Opening deer hunt or wedding?

kls · Aug 14, 2003

I usually don't post these kinds of questions, but just want to know what some of your decisions would be if you had the choice to go on the opener archery this weekend or go to your sister-in-law's wedding that you've only known about for a couple weeks. Keep in mind the opener archery has been on the calendar all year. I actually had the dilemma a few years ago and I made the choice to go on the hunt. I personally wouldn't worry about an in-law being at MY wedding, but I guess it's different with women. I brought this up with a couple of female co-workers and they were offended to hear I chose the hunt. I guess they just don't understand what the opening hunts mean to some guys. (Guys) What would you have done? and those that don't bowhunt, let's say it's rife.

Gator · Aug 14, 2003

Go on th hunt, My sister and husband got married on So. Dakota pheasent opener after the wedding we all changed and took him hunting, NO-ONE misses a opener for a wedding. But that just me, my daughter better not get married on a opener or I will be missing. LOL

vinihunt · Aug 14, 2003

go for deer than attending a wedding! my wife is so understanding of my obession of hunting!!!! doesn't matter if its rifle or bow hunting!

i missed a big wedding 2 years ago that i supposed to be in it and i went to elk hunting and came home on same day of wedding with my big 6x6 bull in back of my pick-up...everyone came out to check it out and forgot about reception! that was awesome

vinihunt

NUNYA · Aug 14, 2003

Tell her you will catch her on the next one...........

kingfish · Aug 14, 2003

Wedding!!!.

HunterHarry · Aug 14, 2003

Several years ago I would have said "go Huntin'", but I guess I am growing up.
The bonds you build with your family are extremely important,you must sacrafice sometimes,but in the long run you will be a better man for it!

Bullschlitz · Aug 14, 2003

About 15-20 years ago I had an archery grizzly hunt scheduled for about a year in advance. My sister in law schedules her wedding right in the middle of the hunt 6 weeks before the hunt. No special reason other than they liked that day and she really wanted me to attend. She was convinced $10,000 grizzly hunts could simply just be re-arranged. The first time the wedding was mentioned to me I reminded them of the expensive grizzly hunt they were well aware of and that I was very sorry I couldn't attend even though I really wanted to go. We had been very close friends for several years even before I dated her sister. I never gave my decision a second thought and never looked back. A year later I am not with her sister any more and another year after that she is not married any more and we are dating each other. The only thing I would change is I probably would not have missed a day of my grizzly hunt to attend a pre-wedding party. But we live and learn.

In your case I would go to the wedding unless your hunt is something that can't be rescheduled. If the archery season is long and you can hunt another day there is no excuse for you not to be at the wedding. I just couldn't forfiet 10 grand and I think they came to understand that although I don't think her parents or her sister ever forgave me.

dutch · Aug 14, 2003

Weddings are a dime a dozen, hunts, well they only come once a year! If it was my in law getting married, I'd go hunting. Only immediate family would be able to postpone a hunt over a wedding. But then again none of my immediate family is ignorant enough to schedule a wedding during hunting season.

DeerKing · Aug 14, 2003

My family and friends know how much deer season means to me so they don't expect me at ANY family events in September... and there are usually a bunch of em. Some other season or a hunt in another state I could possibly be pursuaded into missing it.

BrianID · Aug 14, 2003

I was married on a Saturday, the day after general rifle season opened. My brother in law shot buck the morning of our wedding and wasn't able to make it because he was still packing it out. I don't think anyone cared that he wasn't there because he had a legitimate excuse. If he hadn't shot a deer and just stayed out hunting I think my mother-in-law and his wife would have been upset with him. I told my friends to go hunting and instead of coming to my wedding because I wouldn't want to site through a wedding if I was in their shoes.

If you are just going to miss half of opening day I would go to the wedding even if your sister in law said it wasn't a big deal.

If you think that you will regret not going to the wedding a few years from now, a day or two of hunting is worth it, even if it is opening day. You don't want your in laws to think that you are a selfish jerk.

kls · Aug 14, 2003

I only brought this question up because I just about got strangled yesterday here at work when I told a couple women what I did. They told me they'd be furious if their husbands did what I did. Like someone else mentioned, if it were a brother or sister, I would have chosen the wedding. I just wonder, with so many people at a wedding, how could I be missed. One female co-worker here said that wasn't the point. The point is I should be with my wife. I made my decision and didn't look back and never regret it. Maybe in 20 years from now, I might feel different, when the hunting will stink anyway.

AntlerKing · Aug 14, 2003

Plain and simple (if you can pull it off) No weddings or births between July 31st and November 31st!

Buckrub · Aug 14, 2003

GO HUNT'IN !!!!!!!!

Bullschlitz · Aug 14, 2003

I thought this might be some interesting info about my earlier post to show how things change through the years. The grizzly rug from that trip ended up being the favorite spot for my sister in law/later girlfriend. She loved to lay naked on it and uhm watch TV. Amazing how the world turns. And to think I was called everything that could be thought of associated with my background heredity, lifestyle, etc. for going on the trip.

muleyqueen · Aug 14, 2003

Being in a hunting family we don't schedule anything major during season. My wedding was in April for that reason. Too bad my daughter was born in Sept. I would definately go on the hunt, especially if the invite was short (time wise). Just think, it was cheaper for the wedding dinner not having you there.

chevayala · Aug 14, 2003

Definately go on the hunt!!!

rh · Aug 14, 2003

I've had this come up twice. The first was a cousin that asked me to be the best man. When he told me that it was during the deer hunt I told him to look for another best man. Every year after that he would be in trouble for deer hunting during his anniversary.

The second time was my daughter scheduling her wedding during an elk hunt. I told her that unless she was going to have her wedding in the Gila National Forest and her wedding colors were camo that I wouldnt be there. I explained that the elk hunt only lasted five days and the deer hunt lasted three days and there were 357 other days to schedule a wedding. She got married in August.

huntsonora · Aug 14, 2003

Hell, I'd of missed my OWN wedding if my wife planned it during the hunting season! Go on the hunt, smack a big deer and dont look back. If you set the precedent that any hunt can be missed you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of unhappiness--LOL.

Drummond

400bull · Aug 14, 2003

Seeing that my father-in-law made is daughter change her wedding date because it was scheduled for the opening weeking of the rifle deer hunt. I think it would be save for to say that I would be going hunting that weekend. Glade it's you that has to make that dession and not me.

400bull

Steiny · Aug 14, 2003

Another vote for GO HUNTING.

My wife just informed me that my trip to Wyoming will cause me to miss our high school daughters "senior night" where the parents go out on the soccer field w/ their kid and they recognize them. Oh well .... This hunt has been in the works for months.

I'll probably get bumped from "father of the year" competition again this year.

kilbuc · Aug 14, 2003

I don't see what the controversy is. You go on the hunt, any hunt and don't look back.
It should be obvious to the planners of weddings that you don't have weedings during ANY hunting season...LOL. You can always go to the next one, if it isn't during a planned hunt.

from the "Heartland of Wyoming"

HunterHarry · Aug 14, 2003

Oh,Yeah
UUUUH, I forgot to mention,I was supposed to go to a wedding with my first wife and chose not to.It was at this wedding that she met this "Hot" new guy!
She ended up leaving me for him and ran off to Idaho to get married! After about two years he dumped her ass!
H.M.B.!
In retrospect, that was probably the best thing that has ever happened to me! I have a great wife of 11 years,Great kids and a beautiful home!
Maybe goin'huntin' ain't such a bad idea after all!

cmiddleton · Aug 14, 2003

I should have started bowhunting earlier. i would have known not to get married the 15th of september . i started 17 years ago and have bowhunted on the 15th every year sence.some times i come back to town at midday for a little nooner but back for the evening hunt.

steelie · Aug 14, 2003

no offense, but if you are asking the question, you've already made up your mind, IMO unless you are talking about an extra special hunt (took you 10 years to draw, once-in-a-lifetime, already have lots of $ in guides,etc), in which case your family would understand, then you go to the wedding. I only have one sibling-in-law though, so this wouldn't happen often. I got married in the middle of August, we always celebrate it on the saturday it is closest to, 90% of the time it ends up being the opener of the Bow Hunt. I miss it, every year. I had wanted to wait to get married, but I had a few relatives with a foot in the grave at the time, and since I was the only person in my extended family to not have a shotgun at the wedding, it was kind of a big deal. Anyways, it is just a day, and if you hunt close by - then big deal, come out of the hills for a day.

AZbowhntr · Aug 14, 2003

So far it is 16-4 in favor of hunting. I guess it depended on who it was getting married and what hunt I was going on. On my 1st wedding anniversary I had a golf tourney that I played in. Came home after playing and noticed my ring broke where they sized it. Didn't live that down for a while.

freedivr2 · Aug 14, 2003

Tough question without knowing your family, how close you are with them, the sister in law, all that. Also, don't know if this is a special archery hunt or just general season. How's the wife feel about it, did you ask her? Might be dang important for her, especially if this is her sister and maybe she's even in the wedding........

Years ago I would've said DEFINITELY go hunting, today I would hope I've grown up a little enough to understand how important big family events really are. A wedding is a once in a lifetime thing for someone, one of the most special moments in their lives, and they want their family, all their family, to be there. I think if you chose hunting over going to a family wedding, the heat would be there for a long time, maybe undercovers, but it'd be there. If your family is or you want it to be close, you need to make some sacrifices at times. I KNOW it's a tough decision, not one of us here would RATHER go to a wedding, but family obligations and bonds are important, least they are in many families.

I'd have to say it's a no brainer, go to the wedding, then go on your hunt the next day....it's only one day out of the weekend...

polarbear · Aug 14, 2003

You've gotta do the right thing,.... hunt!
Eric

steelie · Aug 14, 2003

Here is a funny story - kind of related to this: A friend of mine is the oldest child of a family of 8 kids. All the kids are spaced almost exactly 2 years apart, except for this big gap of 6 years in between #4 and #5. During the birth of #4, my freinds dad was up in the hills on an elk hunt. Luckily they were able to send someone up and they actually found him. He made it just in time (talking minutes here) for the delivery of his son. After the kid came out, he went to the gift shop, bought his wife some flowers and informed her he had to go since he still had half an elk hanging in a tree. He was at the hospital for a grand total of about an hour. That is where this 6 year gap comes in - the family joke is that was how long he had to go before he got sex again.....

FullCryHounds · Aug 15, 2003

I'd of said "Take some good photos of the wedding, I'll see them when I get back."

kls · Aug 15, 2003

Steelie - pretty funny story. Some of you bring up some interesting points that hopefully stick with me forever. I'm just going to do my best to encourage my 3 kids to not get married during my busy time. I know it's their day and all, but I should have some say in the matter since I'll be paying for it.
Luckily that was the only wedding I've missed. I have missed a family reunion or two for opening or second weekend hunts. Those decisions are kind of a no-brainer.
I think if someone who hunts tries to squeeze a wedding in during hunting season is just asking for a lifetime of misery when you think about anniversaries.

heartshot · Aug 15, 2003

Hey KLS
Shouldn't you be packing right now for the UT Bowhunt opener tomorrow? Turn off that computer and get crackin.

cleaner · Aug 15, 2003

you go huntin' and tell her to pencil you in for the next one.

orion23 · Jan 1, 2004

hunt! i missed my sisters wedding this year just to take a buddy hunting. killed a 4 point right away too. it all just makes for a better story down the road right?