Hunt/ guide for a living

…..not that i know anything about being a hunting guild but alot of guys i work with are backwoods-live-in-a-mountain-nly-come-out-to-work-in-off-season type so if you get a job like mine you can work short times make a boat load of money anytime you need to then go back to hunting…. ALOT of guys do it. Im a lineman (build power lines) basically the short version is you can make 10 g a week every time a storm hits further more you can make big cash on any high line job out in caly (6-7g take home a week) keep in mind these are storm and highline lot of hour jobs (18 hours a day all week)….you go work till you have enough money then quit go back to hunting short 3 1/2 year apprenticeship (that you do have to work solid through but they find and assign you work) and you can work anywhere in the country at any time as long as you pay your dues for the year……easy peesy lemon squeezy…..plus you get 25% extra put into a retirement account for you, free health care and a additional pension ….our retirement plan rocks…if you want in just apply at the local IEBW great job and high demand right now…you can work a 40 hour week but it wont pay as much (still around make around $100k a year with a few storm calls)
 
Man O Man...that sounds good... if I was young again... I'd think about that high line wire action.

I've found that a sport or hobby is more fun when it stays that way... but when it becomes a job... it can get old and become a job after awhile. Back in 1990 I started working with Quest Video Productions... got paid to hunt... a salary... and everything paid for... and even got great toys from sponsors... but after two years of that... it got old. After two more years... I was burned out... now I have a Log Cabin staining business... which is more enjoyable in the long run.

Everything is more enjoyable to me if I don't HAVE to do it.

When I was younger I was a porn star... but got fired for ruining all the merchandise.

LOL... Just Kidding... just had to tell that white lie....LOL.
 
I personally would try and find a career that allowed me to take the time to hunt & fish as I pleased they are out there. As Old Turtle said firefighter is something you should look into. I have been a firefighter for over 26yrs and have alot of time off to hunt. Alot of departments work 24hrs and have 48off and some like mine after 3 24hr shifts (every other day) you get 4days in a row off. (pretty nice). I to have done some guiding and again it wasn't as fun as it sounds. People think if they're paying they can treat you anyway they please but you also meet some great people. But for me it kinda took the fun out of it when I had to do it. Just something to think about. Hope it works out they way you want and need it to .
 
I guess I have always looked at guiding as the perfect job of being outside all the time and never really thought that you could get a bunch of a holes that would ruin the job and the experience of hunting. but at the same time I think about all the crappy times you go out there could be a lot of awesome days too. I think when it comes down to it for me at least I really just don't want a desk job, I am a Communication major and I went to college with the intent to be a cop some where but that is kind of on the back burning for now. I applied for a summer job with the Iowa DNR as a seasonal officer and I think that besides having to give people tickets for dumb things it would be a pretty cool job. I would get to drive around talk to people hunting a fishing and the best part would be that I would be able to be out doors. I was thinking that the hunting part of the job would have been a bonus but I also understand how it turning into a job could ruin it. I guess that the kind of job I am looking for would be something in conservation, something that is more than a desk job. I think I was just made to not sit at a desk all day or else I would be able sit and type papers all day instead of getting distracted so easily
 
One of my best friends moved from Michigan to New Mexico and became a game warden here. He's an outdoorsman and always wanted to live in the mountains. He and his wife (girlfriend at the time) made the move, settled for any type of job, till he got hired on by the wildlife department. He absolutely loves his job. Game warden would be a good career.

Tony
 
If your goal is just to get out from behind a desk then I think a lot of guys have already made some really good suggestions. Any job where you work 4 tens is going to rock when it comes to hunting. Tony mentioned being a game warden. I guess I wouldn't suggest that if you like to hunt anything other than coyotes. Most of my college friends are game wardens and it isn't a bad job by any means, it does however interfere with big game seasons. Good luck getting opening weekend of deer season off to hunt. I worked for almost 10 years as an outfitter and guide. I, like you, couldn't ride a desk. I lived outside when I was in the business. This is good and bad. You will miss a hot shower when it's 40 below and you are stuck on a mountain in northern Montana. I gave all that up and now own a contracting business. We build houses, developments, erect steel buildings and pour parking lots and streets. Being self employed I can go hunting whenever I feel like it but the I am also married to my job.
 
FowlWater said:
If your goal is just to get out from behind a desk then I think a lot of guys have already made some really good suggestions. I wouldn't suggest that if you like to hunt anything other than coyotes. Most of my college friends are game wardens and it isn't a bad job by any means, it does however interfere with big game seasons. Good luck getting opening weekend of deer season off to hunt.

I get what your saying and it makes sense but i have only hunt waterfowl, pheasants and coyotes and the only one I hunt hard are the predators. Thanks for all the replies they were very helpful
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I think that anyone who has a passion for the outdoors has seriously considered a job as a guide, I know I have.

My degree is in Criminal Justice/ Conservation Law Enforcement from LSSU in Sault,MI .. I wanted to be a Game warden when I was fresh out of high school.

I made several friends that were working as Conservation officers who actually talked me out of it.. for many of the reasons mentioned above, the most consistent was the actual lack of time they could spend hunting instead of working, so I became a cop... and man am I glad I did..

I still get to work outside everyday, but when it comes to hunting season ..I am able to get the time off I want and combined with vacation and personal trades have no problem getting up to a month away from work.. it's awesome in that regards.

I guide bear hunters up here and have been doing it for several years now. My pros and cons though:

Pros: Your outside everyday and getting paid to do it, and it's great exercise running baits in long distances and dragging down game out of the woods. Its very rewarding to see someone shoot a bear that they would not have been able to do without your help and the hugs and handshakes that come after a kill.

Cons: You feel responsible if someone does not kill an animal .. they paid you and if for whatever reason they don't harvest something I personally feel VERY guilty taking money..

Second.. sometimes it feels like babysitting, there are some really stupid people out there and they can try my patience.

Third: now its become a job... I have to get out there and get these stands baited, I have to feed these guys, provide for there comfort when they are here and entertain them after dinner ... that means staying up late if they want to and getting their asses out of bed in the morning.. it can take away from the whole romance of guiding after doing that for a few weeks. The people really make the experience for me... good people you want to work your butt off for .. idiots makes every day torture.

Ill still do it though, it helps pay for my next hunting trip!!

Hope this helps.
 
"Pros: Your outside everyday and getting paid to do it, and it's great exercise running baits in long distances and dragging down game out of the woods. Its very rewarding to see someone shoot a bear that they would not have been able to do without your help and the hugs and handshakes that come after a kill.

Cons: You feel responsible if someone does not kill an animal .. they paid you and if for whatever reason they don't harvest something I personally feel VERY guilty taking money..

Second.. sometimes it feels like babysitting, there are some really stupid people out there and they can try my patience.

Third: now its become a job... I have to get out there and get these stands baited, I have to feed these guys, provide for there comfort when they are here and entertain them after dinner ... that means staying up late if they want to and getting their asses out of bed in the morning.. it can take away from the whole romance of guiding after doing that for a few weeks. The people really make the experience for me... good people you want to work your butt off for .. idiots makes every day torture.

Ill still do it though, it helps pay for my next hunting trip!!

Hope this helps."


Screech you nailed it exactly.
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