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Work/Free (hunting) time balance

I am pretty lucky. My max leave carry over is 240 hours and I accumulate 158 hours a year. That's just vacation, I get 104 hours of sick leave a year too and 11 holidays, all of it paid. My season runs from the second Saturday of September to the second Saturday of December here in Maine. That includes all seasons (bow, rifle, muzzleloader).

That being said, my only obstacle is child care. Given my hours and my ol lady's, I pick the kiddo up from daycare in the afternoon and she drops her off. I spend as much time as I can with them on days I can't have someone pick her up from daycare, and Sundays (we can't hunt Sundays in Maine).

Days I have an additional sitter and Saturdays are my hunting days. On top of that, I usually book 3 ish or more weeks off to hunt sun-up to sun down.

As others have said, family balance is important! Sometimes I get tunnel vision, I am not going to sit here and lie about it, but the gf if quick to correct that when my hunting addiction gets out of hand.

All in all I'd say I'm about an 8, cause in my mind a 10 would be 7 days a week all day!
 
Bigterp said:
I’d like to add to all you guys roughly 20-40, when your kids are growing up it’s a complete bonus when you get a lot of time in the woods. Most of your time is invested in taking care of your family & doing kids activities. Don’t wish it away, you’ll have a ton of time to hunt as they get to late high school & into college. Not preaching, just would’ve had a little different perspective if I had it to do over again.
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They grow up too fast... :weary:
 
Hard to put a number to it. I think i get something like 120 hours of paid time off each year between sick leave and vacation time. Then we generally shut down a week for Christmas and Thanksgiving, plus some time for all the little BS government holidays. I can also take a half day whenever I want without sipping into time provided I'm caught up on everything and have a cleared schedule.

With covid, it looks possible we'll finish out the year working remotely. Since I live across the river from 90,000 acres of public and don't have kids, I have it pretty good right now. I don't think I missed a weekend last year, and I hunted every good cold snap that came through.

Still hate the job! Lol
 
I would say 7-8. I work for the state and they are really big on work/life balance. My boss is really cool and let's me take leave pretty much whenever I want.
 
Maybe a 7 or 8. 4 10 hr. shifts and plenty of public ground between work and home for after work hunts. 3 weeks of vaca. with most of it used up during hunting season.
 
Work for myself and in my industry it is feast or famine. However, I usually get into the woods any day I want - just have to make sure work is done.


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I’m a 4. My work schedule is tough. It’s very rare that I get out early on a weekday and my weekends are tough because of coaching the kids sports teams and the usually honey do list. I’m hoping to get more time in the woods this year because I’m working from home with covid so that means my commute time is mine. I’m also hoping to do more morning hunts to get more time in the saddle.
 
Patriot said:
I’m a 4. My work schedule is tough. It’s very rare that I get out early on a weekday and my weekends are tough because of coaching the kids sports teams and the usually honey do list. I’m hoping to get more time in the woods this year because I’m working from home with covid so that means my commute time is mine. I’m also hoping to do more morning hunts to get more time in the saddle.
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Finally a real use for the hawk seat... Work from the woods desk! Mic drop....
 
I’m a 5-6. I sometimes get a few days in the afternoons before daylight savings.
My day is done when the job is done so some weeks i’ll get time. Otherwise i’m ay in on saturdays public for bow season and saturday & sunday private during gun season (with my bow)


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BuffaloBill said:
Probably a 7 or 8. I work three 12s a week typically. So I can hunt a couple couple days during the week and most weekends. Usually burn a couple of weeks of PTO during deer season. Downside is that I have to work some holidays and weekends. Having a newborn and clinicals this season will complicate things a bit. But my wife doesn't mind if I'm gone a weekend here and there to hunt.
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Same boat, except I don't have kids, and my wife also bowhunts. I haven't worked since I got out either, I purposefully set my fall schedule how I want it. I might miss a few sits. I hunt pretty much every day during the season.
 
For those of us with smaller children, there is a quote I read somewhere that I have to remind myself of each year. "You'll never regret not hunting more, but you will regret not spending more time with your family.". To answer the OP's question, for me it is a 7 ish. Real estate is my occupation, which allows for flexibility.

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I'm a 10 but with the injuries I received as a result of a work related incident I can't put two days of hunting in a row . I need at least a day or two to recuperate.
 
probably a 6 . I get out every wed night because I get off at 430 those days until daylight savings and every weekend. This year if all stays the same i will be more like a 7 to 8 because I am working from home every third day and we don't really work we just have to have out computers logged on to the State Farm Net work. So i will get out 1 to 2 times during the week and weekends if the wife doesn't get to upset. Our third kid should be arriving with in the next 2 weeks but since its the third and I should be able to still sneak out a bunch.
 
Work balance, I'd be a 10. I've been fortunate in my career to make it to a senior leadership position within my company at a relatively young age. I get 6 weeks of vacation annually and have additional flexibility within my schedule as needed.

My problem is family/wife balance. I have 3 kids under the age of 7 and a wife that's a school teacher. Most of my time that I could spend hunting is spent accommodating the needs of the family (not a bad thing, just reality). As such, my boys (ages 7 and 3), go hunting with me a good bit. I killed 5 deer last year and they were there for every one of them. My hunting club has some nice tower stands that make it easy to take kids along.
 
A solid 8 or 9 if I was single with no kids. Wouldn't call it a ten because the multi timezone workforce can be problematic as far as scheduling goes. I work in software development. Good pay and benefits, generous time off, true flex time policy... I can take time off with less than 24hrs notice no questions asked so long as my bases are covered.

The wifes schedule (she's in healtchare) is very inflexible. Couple that with kids school/extra cirriculars and it can be hard to sneak out into the woods for a few hours!
 
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I could be an 7-8. I work remote 99.9% of the time. High speed internet could be available on my hunting property in the next few months.

If/when that happens, I could stay there and hunt in the evenings or early mornings as desired.

We will see how it plays out.

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Bigterp said:
I’d like to add to all you guys roughly 20-40, when your kids are growing up it’s a complete bonus when you get a lot of time in the woods. Most of your time is invested in taking care of your family & doing kids activities. Don’t wish it away, you’ll have a ton of time to hunt as they get to late high school & into college. Not preaching, just would’ve had a little different perspective if I had it to do over again.
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Mahalo nui!
 
Definitely agree! Enjoy while you can. My kid are 24 & 20 now and I miss the hell out of going to there functions. Enjoy it all it only last so long!!
 
I would say I was pretty high up until my little guy came along (just turned 2). I normally take three straight weeks of vacation to hunt the rut and can hunt almost any evening. Good cold front rolls through I can take off without any notice. There are reasons I work where I do!


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I would say about a 4. My job is flexible and I can take off pretty much when I want to, but if I don't work I don't get paid due to being in commission based position. Also, with 2 little girls (5 months and 2.5 yr old) at home I don't have all the freedom in the world to go out when I please. I also wouldn't want to get away more as others have said due to family time being super important to me. That's why I'm quick on the trigger! Tagged out my buck on opening day of archery last year lol
 
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