Advice Needed

[Bignut]

I will say that you are not the only one wondering about that. I am 22 and did not go to college. I tried to join the army, but failed the hearing test. For 14 months they’ve been saying that as soon as they start to accept waivers that they will call me. I’m not holding my breath.
I work on the farm with my dad. It’s a living for now but I can’t do it forever. I love the free time in the summer and winter. It allows me to help a logger in the winter and pick up odd jobs in the summer. But I hate the 80 and 90 hour weeks I can experience the spring.
I was hoping for travel and adventure with the army. Now I’m still looking. It’s been a life long dream of mine to hunt in Africa. I would be lying if I said I haven’t considered getting paid for it by becoming a PH. But there is so much learning to do. I have no idea where to start.
Just know WG 455 you not alone.

We farm and log here also! After you've "lived the dream" you'll be back!

 

[Scott CWO]

W.G.455,
My advice is to find a way to make a living by doing something you love to do or are passionate about. That way, it doesn’t feel as much like work and you won’t mind putting in the long hours it takes to be successful.

Speaking as an outfitter/guide for 30 years in the Rocky Mountains, the Alaskan bush and in the mountains of Baja, MX, if you have never hunted, honestly, I just don’t see that becoming a hunting guide here in the USA or a PH in Africa is a good choice. You would need a strong hunting passion and a lot of hunting knowledge before you would be qualified to guide other hunters. Being a guide in the back country in the USA is full of long hours while being out in the elements and away from friends and family. You have to have passion for hunting to be good at it. When I hire guides, I look for serious hunters that have the personality and generosity to enjoy the success of others while still having a passion for hunting.

It wouldn’t be impossible for you to become a guide but to my way of thinking, it would be years from now after you find out if you enjoy hunting enough to do it for six months each year. I wish you good luck in whatever you decide.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

@Skinnersblade i must say that you right. I don’t mind the work. I can’t say that I’ve thought seriously about it, more like entertained the idea. I know I need to just keep working, saving and hunting. Then someday I’ll go to Africa and have my (big) adventure.
I would hate a job where I have to work inside. I’ll make my living with a tractor or dozer a chainsaw.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

We farm and log here also! After you've "lived the dream" you'll be back!

I know. Really I do.

 

[Frederik]

Take $5000 go chat to someone like Marius from KMG safaris go and do a managment hunt with him but also help skin and run the show while doing it. Take the first 2 days to get over your jetlag and enjoy it as a full paying client to see what the client gets and do the rest of the trip as a client but also helping out with every detail.

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

just a word of advice
if you love hunting...it does not mean you are suited to become a ph
i liken being a PH to being a caddie in golf
you are assisting people to hunt, you actually get to do very little hunting for your self if any at all
yes we are in a nice setting and meeting interesting people but we are not hunting ourselves

sounds like you have a nice easy job bringing in a steady income, save up and go hunting now and then

regards

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

@Skinnersblade i must say that you right. I don’t mind the work. I can’t say that I’ve thought seriously about it, more like entertained the idea. I know I need to just keep working, saving and hunting. Then someday I’ll go to Africa and have my (big) adventure.
I would hate a job where I have to work inside. I’ll make my living with a tractor or dozer a chainsaw.

That's how father made his living all of his life, I was forced to find outside work to subsidize the farm but we still ran cattle hayed and butchered until his health declined to the point he couldn't continue . He spent most of the winter of 2018 in and out of the hospital. I was forced to ship the cattle as by the time I worked 12 hour shifts then got cleaned up and went to the hospital to check father then came home and did several hours chores I was very close to burning out myself. We still run cattle but now we buy in the spring and butcher in the fall.
I had an uncle who farmed strawberries commercially and have also worked in the logging industry at times with father so I do know where your coming from. It is the best living I know unfortunately it is not financially viable here. Cherish it it's a dieing way of life.

 

[spike.t]

I don't want to rain on your dream but I would say you are probably 10 years too late... you would be up against kids who have grown up in the various countries shooting.. Hunting and fishing....next you have the problem of getting visas/work permits..... And then as you brought up a massive issue would be your personal life as you would get into serious problems if caught leading to prison or deportation... this applies to quite a few of the countries where hunting occurs... I think SA is one of the few where it's legal...but you need to be a citizen or have full residency there which I believe is nigh on impossible to get to be able to work as a. PH....so as one post said with your experience building on and expanding the rental business sounds like a plan

 

[Wyatt Smith]

Cherish it it's a dieing way of life.

I know. It saddens me very much. But I don’t know if I can do it forever, even if I want to.

 

[WebleyGreene455]

Good evening all.

A couple of things. First, after consideration, no, that's probably not the best idea. S'fine. Was just an idea anyway and certainly not one I was banking on. I am okay with setting it aside.

Second, these rental properties, as I've mentioned, are hardly a "family business" and they are absolutely not something I want to have as my sole income (and they were not for my parents, either; they were a way of making some extra money after retirement). I may be willing to expand to more properties, but it's also 100% dependent on whether or not I stay here, because I can't very easily manage them if I'm no longer living in the same city, or even the same state. Sure I could employ someone as manager while remaining the landlord etc but that's another can of worms that I'm not particularly eager to get into quite yet. In any case, since I am unsure how these properties will be inherited between myself and my sister, or if they will be inherited at all, I cannot even count on the possibility that I will be able to maintain them as any kind of auxiliary income in the event of my parents' death and/or overall transfer to me as manager of the LLCs.

So. That leaves the floor open for other ideas. Many of my friends have suggested museum work would be a good fit for me. Getting a firearms dealer's license and selling vintage firearms has always had some appeal to me; most gun shops around here do a fairly low trade in those and focus on modern tactical weapons, so it might be a niche to get into, and with web purchasing on the rise, it's a possibility. The biggest issue is, as I've mentioned, trying to maintain the flexibility to be able to keep up with going to the gym etc and having sufficient income to maintain hobbies and get myself into a good lifestyle/

Since the original purpose of this thread has been, more or less, discarded, if you'd like to continue to comment, please take that into account. I'm also open to continuing conversations in PMs if anyone would prefer to do that.

Thank you,
~~W.G.455

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

To clarify, the rental properties are a fairly recent thing and are not and never have been my family's primary source of income. It was mostly a "Let's get some extra money during retirement" thing where my parents decided to put a condo they had up for rent when we didn't need to live in it anymore once I was around 5 (it was across the street from the school I went to and where my mom taught/was head librarian for decades). My dad, after his stint in the Army, went into the Corps of Engineers and was there for decades until he retired, then was a consulting engineer for several projects including a total redesign of half the aforementioned school.

I have no issue with maintaining the two LLCs that handle our rental properties as auxiliary income, although we'll possibly have to divide them between me and my sister at some point, and don't plan on getting rid of them unless it's just not feasible to keep. But I don't want it to be my only source of income. I agree with your sentiments about keeping family businesses if you can, but I think you had a slightly wrong idea about the situation.

@WebleyGreene455
With your love of history have you thought of passing that love onto others but becoming a teacher and teaching history that way you have both an active and passive income. Start hunting in the meantime and see if it is really what you enjoy.
Owning and using firearms is a different kettle of fish to lining up on an animal and taking it's life. It is an entirely different mindset to just shooting.
You have to have compassion for animals to be able to hunt them. To despatch them cleanly with the minimum of suffering is the aim of every good hunter. Spending time with the animal after it's demise and showing it the respect it deserves for giving up it's life to feed you and provide it's skin for you are all apart of hunting. It's not just about getting an animal in your sights and pulling the trigger. It's a complete and emotional experience and a love of animals and conservation of those animals
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

@Skinnersblade i must say that you right. I don’t mind the work. I can’t say that I’ve thought seriously about it, more like entertained the idea. I know I need to just keep working, saving and hunting. Then someday I’ll go to Africa and have my (big) adventure.
I would hate a job where I have to work inside. I’ll make my living with a tractor or dozer a chainsaw.

@Wyatt Smith
You are already living the dream. Yes farming sucks during planting and harvest but in reality that is only for part of the year. Doing dozen work and swinging on a chainsaw ain't much fun BUT it sure beats the shit out of sitting behind a desk, being on the phone dealing with dickheads and writing reports in some piss area little cubicle. You wouldn't last 2 days at it.
Plus you still have the time to hunt. Yes you will make it to Africa. Every cord of wood you cut and sell put the money into a separate account marked Africa hunt and watch it grow. You WILL be there before you are 30.
Bob

 

[WebleyGreene455]

@WebleyGreene455
With your love of history have you thought of passing that love onto others but becoming a teacher and teaching history that way you have both an active and passive income. Start hunting in the meantime and see if it is really what you enjoy.
Owning and using firearms is a different kettle of fish to lining up on an animal and taking it's life. It is an entirely different mindset to just shooting.
You have to have compassion for animals to be able to hunt them. To despatch them cleanly with the minimum of suffering is the aim of every good hunter. Spending time with the animal after it's demise and showing it the respect it deserves for giving up it's life to feed you and provide it's skin for you are all apart of hunting. It's not just about getting an animal in your sights and pulling the trigger. It's a complete and emotional experience and a love of animals and conservation of those animals
Bob

Bob, sometimes I wonder if you intentionally seek out every post I've ever made on this website to leave a like and a comment. Even if you don't, I appreciate your input and your taking the time to leave it.

I would like to teach but I don't think the classroom environment is right for me. I'd rather give people a more hands-on education to things I love and am passionate about. Museum work or a national park historic site is what I'm still leaning toward in that respect. If I could do it as a real source of income, I would leap at the chance to do Living History/reenacting as a job, but I fear that outside of a select few locations it would end up only a hobby (and a very expensive one at that).

~~W.G.455

 

[Tundra Tiger]

I was an elementary teacher for 17 years, and I've coached a slew of sports. I have also been involved with any number of youth organizations, often through my church. I have been around kids a lot, of all ages.

Two pieces of advice I always give kids (of all ages): pick something to do with your life that you enjoy/love to do (as others have suggested) and try to get there as debt free as possible. If you genuinely like what you do, and have no debt, your life will be a lot happier.

My grandpa was a mechanic. When I was young, maybe 8 or so, I'd see him come home dirty and sore, and ask "Grandpa, why do you do this for work?" (or words to that effect) He always answered the same way, with a smile, "It's only work if you'd rather be doing something else." (he LOVED being a mechanic)

 

[CJW]

I was an elementary teacher for 17 years, and I've coached a slew of sports. I have also been involved with any number of youth organizations, often through my church. I have been around kids a lot, of all ages.

Two pieces of advice I always give kids (of all ages): pick something to do with your life that you enjoy/love to do (as others have suggested) and try to get there as debt free as possible. If you genuinely like what you do, and have no debt, your life will be a lot happier.

My grandpa was a mechanic. When I was young, maybe 8 or so, I'd see him come home dirty and sore, and ask "Grandpa, why do you do this for work?" (or words to that effect) He always answered the same way, with a smile, "It's only work if you'd rather be doing something else." (he LOVED being a mechanic)

Man I wish I loved being a mechanic. There is something I have always admired about people who genuinely love digging into a greasy vehicle, airplane, whatever. I can trouble shoot and fix vehicles but I don't really like doing it. Family tends to think I like it though.

My grandpa was an aircraft mechanic in WWII, a crew chief on B-24's, and I can't tell you how much I'm in awe of those guys taking engines off of planes in the vastness of north Africa, I have the pics to prove it, and fixing whatever needed to be fixed or overhauled and putting them back on. He taught fuel systems on B-52's for the last many years of his career and apparently loved it. He was the guy who people brought stuff to fix.

I am genuinely jealous of it.

 

[Red Leg]

I would urge you to find a trade.

This country has a number of fine affordable technical schools that will teach you everything from being a bio-med engineer (our son) to a welder. As you have discovered, your history degree is essentially useless to you - at least from an income perspective. I should quickly add, so was mine. But I was also a ROTC cadet and graduated with a regular army commission and had some success thereafter at that trade.

Our son played at going to school at George Madison University, then Northern VA Community College, then worked in a host of idiot jobs for three quarters of a decade before discovering Texas State Technical College in Waco, Texas (on his own). Six years ago he entered a three-year biomed program that he completed in two years. He is now the principal regional field engineer for the largest hospital group in central Texas and makes more than I did as a Lieutenant Colonel. You can't imagine how wonderful it is to have your son take my wife and I out to dinner in Austin. More importantly, he discovered the value of real income that gives him professional satisfaction to underwrite his true passions (like hunting and I regret to say, gaming).

As we use to say in the Army (probably not now because it too insensitive), at some point you have to get off your butt and onto your own two feet. Dreaming about being a PH is not a good way to do that. Find something practical that translates into income (that likely requires skills you have yet to learn). Save Civil War reenactments and battlefield park lectures for weekends.

 

[ActionBob]

Build it bigger take it farther make it your own. If it really isn't what you want to do then find what it is you want but remember once a family business is gone you can't get it back.

Ok Skinner, I'm "almost" wanting to adopt you

 

[K-man]

To add on to what @Red Leg referred to I would suggest the construction industry. You get to work outdoors (mostly) you get to work with your hands, you see at the end of each day what you have accomplished, and for the ones who want to, it can easily turn into a career that can be extremely lucrative. Lots of opportunity especially today. A good trim carpenter around here will make about $60 an hour after about 5 -10 years. a trade school will speed up the process.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Ok Skinner, I'm "almost" wanting to adopt you

I’m pretty sure if I’m getting adopted by a guy with Bob in his name @Bob Nelson 35Whelen has first refusal.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I’m pretty sure if I’m getting adopted by a guy with Bob in his name @Bob Nelson 35Whelen has first refusal.

@Skinnersblade
I adopted you ages ago my son.
Bob