Serious Question: post hunt/vacation letdown and depression

[MarvB]

As per hunting I'm always ready to get back to home and family, but post family vacation doldrums are a real thing for me.

Like Harley, it’s the post family funk for me as well. Since retirement I can backfill around hunting/fishing trips pretty easy but the fam is so scattered out (OR CA TX WA CANADA) that it makes leaving the get togethers a bit tougher!

 

[pabearhunter]

Welcome to LIFE. It is what YOU make it !

 

[Wallydeuce]

Bummer Rocky. The best way to deal with it is to give me your tags and I'll struggle through the post hunt blues for you.

In the immortal words of Chuck Yegar, "No bucks, no Buck Rogers ".

 

[GlockZ]

I believe most of us feel this way after a few days off, as others have posted, be grateful for what you got, health, family, etc. Life is a roller coaster, make the most of it and enjoy it.

 

[Pucky Freak]

I enjoy my job so near the end of my vacations I start to miss work and even look forward to being back. Seven years ago I came back to an empty house. Today I come back to a happy mess and everyone I love: my wife, 3 kids, and our 3 pets. I wouldn’t trade that for anything.

House is in a quiet, semi-rural area. It’s generally a peaceful place to garden, shoot my bow, or just kick back on the deck with a cold one. Winter can drag on sometimes, but in IA it’s fairly mild compared to a lot of other places.

Most of my enjoyment of hunting trips coming from the planning, and second most is probably reliving the good memories.

All that being said I work in a very taxing field and I can feel my expiration date. Last night my wife and I were discussing our exit strategy from work, flexible target of our mid-50’s. It’s nice to have that to plan toward and look forward to and in the meantime I intend to continue hunting about 60 days/year like I have the last 2 years.

 

[Treeshark]

All that being said I work in a very taxing field and I can feel my expiration date. Last night my wife and I were discussing our exit strategy from work, flexible target of our mid-50’s.

This right here is the same for me (and my wife).

I do wonder sometimes if once I make the transition from “having” to work to “choosing” to work if that mindset will change.

 

[BZNHNTR]

My wife really struggled with this last year after an Alaska trip, didn’t really snap out if it until we started planning a winter trip to Tucson. Having an adventure to look forward to is always a good thing!

 

[Islander]

Nope. Probably the most effective reason is I don't watch any news or participate in social media, ever. Not on vacation and not at home. Only forums for online. Immediately add any negative members to the ignore list. Once you have done that it boils down to what happens in real life, not some gossip fueled artificial reality.

If real life sucks, got to make some changes. Most effective for me are living within my means, being loyal to friends and family.

Years ago my wife told me about her philosophy of "Follow your peace". With any choice, think about it, and think about how it makes you feel. Peace? Go for it. No peace? Don't do it.

 

[8andcounting]

What I do when I get home from my annual hunt in MT in November , Is hunt more . I always get home the week of thanksgiving so I take the rest of that week to unwind and bow hunt here in ND , and unpack and cut meat from the trip . If I had to get home and show up to work the next day that’s too soon so I always allow for a week of goofing off or hunting at home once I get back and it works great for me

 

[2rocky]

I enjoy my job so near the end of my vacations I start to miss work and even look forward to being back. Seven years ago I came back to an empty house. Today I come back to a happy mess and everyone I love: my wife, 3 kids, and our 3 pets. I wouldn’t trade that for anything.

I struggle with the bolded part. I don't see it as a "Happy Mess". maybe that is the perspective changer I need.

 

[Mountain Man]

It’s been interesting for me to read these posts. Thanks to the OP for broaching the subject. I find myself almost the complete opposite in that I get refreshed with hunting trips and that gives me good vibes for months to come. My low points are the mid-points between hunting trips. Family vacations are different for me. I enjoy them but they neither lift me up nor bring me down.

I have been working hard for many years in a field that does not bring me barely any enjoyment. I am good at my job and it is making good money for my family and our future. I’m grinding now to get to a pension and then I am going to shift careers and locations. I feel strongly that living in the middle of the activities that bring you joy is very important. It’s been 16 years since I moved away from the mountains and I have been sacrificing a lot of happiness for long term benefits. Getting close to the payoff point, which I am greatly looking forward to.

 

[shannerdrake]

Constantly since I entered the grown-up workforce a lot of years ago. It's worse when you're not super-jazzed about your daily grind/job, too.


The planning, research and anticipation of any 'vacation' - hunting, fishing, family, whatever - to me adds some number of enjoyable days to the front end as well. If I don't have some kind of interesting upcoming trip/activity on the books I get depressed.

Case in point - I leave for MT next week. I've spent hours a day digging into river flows, maps, old articles and books, etc. I have a running list of potential places to see/fish, but in practice, I am most likely just going to hit a handful of my favorites in @Bambistew 's old stomping grounds, have a lot of local beers on the porch, and unlikely to even go to most of the outlying places I've researched, but it's sure been fun learning about them and the list will just roll over to next year when the cycle repeats.

Spot on! Application and point season is a blast. My crew actually treats application season the way city boys treat fantasy football drafts. We love it.

Once we get our tags we spend months planning and talking about it.

We also hunt Indiana whitetails heavy and manage a 500 acre property for them. So throw in stand work, food plots, scouting, trail cameras, the velvet rut, etc.

Of course success is followed by butchering and a year of cooking/meals.

Again, when you see items as opportunities instead of past experiences, it helps a lot.

 

[MT Bound]

Does anyone deal with this on a regular basis? You have a great week-10 days with friends and family chasing critters in beautiful places without a care in the world. Then you get back to your daily grind and wonder why in the HELL you are putting up with all the BS that is your daily life. Then you realize you rely on that daily grind to pay for just existing. It's really thrown me in a funk.

man that is exactly what I used to deal with for about 15+ years, it was a tough funk to get out of. On all of my drives/flights back to reality my blood pressure would go up, my mood would change for the worse, and I just plain dreaded going back (w/exception of being back w/the kids). Combination of making the wrong decisions when I was younger by living in a place I despised, with a now ex-spouse that I did not like being around at all, combined with a job I wasn't crazy about. It taught me some hard lessons on life decisions and how they affect a person for years down the road, I learned to make the best of things and keep my mind focused as positively as I could.

Now I've been able to relocate to an area that I love, w/a spouse that I dearly enjoy being around, and w/a job that is enjoyable. Hopefully I added a few years to my life by reducing the stress and unhappiness. I feel like I used to when I was young where I grew up, I belong to a place and it fits me and things are good.

 

[MT Bound]

Nope. Probably the most effective reason is I don't watch any news or participate in social media, ever. Not on vacation and not at home. Only forums for online. Immediately add any negative members to the ignore list. Once you have done that it boils down to what happens in real life, not some gossip fueled artificial reality.

If real life sucks, got to make some changes. Most effective for me are living within my means, being loyal to friends and family.

Years ago my wife told me about her philosophy of "Follow your peace". With any choice, think about it, and think about how it makes you feel. Peace? Go for it. No peace? Don't do it.

hey man, those are some strong philosophies put into words, I really like that. Think I'm going to print that out and put on my office board, RIGHT ON!

 

[Hunt&FishCO]

Maybe a different take - but after a big “accomplishment” it can be destabilizing for a period of time finding a new purpose.

Everything normalizes, refocus that mental energy on being grateful for what you have (work, home, job, spouse) that enables you to take those trips

 

[tzone]

Get a new job that you like.

 

[Mountain Man]

Get a new job that you like.

Easier said than done. This type of comment simplifies the complexity of the responsibilities of life’s commitments. There is a sliding scale of pay/joy that influence job opportunities for everyone individually. Very few people find the sweet spot. Simply stating “get a new job that you like” is not helpful advice.

 

[hunt1up]

I notice by about day 7 of a 12 day trip, I've almost adjusted to a new routine that feels normal. Getting up at 5:00am in a tent, pooping outside, hiking all over. It certainly takes a few days to feel normal in civilization again.

Several things help me. While mountain hunting is my favorite thing, I still have a lifelong obsession with whitetails. So once I get back I transition into focusing on that for several months. 3 day weekends become mini vacations, deer camp becomes a getaway even it it's 20 minutes from home. Then comes ice fishing even if I only go a few times. Before you know it it's turkey season so that's a nice distraction for a few weeks. Sprinkle in some weekends fishing on the river, camping with the kids, etc. I also spend more time than I should in planning the future trips. I have probably 10 good future options laid out on paper and in my head that I can refine over time. Add in the regular happenings of a life with a wife and two kids and the calendar fills up. When I do that it makes it easier to not focus on one singular event such as an hunting trip despite that being a highlight of the year.

 

[morley.tyler]

In the immortal words of Chuck Yegar, "No bucks, no Buck Rogers ".

Sorry- Gus Grissom

 

[ThunderNocked]

Does anyone deal with this on a regular basis? You have a great week-10 days with friends and family chasing critters in beautiful places without a care in the world. Then you get back to your daily grind and wonder why in the HELL you are putting up with all the BS that is your daily life. Then you realize you rely on that daily grind to pay for just existing. It's really thrown me in a funk.

absolutely. Just came back from 2 week vacation seeing family in the lower 48 for the first time in almost 10 years. It was hard to come home and I love Alaska. That first week back is hard... I spent two days in a fog trying to refocus.