How do you guys find time to do habitat work????

[Jason]

Since the snow melted i've made 2 trips to my land. one was to meet jeff sturgis and create a plan at my wisconsin land. the other was to put out trail cameras, etc. we've had stuff going on every single weekend which is not like us at all. i normally get to my land every weekend and can spend the night there pretty much any weekend i want (minus maybe 2 weekends all summer). to make it worse it doesn't get any better the rest of the summer. we have somewhere to go (overnight) all but 2 weekends until school starts all summer. taking off work is not an option either right now. I would love to skip some of these upcoming things but they're the ones i can't skip, i should have skipped some earlier in the year. ugh!

i don't even know why i signed up for this forum. haha. I should sign up for some stupid travel forum or something. i have done zero work on my land and food plots since last fall.

anyway, just wanted to vent.

anyone else struggling to find time like me?

 

[bueller]

I'm in the same boat. Work all week and some weekends. Each weekend that I'm off something seems to be going on that prevents me from heading up to the property. Didn't plant any new trees or shrubs this year. Did all my food plot work during a one day trip in June. Fingers are crossed that I will be able to sneak up there for a couple days in early August.

It's also very likely that I'll be sitting out the bow season this year :(.

 

[OkieKubota]

If our land was in another state I would be just like you but having land about 1/2 hour from home makes it much easier... We did all the habitat work we are going to do from Febraury-March except for a bit of planting I am going to do next month in our food plot of brassicas and wheat/rye combo. I am going to basically just overseed before a rain because we already have a great clover stand along with some corn, sunflowers, milo, millet, and soybeans...

I work 40 hours a week and also do brushhogging for hire on weekends and evenings. I always try to leave 1 morning open a weekend to get up to the property and try to keep holiday mornings open to get up there. I save all my vacation for the fall hunting season which with my job I have acrued 6 weeks but I only use 3 a year total so I can carryover into next year. They cap us at 6 weeks so if my accrual is over that then the boss makes me take time off before January 15th which means some odd days through late fall and early winter. Children grown and gone and grandchildren not into sports helps...

 

[wiscwhip]

I'm in the same boat. Work all week and some weekends. Each weekend that I'm off something seems to be going on that prevents me from heading up to the property. Didn't plant any new trees or shrubs this year. Did all my food plot work during a one day trip in June. Fingers are crossed that I will be able to sneak up there for a couple days in early August.

It's also very likely that I'll be sitting out the bow season this year :(.

I feel for you bueller, I'd be looking to get the heck out of that war zone every chance I got.

 

[sandbur]

I live on one of my hunting properties and thoroughly enjoy it. I can even do work in 15 minute increments. My hunting land that is 80 miles away gets far less attention.

I'm jealous with the 6 weeks vacation. I get two weeks and have worked at the same place for 26 years.

 

[McLovin]

Get divorced, it will get you at least every other weekend free. I'm going to drive 6 hours to Kansas, spray some food plots, broadcast some brassica seeds, check the cameras and drive 6 hours home this weekend. I'm kidding, of course.

 

[foggy]

Retire and move near your land (or on it). Works for me......and I STILL don't find all the time needed to get 'er done. ;)

 

[biglakeba$$]

I use my vacation time to get it done...

I need more vacation time because my list still never gets done.

 

[bat man]

I get help from friends and family who want to hunt the place. Hate working it alone. I feel for the guys who can't run up when the conditions are right. I have neighbors who only get Sat Sun to time the rain, mud, spray etc and some years it makes a difficult task almost impossible.

We are working towards a possible 'I spray this week for everyone' in exchange for I do ag lime, or 'I broadcast the Nitrogen boost' scenario.

 

[McLovin]

I have done it before, I didn't think you are kidding!

Kidding about the divorce part, I'm going down this weekend, no doubt. Language warning on the link.

 

[j-bird]

This is one area where I am fortunate. I live on the property I manage/hunt. My "commute" to my woods is about 500 yards! I can do small jobs after work and on weekends as long as I have things around the house (4 kids) under control. I still don't get much help, but it isn't as much of a requirement either. I agree with Foggy though in that there are still times you fight for time or don't get to certain things.

 

[wklman]

I'm single and get 6 weeks vacation a year. I do most of the work myself in the spring or fall but since I live 1700 miles from my property I hire my Amish neighbor to spray my orchard and cut weeds around the trees while I'm gone. This year I've got a cousin that's set up a trail cam for me for the first time so I can see what's around as well.

 

[SD51555]

If you're a reader, check out The Four Disciplines of Execution. If not, here's a short version.

*Focus on the wildly important: What is your single ultimate goal. Define it so you can tell if you achieved it or not. Pick one and only one.
*Define the behaviors that will achieve your goal. (Must go once in spring, summer, fall)
*Force it into your schedule. Stuff always happens and comes up. It would be an exception if it didn't.

**Tip; skip the sleep concerns, ignore the drive time, and don' t pack so much. I've made my 6 hour one-way trip and only packed a bag of chips, jug of water, and some back-up grungies just in case. I budget my time on total hours. Leave friday at 5, 7 to get there, 6 to sleep, 8 to work, leave first thing sunday, home by 3. If you get on it like a job, you'll get a lot done in 8 hours. If I can't be packed with essential gear and tools by wednesday afternoon, I call it off. Nothing good comes of last minute packing. Also, you gotta set realistic goals for what you can accomplish. My stump grinding project I've got set aside at least 3 days. Could get it done in 6 hours, but I just don't get greedy with projections. Bite off what you can chew and then execute. Plus when you under promise and over deliver it's a great feeling.

 

[foggy]

I'm single and get 6 weeks vacation a year. I do most of the work myself in the spring or fall but since I live 1700 miles from my property I hire my Amish neighbor to spray my orchard and cut weeds around the trees while I'm gone. This year I've got a cousin that's set up a trail cam for me for the first time so I can see what's around as well.

Good plan on the game camera. Nice to have some idea about the deer on your land....before season.

 

[j-bird]

Iagree withSD51555 - I live on my place and still try to function this way. Break it down into managable tasks, focus on the task and make it part of your schedule. I find that without a plan I'm screwed - things come up, things change, bla, bla, bla. SometimesI can rush a job before a rain, but typically I am much better off just sticking to my schedule -whenI rush I screw somthing up or forget something and it costs me in the end anyway. Just like a hunt - if you do everthing last minute it often doesn't go the way you want.

 

[Tree Spud]

Spend less time on internet forums ...

 

[tooln]

I'm lucky that my 40 is 17 miles from home. But still working 7 days a week for the past month makes it hard. What I do is sacarifice sleep for habitat work.

 

[Deer Kar]

Spring planting And brush cutting I usually can get all the help I need by the guys I take hunting in the fall. But summer work I usually have to hit it alone. I have planted many a summer brassica plot by the head lights of my truck and wheeler. Summer time I spend more time driving a boat than my tractor. Most work is done on weekends between hours of 5 and 10 am when my kids are still sleeping.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

Go to school to be a paramedic. I work 48 hr straight then off for 4 days. (Also have a lawn care and landscape biz that keeps me swamped in the spring an early summer, but it slows down when it gets hot in July/Aug which works out well because thats fall food plot prep time! My excuse to go to my land is to water all the trees we have spent a pretty penny on. Im lucky to have a wife that is very independent and gives me a day here an there to keep my sanity. I do the same for her. If I wasnt able to get out to tinker at my ground a lil here an there people would not want to be around me:mad:
One thing parents do these days that I will never do is run their kids all over the country for sports tournaments:confused: I will be behind my kids 100% with sports locally but albedamned if Im gonna drive 300 miles for any tournament.

 

[Steve Oehlenschlager]

I guess I am lucky because for every day I work, I get a day off. Granted they are 12 hour days. It comes down to it for me that If I don't do the work, it won't get done. All my other hunters are takers and not givers. A few of the very lazy ones are with me no more. I spend every Tuesday at my farm all summer. I leave at 5:30am and get home about 6pm. And yes I have a 120 mile drive one way! Ben doing this for years. My Dad is now retired and will soon live close to our farm and he helps every week during the planting season. It does help that 99% of all my equipment is one site so at least I don't have to spend a fortune driving my truck and hauling equipment back and forth.