You aren’t alone. My kids are 9 and 7 now and I still struggle to find time to go.

I picked up fishing since I moved back to Spanish Fort. I can go fishing in the morning and be back by the time they are just waking up good. Hunting camp is just too far away

Yep. I just moved us to town so I can have an extra hour or so of time with my little family.

Those years are tough. Sounds like you’re choosing to place your family above hobbies, which is commendable. That’ll pay off.

Advice I’ll give to every young couple with young kids…….the most important thing you can do for your health and marriage is get them on a schedule, especially at night. Get those kids sleeping at least 6-8 hours every night and start them as young as you can. Develop that habit and they’ll fall right into that routine and y’all can rest and have sanity.

It gets alot easier when you can carry them hunting and fishing with you.it gets real fun
I carried my boy squirrel hunting all the time at 4yrs old.been killing deer since 6 yrs old and he's never passed a chance to go fishing
Just remember the wife will never complain if your carrying the kids with you.youll be a saint

Or make it a family affair. My wife and kids help plant plots, pull stands, check feeders and sometimes hunt. Of course I have to mix in some fun when doing it but we create some pretty good family time doing it. It’s not often but 3-5x a year they will indulge me and go and we always come away smiling.

I've never neglected my family and I've never missed a season...I had some I didn't go as much but where there's a will there's a way....
Good luck Ozark do what u feels best, it's a challenging time when u have 2 like that my 1st 2 were 18 months apart

Well whatever you do, don't put them in a dang backpack or carrier, even if their 3mo old . (Based on previous threads).

I can offer lots of sympathy. Part of being a good husband and father is also putting your family first at these times ahead of your own wants and desires. I think it's a give and take with your time and relationships. Some days I'm stronger and other days the wife is stronger and carries us thru.

I have a 5yr old, 2yr old, and one on the way end of March. Wife and I had covid just before Thanksgiving, then we all had the flu at christmas. Meanwhile I'm finishing part of a house addition. You suck it up and do what needs doing.

About to be in the same boat. I have a 2 year old and wife is due with #2 shortly. It has limited my time this season more than any yet. I expect next couple years will be tough until I can taken the oldest with me from time to time.

I haven’t sat out a season, but definitely had to slow down. My wife is a great sport and wants me to go as much as practical, but I have to give her a break too.

I never knew we had so many millennial, papoose wearing, minivan driving soccer dads on here.
Times sure have changed. No wonder there are so many lesbians these days. Damn.
If Ol 257 was still around, he’d back me on this statement.

Welcome to being a father. And don’t join the military where you can miss several entire hunting seasons. Sorry, after doing both, you have no sympathy from me! 😀

I have a 3 year old and a one year old. I have slowed down some, but still hunt a couple times a week at least. I hunt close to home which helps and have a cool wife which helps as well. I do try to limit the all day hunts and being gone over night as much as possible.

When they start sleeping thru the night is equally as rewarding

Mine are 12 and 16 and are 50/50 on both of those 🤷🏾‍♂️

I got so lucky with my son.alseep.at 8:00 every night as a baby and slept all night.made A honer roll all through school.loves to hunt and fish and can garantee can out shoot anyone on this forum .lol and will bet money when he comes home from Okinawa Japan from United States Marine Corps in weapons company in April.so blessed for a much better kid than I could ever think about being....
Enjoy it while it last he's a bad arse no doubt but would love to do it all over again

My sympathies:

Wife and I have a 18 month old and #2 due in March....the short of it is that it kinda sucks...you love your kids to death I am sure but it is constant, hard work taking care of them. my wife and I both work full time for now, but after baby #2 gets here she is going to stay home with them full time. With the cost of daycare for two kids, it doesn't make sense for her to work anymore.

I can be at my hunting club in 45 min. I typically hunt half days and spend either mornings or evening with her and our son. Here and there I mix in some day trips to some farther away public land I like but it is very rare that I spend the night away from the house. Often is the day I am sitting at home thinking to myself "Wow, I bet the deer are really moving this morning"

My advice:

Don't start missing church to go hunting. Your family needs spiritually fed and skipping church to go hunting is a very slippery slope. Here is my rule: If I take a vacation day on a monday or friday, I might miss church to hunt since I am on vacation. I do not miss arbitrarily to spend more time in the woods. Convincing you that you are on limited time as justification for missing out on The Word is one of the Adversary's tools to drive a wedge in between you, your family, and Christ.

My preacher always said kids spell love (TIME). With my work I am on call a lot so there were times I I was out and about a lot. When they were young I hunted close so I could be home a lot. Mine are 21 and 20 and grow up fast.

Bunch of slackers on here.......... 2 kids? Y'all need to get with the program. I wound up with 4 kids, 2 from my first wife and 2 from my current wife. We raised all of them, I had custody of the 1st set. In all seriousness it does get easier as they get older and can do some stuff for themselves. It gets busier again in the teenage years before they can drive. Once they start driving the biggest impact is on your wallet and mom and dad take second place to their friends. The older set are grown, daughter will be 30 end of February, son 28. We see them and their families regularly. The younger set, both boys, 20 and 18, are at college with the youngest staring this past fall. It is a labor of love and I promise you will miss it when your kids are grown. We enjoyed having the youngest 2 home for Christmas break and now the house is quiet again. Enjoy it while you can and never pass up an opportunity to make memories that will last their lifetime.

David

Sure is a shame dads want to spend time with their kids!

With 2 kids you can still play Man coverage, once you hit 3 you have to switch to Zone

Between full time work and full time church work I hardly ever saw my Dad growing up.
He was either at his job, traveling, or doing something at the church 6 days a week.

I would see him every night, but by the time a kid goes to school all day, then has sports practices and games after school, then An hour of homework, that only leaves maybe an hour for kids to interact with their parents.

Throw in 3 to 4 hours of church on Sunday and there isn’t much time on that 1 day.

Be thankful you get to work from home some and see your kids.