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John's Journal... Entry31 - Day 5

click to enlargeBalancing Marriage with a Guiding Career

Editor's Note: Brian Ross of Port Sulphur, Louisiana, has guided clients from across the nation to deer and turkeys the past 11 years. You can read more about the adventures of guiding hunters for a living by visiting "John's Journal" and looking for the information on Scott Dillon.

Question: You've worked as a hunting guide for 11 years, and you're also married. What kind of strain does guiding put on your marriage?

Answer: It's an interesting relationship. I'm home only half the year, and there are some difficulties. But she understands that I love what I do, and I sure appreciate her letting me come to White Oak to do this.

click to enlargeQuestion: How long do you think you can continue to work a guide?

Answer: I don't know. I want to keep it up for quite a while longer. However, I'm going to have to do some different things if I'm going to be able to continue guiding.

Question: What kind of different things will you have to do?

Answer: Well, I'm going to have to find some land closer to where I work because my wife's being by herself for so much of the year is quite a strain on our relationship. My wife lives south of New Orleans, about six or seven hours away from here. We don't get to see each other very often.

Question: Why do you keep guiding for living, knowing how hard it is on your family life? What continues to draw you back to White Oak Plantation?

Answer: I just love what I do. I've had plenty of jobs where I've dreaded getting out of bed to go to work. I've always wanted to work in the outdoors. Since I studied wildlife management for three years in college, I've always been moving in this direction of working outdoors with animals. I look forward to getting up every morning to meet the challenge of either deer season or turkey season. I like being around different people from all across the country and the new things that come about.

click to enlargeQuestion: What do you like about the people who hunt at White Oak?

Answer: All the folks are nice, and everybody has a story. I enjoy hearing their different stories and trying to relate some of my own hunting experiences to theirs. I like to make sure that all my clients have good hunts. I also enjoy helping the guys just starting out hunting to have a good time. Then they'll continue to hunt and hopefully get their kids into the sport. I try to help out the outdoors industry every chance I get.

Question: Do you believe you're making lifelong friends being a hunting guide?

Answer: I like to think so. We have guys who come to White Oak year after year. You look forward to seeing and talking to them when they're here. I hope they're looking forward to coming here and being with the guides. A bunch of us have been at White Oak since about the same time, and I think we've built up good relationships with the hunters.

Question: Tell me about your most memorable turkey hunt.

Answer: I was hunting with Dan Schmidt of Wisconsin, the assistant editor of "Deer and Deer Hunting" magazine. He'd never done much turkey hunting until he came to White Oak for a hunt with other outdoor writers, and he'd been having tough luck. I decided I'd show him how to hunt turkeys in the rain. We went out into a 12-acre cotton field, got under a shooting house to keep the rain off our heads and went to sleep. After we'd slept a couple of hours, something woke us up. We quickly realized it was a turkey drumming, coming alongside us. We let that bird move in front of us and then shot him at about 10 steps. That tom had five beards.

Question: What made that turkey hunt so memorable?

click to enlargeAnswer: Just how easy it was. Dan was prepared to do a lot of calling and maneuvering -- everything a good turkey hunter should do. And I helped take a five-bearded turkey, which was rare. Then to actually have the hunt successful, although we did it by sleeping, waking up and just shooting, was good and different.

 
 

Check back each day this week for more about Diary of a Hunting Guide: Chapter Two ...

Day 1 -Getting Started as a Hunting Guide
Day 2 -How a Guide Gets Ready for Bowhunting Season
Day 3 -Preparing for Gun/Deer Season
Day 4 -The Challenge of Turkey Hunting
Day 5 -Balancing Marriage with a Guiding Career

John's Journal