Serious question about hunting, kids, and marriage.

[bowhntrmatt]

Your post hits home with me. I’m 31, married with 2 girls, age 6 and 2. I definitely have to find balance between work, home, hunting, and fishing. Life getting in the way definitely reduces lease trips. I work a ton so that takes a toll on personal stuff as well.

We did buy a place at the coast, so fishing is easy to pull off, as I’m only away for hours instead of days.

I’m far from PW, but I limit lease trips nowadays because my wife and I are a team and leaving her alone with the girls for days at a time is no fair to her. She works full-time, too. She has no interest in hunting, and my lease is far from family-friendly. I do fully intend to do everything I can to get my daughters hunting and fishing as much as possible.

[Alta]

I grew up hunting a decent amount as a kid and loved it. I'm married with three kids right now and am just getting back into hunting/fishing. My oldest is seven and we have been able to hunt/fish quite a bit this year. My wife is supportive of my hobbies but I'd say the biggest reason I didn't hunt a ton while my kids were really young is that I frankly prefer spending time with my kids than hunting. I work a ton, miss out on some events that I wish I didn't miss out on due to my job and simply want to be with my family as much as I can. Hunting will always be there but my kids will only be young once.

Now that my son is old enough to really enjoy hunting/fishing we go every chance we get and have a blast doing it. I also have a 5 year old daughter and 2 year son and look forward to enjoying the outdoors with them as well. In short, in this stage of life it is about my priorities and the number one priority is my family. If my kids didn't/don't enjoy hunting I would find an activity that they did enjoy so we could do that together.

[panhandlehunter]

Start em young and you won’t have to leave them at home.

[Mayhem]

My dad didn’t let us play little league sports because family time hunting and fishing was more important than swing and bat at a ball. We started playing ball in the 7th grade and him and my mom never missed a home game. Went to every game my senior year. I got the experience the joys of playing football and being on a team but more importantly he instilled a love for the outdoors I still have today and I hope to give that to my children.

I can tell you how many times my dad waited to leave to had yo out bay house to duck hunt or fish for the weekend after a Friday night football game. The man was not selfish in the least and understood that the outdoors will be around in my life a lot longer than a football and I thank him for it.


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[BrianL]

People have different priorities, parenting styles, and levels of involvement in raising their kids, and some kids are more athletically gifted than others. Everyone's situation is different. And it changes the older you get!

[Hammer-1]

My wife broke down a little last weekend over my hunting. She said she was missing spending time with me on the weekend. So I took her to the shooting range and then to Walmart to get a license. She's been genuinely excited about hunting. Been married 2 years. She's 51 and never shot a gun. She's not once tried to break my redneck ways, and I don't slam her for being a city girl. We have learned to meet on middle ground. She even helped skin my last deer. So no complaints here.


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[ChickenWilly]

My wife knew before we ever even started dating how I was about hunting and fishing. She knew she wasnt gonna change me from that. Know she enjoys hunting also. We have a 6yr old daughter that's been going with me since she was in diapers. So she basically has grown up at the lease. She actually just shot her first deer last weds and has her own kayak so she can go fish with me. She thinks it's strange that the other girls on her soccer team dont have deer leases lol But as long as I keep up with my priorities at home my wife never complains about me going hunting. I'm 32 and she is 27 . But I do have buddies that are exactly the way you described

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[Ten Ring]

I just turned 30 and I have always been a big time outdoors-man. Usually I hunt just about every weekend from September till February and fish the rest of the time. When I met my wife she would fish but didn't hunt. She understood that those two things our my hobbies, along with cars and racing. She started coming to hunt with me several years ago, shot a few deer along the way. Now she hunts when she feels like it. I always joke that she is a "fare weather evening hunter". Now my son is 7 and he has been in the stand with me since he was two, weather permitting. For the last two years he has been begging me to let him shoot a deer. So this last summer we have been practicing every weekend and he finally got it down pat. He shot his first deer the weekend before thanksgiving. He is my little hunting partner, he wants to go probably more then I do.

With that being said I still hunt and fish as much as I always have. Just now I don't do it alone. I bring my wife and son with me. When things line up to where my wife or son has something going on the week end we still make it all work out. I never have an excuses for not hunting other then hunting/fishing cost money and I have to go to work to pay for hunting/fishing.

[Mayhem]

This is way more fun IMO than looking at a baseball field on Saturday.





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[Dale Moser]

What makes it ignorant? There is a lot of truth to that regardless if you are willing to admit it.


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I assume your kids love to fish, and I assume you derive joy from watching them be successful at it… Or are you just living through them?


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[Mayhem]

I assume your kids love to fish, and I assume you derive joy from watching them be successful at it… Or are you just living through them?


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I was speaking in generalities. Not living through them in the least, just trying to instill a love of the outdoors in them that will last a lifetime.


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[lodgepole]

We love to hunt and fish, but we can’t wait for baseball season.


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[James]

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.

100% agree. I have a lot of friends becoming new parents in young marriages and this is what it comes down to

[rjtkdplus]

Marriage and kids changed our schedule a little but we still went hunting. My wife and I got married on Groundhog Day because it was after deer season. She went hunting with me and we sat in the blind together for 5 hunting seasons. When we had our first child, we made an arrangement that I'd hunt the mornings and she'd hunt the afternoons while the other took care of the baby. We had another baby 3 years later. We kept doing this until the oldest wanted to go to the blind with us and we started taking her when she was almost 4. We also built a high rack and hunted together with the infant in his car seat unless Momma wanted to sleep in. Now that the kids have moved out, the wife and I have started sitting in the blind together again and both of my kids still come hunting with us as often as college allows.

[TxAg]

It's funny that everyone thinks their way is the best way

Life is balancing act