Serious question about hunting, kids, and marriage.

[stickemhard3]

34, been married for 4yrs, and have a little girl that turns 2 in February. My wife is in nursing school which is extremely time consuming. I have made a huge sacrifice this year and only hunted every other weekend with a few bonus hunts here and there. Once my little girl gets a little older, she will come with me to the lease. My wife doesn't care for hunting but doesn't stop me from hunting either. Most men are just PW like stated earlier. They get married and start building a life around what "they" want even when it goes completely against his previous dreams. I live life to enjoy the things I have built a passion for. Hunting and fishing meet that criteria and play a vital part in my sanity. I adjust my schedule for family during hunting season bc I love family activities too but hunting season is only 1/4 of the year. It's not one way or the other all the time and I am sure that life will change year to year. Some years i will hunt more and some i will hunt less. Open communication is key.

[wloftis]

I have pics; of out hunt on Saturday but can't post...at 3 years old I was very impressed with his performance int the blind. He was very quiet and got super excited when we saw game. He even had a slight cough and was muffling his cough without me having to tell him. He's hooked already and I haven't stopped hearing "when are we going hunting again".

[Aggiehunter08]

Great thread OP! Simply put you have 2 types of hunters: (1.) those that love it and (2.) those that like it. Regardless of wife & kids type 1 or 2 determine how much time is spent outdoors.

[ca1219]

I am 38 and have been with my wife for 12 years, she doesn't/wouldn't have an issue with me going hunting more than I am able to. However having 3 kids with her and another previous to her that lives with us, with every sport and cheer practice and games going on I don't think it is fair to her or my kids for me to bot be a part of it all. Of course I would love to be out more and would enjoy the time alone or with my kids in a stand but they have made commitment to sports and other recreational activities and my commitment is to them and being there for it all is part of that commitment. Growing up my parents missed a lot of my activities for whatever reason and once I had kids, I knew I would sacrifice my time or hobbies to be there for theirs.

[Torqman]

I Got very lucky, found a woman who loves the outdoors as much as I do. When we are not in the woods, we are on the water. Hunting and fishing has molded my life tremendously and believe it has instilled a lot of morals and values and i want my kid to have the same. We had our son in February and we haven't skipped a beat, they may not be with me as much in the summer times when it's 100 degrees but will soon. I hear from others with kids "4 hrs is too far to drive with a kid", but my son was at the ranch at 3 weeks old and still goes at least every other weekend. My father had me in the woods my whole life so I don't see why I can't do the same. Idk if this comes off wrong but our child fits into our lives, not the other way around and we do have to special accommodations to make sure he is with us and his grandma will sometimes come and help out and she has learned that she actually enjoys being in the woods too. He will go to stand with us and if he makes noise, who cares. I'm still doing what I love with the ones I love. I rarely shoot deer anymore just evjoy watching them and love seeing how excited my wife gets when pulling trigger, so if she is buck hunting, I will watch him at camp while she hunts.

[TildenHunter]

Before I got married, I didn't miss a weekend in the woods. I am married with 3 kids under 5. I still go hunting several times during the season and try and make the most of it when I do go. It is all a balance. To me, when the kids are young, under 5 or so, you have to make some sacrifices in your personal/hobby life. I don't go out with buddies or go on hunts as much as I used to, and that is ok. Kids are only little for a short time in the grand scheme of things. I don't consider myself P whipped. I do have obligations now that I didn't before being married with 3 kids and that is ok. Nothing wrong with being a good dad and taking care of business at home. When they get a bit older, I will be loading up whoever wants to go to the ranch and make a weekend out of it. For the time being, my goals and responsibilities lie in trying to provide for my family. My goal is to afford my kids the same opportunities I was given. I have been lucky to have traveled, hunted, fished etc. over the last 35 years with my family. I want to be able to give that all to my kids. So for me, family>me time in the woods. I honestly have the hunting bug as bad as anyone but family is more important to me then being in the woods every weekend. Now I would have a MAJOR problem if my wife said "You have to give up hunting". That isn't the case, just have to pick your battles and plan ahead of time. Gone are the days of deciding Thursday night that I am heading to the ranch for the weekend and that is ok. Just have to budget time and trips. Balance is the name of the game when wife and kids are in the equation.

[OldRiverRat]

The dynamic sets the tone...if you are one of those dads that just has to see their kids on a field playing sports you are crap out of luck. We have friends in sports.....they have no life. If they aren’t working they are at a weekday practice or weekend game/tournament. If you live by the “happy wife, happy life” mentality and she’s not a hunter, you’re setting yourself up for failure. If your wife/kids don’t hunt, you’re setting yourself up for failure .

Our kids spent all of August, September, and October scouting, hiking, camping, and hunting antelope and bighorn sheep with us(my wife’s tags). We haven’t pushed and they like it, they set the limits and we watched lots of sheep or antelope walk away my wife or I could have otherwise gotten on. Lots of hotel/cabin time too. I’ve seen dads push hunting too hard on their kids and the kids losing the desire to spend time outdoors.

Maybe I’m just lucky as hell. Who knows, but I agree with lots of the folks above. A lot of it is excuses and thinking things have to be a certain way once you’re married and have kids.

Im one of those "dads". My daughter, who turns 16 today, has played softball and other sports since she was 4. I probably didn't miss a game until she was 14 and she still plays competitively year around. My son is 9 and just as active in sports. I have also spent the last decade coaching one or the other or both. We travel all over with sports and i can tell you we do have a life it's just not one where i'm in the woods or on the water all the time like before the kids came along. do i miss it? yeah, sometimes, but i'd do it all over again if i had the choice to make. It's all about priorities and putting someone else's interests before your own. I only get one shot at being a dad and seeing my kids play and do what they love, i'll have the rest of my life after they are gone to hunt and fish. We still get out and both of my kids hunt and fish, it's just not primary for them right now and i completely understand that. i still manage to carve out time to hunt but any reason that i am not out there is a legit reason and not an excuse. one of the first things i told my wife on our first date was that i was going to hunt and fish and if she couldn't deal with it then move on, been married 21 years so I think she got the message.

[mev002]

I’m 32, married with 2 kids (4 and 5). They have never slowed me down or stopped my hunting once. That being said, I take my wife and kids with me hunting 99% of the time. We drive 8 hours to our lease at least a dozen times a year, and hunt or fish elsewhere many more times throughout the year. My kids have been in the field with me since they were born.

They men who can’t hunt because “they have a wife and kids” are just making excuses. Work I understand... I regularly work 6 days a week... but come one. I bet those guys never use that excuse when it comes to watching football all weekend long....

Some people only WANT to hunt 1 or 2 weekends a year, and that’s fine... but they are just using a convenient excuse to justify NOT hunting more.


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[krausejmk]

Before I got married, I didn't miss a weekend in the woods. I am married with 3 kids under 5. I still go hunting several times during the season and try and make the most of it when I do go. It is all a balance. To me, when the kids are young, under 5 or so, you have to make some sacrifices in your personal/hobby life. I don't go out with buddies or go on hunts as much as I used to, and that is ok. Kids are only little for a short time in the grand scheme of things. I don't consider myself P whipped. I do have obligations now that I didn't before being married with 3 kids and that is ok. Nothing wrong with being a good dad and taking care of business at home. When they get a bit older, I will be loading up whoever wants to go to the ranch and make a weekend out of it. For the time being, my goals and responsibilities lie in trying to provide for my family. My goal is to afford my kids the same opportunities I was given. I have been lucky to have traveled, hunted, fished etc. over the last 35 years with my family. I want to be able to give that all to my kids. So for me, family>me time in the woods. I honestly have the hunting bug as bad as anyone but family is more important to me then being in the woods every weekend. Now I would have a MAJOR problem if my wife said "You have to give up hunting". That isn't the case, just have to pick your battles and plan ahead of time. Gone are the days of deciding Thursday night that I am heading to the ranch for the weekend and that is ok. Just have to budget time and trips. Balance is the name of the game when wife and kids are in the equation.

This right here [emoji106]

[jds247]

When we were dating I told my now wife there's 3 things I love.. women fishing and hunting .. I told her she could pick 2 a d I'd stay away from the other.. she's never said anything to me and expects me to be either hunting or fishing unless she tells me a week in advance she wants to do something together.. my oldest son has fished and hunted with me from 3 years old on up by his choice.. youngest use to fish all the time with me but has stopped in the last couple years..its works for the past 17 years..

[jrfan]

I’m a very lucky my wife never gives me grief if I want to go hunting. She usually ask what I’m taking and has my bag ready for me before I can get it ready. I always make time for her when I’m home and she gets to do her stuff with her friends. I have friends that tell me their wife ask “are you going hunting again” and in ask them how many times does she roll over in the morning and say “are you going to work again” they say never. Lol

[Kurdawg]

I hunt more now than when I was single wife and kid love to go.

[MASTERS]

Most of the people that complain about a wife and little ones slowing down their hunting were gatherers at heart, but hunted because it was cool at the time that their friends were doing it.....

[chongo]

What some may look at as making an excuse others could look at as different priorities.

Before getting married up to having our 3rd kid, I hunted quite a bit but, each kid meant fewer hunting trips over time. Now, I have 6 kids all under 10. One of them with some special needs. My priorities have changed a lot.

My oldest three are in football, wrestling, basketball and volleyball. This eats up a lot of weekends. Its unfair for me to bug out on Friday and be gone all weekend and expect my wife left to take care of the kids solo for me to pursue a hobby. I usually get one or two trips solo each year and a few with the big kids if the schedules align. It's not an excuse, it's priorities. I'll hunt a lot more when my kids are out of the house or if my younger kids show less inclination towards sports and want to hunt more. But, I prioritize being present in my responsibility as a husband and dad over getting to hunt every chance I get.

Also, I think as a society, we just have more competition for our time than 10, 20, 30 years ago.

[Smell the Glove]

Before I got married, I didn't miss a weekend in the woods. I am married with 3 kids under 5. I still go hunting several times during the season and try and make the most of it when I do go. It is all a balance. To me, when the kids are young, under 5 or so, you have to make some sacrifices in your personal/hobby life. I don't go out with buddies or go on hunts as much as I used to, and that is ok. Kids are only little for a short time in the grand scheme of things. I don't consider myself P whipped. I do have obligations now that I didn't before being married with 3 kids and that is ok. Nothing wrong with being a good dad and taking care of business at home. When they get a bit older, I will be loading up whoever wants to go to the ranch and make a weekend out of it. For the time being, my goals and responsibilities lie in trying to provide for my family. My goal is to afford my kids the same opportunities I was given. I have been lucky to have traveled, hunted, fished etc. over the last 35 years with my family. I want to be able to give that all to my kids. So for me, family>me time in the woods. I honestly have the hunting bug as bad as anyone but family is more important to me then being in the woods every weekend. Now I would have a MAJOR problem if my wife said "You have to give up hunting". That isn't the case, just have to pick your battles and plan ahead of time. Gone are the days of deciding Thursday night that I am heading to the ranch for the weekend and that is ok. Just have to budget time and trips. Balance is the name of the game when wife and kids are in the equation.

Pretty much how I feel. Priorities change.