Postby Ordek Avci » Mon Sep 28, 2009 3:55 pm
DON'T DO IT!
Just kidding. I enjoyed my few years in the field, but in the end it's too much work, not enough money, and you're busiest times are during hunting season, when you will be dying to go do some hunting yourself.
If I could do it over, I would go one of two directions:
1. Nursing - As gay as being a male-nurse may sound, they make a ton of money, and can afford duck leases, vacations, etc. The demand is high, so you can always find a job, even without a graduate degree. Plus, you get to do something that is helping people in a very real, tangible way.
or 2. Civil Engineering - My best friend is an engineer for the Georgia Department of Transportation and he has it made. He gets basically 6 weeks worth of paid time off a year, plus whatever comp time he accumulates, which means he can take off almost any time he pleases. The pay isn't the best, but it's more than you'll make in wildlife, and you can always go into the private sector if you are willing to put in more hours for more pay.
In Wildlife 101 one of my professors told us, "You either need to accept the fact that as a wildlife biologist you won't be able to hunt and fish as much as you like and you will be paid in sunrises and sunsets, or you need to find a job that is going to pay you plenty of money so you can afford to enjoy the outdoors in your time off. You can't have it both ways."
Anyone can be a fisherman in May.
-Ernest Hemingway
easy now I still have nightmares, best college prank in history and I pulled it on myself