Went to my brother’s property opening weekend for firearms. For her it was getting comfortable taking care of two kids by herself. Honestly the worst part was that my wife was on leave basically the whole season. Normally I could get out during the week and hunt when she’d be at work and our son at daycare. But I knew beforehand that my hunting time was going to be limited. Like others said try to maximize whatever time you do get out. Build them brownie points for the cold fronts and high percentage days.
 
Eh me and my wife are a bit diff maybe but nothing changed for any of my 5 boys being born. I still hunted and did everything as normal minus some sleep at night, where things slowed down for me is when they get between 3-5 that’s when they start getting good at walking and all that and now dad can take them along on things and they wanna hang out with dad more but from birth to 3 yrs old or so mom is on duty nearly 100% of the time, she’s a stay at home mom so that’s viable for us and in our eyes the way it should be. Dad duties are semi useless besides the occasional extra hand up until 3-5 yrs old but around that age is when I start taking over in a major way with life teaching and getting them outdoors and whatnot.
 
Last edited:
All those people that say you can't kill them from the couch don't have young kids. You have to take advantage of prime hunting over just being in the woods.
Have discussions with your wife over each's expectations. Let her get away, preferably planned outside of prime hunting times. Be prepared to have to adjust based on how things are going with the little one.

Sent from my SM-G973U1 using Tapatalk
 
lungpuncher1 said:
5-6 hours


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Any chance you can pull 1 overnight or just pull a long day & drive out & maintain the relationship/access? Especially if you let them know you just had a baby & you’re going to be limited the next few years but it’s important to keep the relationship with them. I imagine that could go a long way with folks if your upfront…
 
Bigterp said:
Any chance you can pull 1 overnight or just pull a long day & drive out & maintain the relationship/access? Especially if you let them know you just had a baby & you’re going to be limited the next few years but it’s important to keep the relationship with them. I imagine that could go a long way with folks if your upfront…
Click to expand...

Absolutely, I’ve talked to them and they all seemed understanding and very congratulatory. I’m just going to have to be happy with a few less hunting days, make November sits count and scout like a mad man for a few years vs being gone all day.
 
lungpuncher1 said:
Absolutely, I’ve talked to them and they all seemed understanding and very congratulatory. I’m just going to have to be happy with a few less hunting days, make November sits count and scout like a mad man for a few years vs being gone all day.
Click to expand...
I’d just keep investing in that & hunt close where you can. Maybe try to pick up another place close to home by telling them your situation as well, landowner that sees a young guy trying to do his family right might help out ( or his wife might have a favorable opinion). When your kids are real young you’ll still get out a fair bit. Maybe no all day sits but that’s ok. When they get close to school age & activities it can get tough. But remember they grow up waaaay faster than you think & your gonna have a ton of experience & wisdom when you start getting a lot more tree time down the road.
 
But in all seriousness, 1st congrats, and secondly my mother-in-law made it possible for me to find the balance between hunting & family the 1st 5yrs after our 1st child together. I will forever be grateful.

For the record, she lived with us.
My parents, at the time lived in Carmel Indiana, & i still kick myself for never hunting there, but no time available with kids in sports. Damn... 20yrs flies by. Enjoy as much as possible.
 
Last edited:
Slabzilla73 said:
But in all seriousness, 1st congrats, and secondly my mother-in-law made it possible for me to find the balance between hunting & family the 1st 5yrs after our 1st child together. I will forever be grateful.

For the record, she lived with us.
My parents, at the time lived in Carmel Indiana, & i still kick myself for never hunting there, but no time available with kids in sports. Damn... 20yrs flies by. Enjoy as much as possible.
Click to expand...
As a former urban hunter just east of there, you unfortunately did miss out.
 
kyler1945 said:
My wife keeps asking me what my plan for Colorado in September is. I look at her and our four month old daughter, and can’t help feeling like it’s a trap.
Click to expand...

My wife isn’t even asking me. Not sure if that’s good or bad.

I did go to Ohio and kill a stud 4 weeks before the due date last year so I’m still living off that high and I’m probably still paying for it even if I don’t realize it lol
 
Slabzilla73 said:
Man it got developed fast out there. Matter of couple yrs & most of farmland was gone.
Click to expand...
Sadly yes, but the bucks got bigger and pressure dropped. I hunted right off I 69 near the big amphitheater and outlet mall… then downtown fishers behind my church.
 
I hunt close to home, including on my semi-rural property. Put the time in at home on either side of your hunt, and give your wife a break in the evenings. Feed your kid, put her to bed, clean and sort your gear to get ready for an early morning. You'll have had a "relaxing" day in the woods while your wife is keeping a tiny human alive all day so definitely tag in when you get home. I think the calculation would have been different had I proposed spending a week at a hunting camp or something like that.
 
Just talk with your wife and see what she's thinking. Get on the same page. Then provide as much notice as possible. My wife knows I'll basically do whatever it is she wants when it's not hunting season so that I can do what I want during hunting season. Would I like to hunt more? Yes, but I don't want to miss every weekend with my kids. As long as I give my wife a heads up on what my plan is as the season moves along, she's pretty accommodating.
 
Communication and compromise. I managed to continue to hunt through the early months, but I asked for my Saturdays and most Sundays were/are her's to schedule. Evidently not all Saturdays work. I also may "cheat" from time to time, and when the wife is scheduled to get the kids that evening, I may leave work early to sit in the stand after daylight saving time changes back. All that being said, I've stayed local, and probably plan to for another year or so, unless it's with a half day's driving distance. The kids are 3.5 and 1.5 now, and I made sure they were born in January and February... A funny sticking point is that my son was born 3 weeks early (completely normal, no issues) and I was in Indy for the ATA show that year; she called me, but I missed being back in time by a 1/2 hour...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top