I guess I might be getting old, but...

I have read similar complaints of the old timers bemoaning that they can't get any guys in to put in ten days at moose and bear camp, and how other guys only come in for three or four days of the deer hunt.

While I get some of the sentiment (who wants to spend all day on the phone at the hunt camp?), I fear that for many of the older generation, they just don't 'get it', and that times have changed.

It's not the days of the mid twentieth century any more, and wives are not content to be left at home managing the house and kids (while typically also working full time, and on a career path of their own) for two to five weeks of the year while their husband is off at the hunt camp or on a fishing trip. Depending on their career, it may be impossible for them to do so even if they were amenable to it. Moreover, vacation time itself is in short supply compared to the old days of factory workers on the line getting five and six weeks holiday, and what time there is available is expected to be spent with family and kids.

Even outside of family matters - work obligations have changed. For most young professionals there is simply no such thing as being off the grid. Expectations have shifted, and for most the days where you close the office door and then don't touch or think about work until two weeks later are long gone. For most areas of gainful employment, the expecations are that you can and will be accessible (at least, until you've climbed the ladder enough to be able to forge out some time of your own). Not doing so means dismissal or replacement in the worst case, but even in the best case it results in stunted career growth.

So yes, I'll absolutely check my phone, check my email, check my voicemails and break out the laptop if circumstances demand it. If you think I enjoy it, you're out of your mind. But it's a necessary evil. Because if you want the perks (lifestyle, pensions, paycheques, and holiday time), you have to put the time in your late twenties and thirties. Unless you're one of the few that goes the managing right out of school at daddy's construction or trucking outfit, or senior staffer at rich uncle Touchy's consulting company, there are no shortcuts on that road I'm afraid.

Don't get me wrong, if you're doing your once-in-a-lifetime trip to Africa, carve out the time and sort yourself out so you don't have to break out the phone. But other than that, the times and expectations are quite a bit different than the days of yore.

More reasons to miss the 'good old days', I suppose.
 
I must say that I really enjoy the down time from electronics while I'm hunting in Africa or here at home. I think some of the best times I have anymore where it's just me and nothing but the wind and trees and birds and occasional large mammal to get my heart pounding!
 
I do not own a cell phone ( My wife has one). If I need to contact someone, I either call from home or let het do it. I grew up living kind of like the kids in the movie "The Sandlot." Go outside and play ball until it gets dark or if it gets too hot ride your bike to the local pool. Drives me crazy to see people glued to their phones (and it is rude too!)
 
That's why I like hunting where I hunt here in the US, no cell phone reception unless you are standing in the bed of your truck at the highest point around holding your phone in your hand with it extended as far as possible.

You can always tell a good spot for cell coverage, at noon there are usually 10+ trucks sitting there reporting home.
 
But you’re a great shot!
funny you should say that,thursday we went to preston idaho and i shot a cow elk at about 100 yards or so.first time ive shot anything since 2014.guess you never forget how,sight picture,breath control,trigger squeeze.got to get back to africa at least one more time.
 
The video game FORTNITE is apparently very interesting, even addictive. Two people that I used to enjoy talking with, now spend every free moment playing it on their cell phones. One is 9 years old, the other 67. The older, educated and articulate, has slipped into a silent world in the evenings. On a recent hunt, I watched his eyes as light flickered in them, reflected from the screen. When asked a question, or in trying to include him in the conversation, his delayed replies showed that he was totally engaged in the game. The other 3 hunters soon stopped addressing him. The 9 year old doesn't play BB, go outside, learn a musical instrument, or even get exercise. I have never played a video game, and never will. But I have been just as obsessed with hunting and fishing, and perhaps am not so different.............FWB
 
funny you should say that,thursday we went to preston idaho and i shot a cow elk at about 100 yards or so.first time ive shot anything since 2014.guess you never forget how,sight picture,breath control,trigger squeeze.got to get back to africa at least one more time.
Edward you’re my hero! At 73, I’m just a youngun compared to you! Hope to see you in Africa some day!
 
Reading all the above , and all the reasons ( excuses ? ) why one needs to be using technology a lot of the time whilst in the bush or deciding not to , all boils down to one thing most of the time - ITS A CHOICE !
 
I’m 30 and make an effort (and look forward too) not using my email or phone in general while on trips. Recently in Montana I happily didn’t answer a single email or work call for a week once we landed in Bozeman. Only phone usage was for the wife to make sure we weren’t dead which at one point she was t happy about the 6 hour time gap between messages.
One of my favorite parts of hunt trips is telling coworkers “my phone won’t work” then just simply not using it for work while gone. Onx maps unfortunately keeps my cell in my hand pretty regularly and checking in with wife on phone or gps. Otherwise I’m happy to check out
 
I love being disconnected and I don't miss it one bit. When I went to Africa the first time, I used the wi-fi to let my mom know we were in camp and ok. I only used the phone as an alarm, and nothing else. I've been back to Nicaragua (my birth country) to visit, and I've turned off the phone, and not even watch the news while there. I feel like a brand new person when I get back to the US. My wife and I have a simple rule, no phones at the dinning table, TV off. It's crazy to watch people at a restaurant and all of them are on the phone; whatever happened to having a conversation?
 
I am not a youngster, but I agree that the world has moved to a fast pace and if you choose to be out of communication for whatever reason, there will be a price. In the days of ship crossings reaction time was perhaps three weeks. Came the trans-Atlantic cable and flights, maybe down to one day. Today it is down to about thirty minutes or less. If you work for someone, or employ people it is required to make contact. So while I absolutely agree that gaming or just surfing is way out of bounds on a hunt, it is OK to keep in touch, in fact i think it is good manners to those you leave behind. I find I can only truly switch off and relax when everything is dealt with, or delegated. Now, when I sell the company and truly retire that will be different, but I will still have to log onto A H six times a day!
 
Oxfordcat......those are some good points. I see that you must keep in touch now at all times and that there is no down time. It is a necessity rather than a recreation. Perhaps the majority of time spent on the mobile device is business related........easy to miss those old 6 week hunts of my youth..... Thanks for sharing...........FWB
 
I am not a youngster, but I agree that the world has moved to a fast pace and if you choose to be out of communication for whatever reason, there will be a price. In the days of ship crossings reaction time was perhaps three weeks. Came the trans-Atlantic cable and flights, maybe down to one day. Today it is down to about thirty minutes or less. If you work for someone, or employ people it is required to make contact. So while I absolutely agree that gaming or just surfing is way out of bounds on a hunt, it is OK to keep in touch, in fact i think it is good manners to those you leave behind. I find I can only truly switch off and relax when everything is dealt with, or delegated. Now, when I sell the company and truly retire that will be different, but I will still have to log onto A H six times a day!
only six???
 
I think I lean towards less tech whilst on holiday generally, let alone on hunting holidays.

I agree with Kevin that there's a minimum of tech interaction that's required for most people in terms of keping abreast of their day job, but I try as much as possible to both minimise this and also to restrict it to a narrow and defined window of the day, usually between getting back from the hunt and changing for dinner.

The idea of sitting around a fire in a hunting lodge with friends and then focussing on a screen all evening seems a bit of a waste to me. I do tend to keep my phone on though, just in case things go down at work and I'm needed at short notice.
 

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