Possible carrers in the great outdoors

Liam Ryan

Liam Ryan

Joined
Sep 26, 2005
Messages
3,516
Hello guys, I believe my time in the great north will sonn be coming to an end.
My student loan is nearly paid off, and the search for what to do next is on.
I really want to find a career that takes me into the woods, I have considered a park ranger and the military, but I am sure there are many options I have never considered, and I want to look at all of them.
Thanks guys,

LR
 
Geologist, BLM, DNR, surveyor, hunting guide, backpacking guide, bush pilot, Wilderness Reailty TV Show host?

Liam vs. Wild. :thumbup: :thumbup:

Actually a friend's father had a great job, cameraman for NBC news.
He's been in Panama, Grenanda, Bosnia, Mid East, Asia, Africa...ect. etc. etc.
 
SkunkWerx has better ideas.

About 3 decades in the US military...almost zero time in the woods. Deserts, swamps, rainforests, jungles, every sort of urban environment...yes. Woods, no.

Darned Canadians wouldn't declare war!
 
One pop-ed to my mind. Taxidermy. My son is one. He has not graduated from high school yet (he is still in Georgia) but he is already classified as a professional. He is working on a wild hog to get to be a master. If I am not mistaken your peers (fellow taxidermists) grade your work. I am willing to bet he gets his master certificate this year. The reason I mention this Liam is not for the awesome money you can make but the fact that there is no time constraints. You work when you want, hunt when you want, fish when you want, camp or do whatever you want when you want. For an avid outdoors man this is a dream job. You can work when the weather is bad, get out when it is good.
 
I've come to the same cross roads (well similar. going back to school for a job in the great outdoors). My most current plan is to study for forestry, and I am taking a cert. course for wildland firefighting. Hoping to use job experience and time to get a foothold in either the park service the forest service or something similar for a good steady government career in forestry.
 
Liam Ryan said:
Hello guys, I believe my time in the great north will sonn be coming to an end.
My student loan is nearly paid off, and the search for what to do next is on.
I really want to find a career that takes me into the woods, I have considered a park ranger and the military, but I am sure there are many options I have never considered, and I want to look at all of them.
Thanks guys,

LR
Click to expand...

Bush pilot.

Doc
 
Hey Guys..

Liam...

For some reason I thought you were in the Queen's Coyboys (RCMP) ??!!

I was always told...

If you like to fish.. Don't buy a fishing lodge..
If you like to Hunt, don't buy a hunting lodge..

All you'll do is make sure your guests are fishing and hunting..You'll never have time!

As for an outdoor career..

That's a good question...
Wish you luck though..

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
OldPhysics said:
Darned Canadians wouldn't declare war!
Click to expand...

In our woods against us Canucks, you US troops wouldn't stand a chance anyways :D

Sorry couldn't resist ;) Just kidding. HEY ! Keep cool. I said just KIDDING !!! What is that growing black dot in the air over th....

End of transmission.....

Seriously, depending on what are your competences, you can work on many, many jobs in the bush. Geologists spend a lot of time out there. Same goes for oil prospectors and weird people like Mike Horn & al.

It's not always the most expected things that will bring you in the bush regularly. For example a friend of mine is a mailman. Well he got an affectation in a very remote place, with no roads. He hikes his way over to the small towns in the moutains every other day to bring them mail and news from the big bad world. He always gets a warm drink and a warm smile...

He actually had to ask people to stop giving him alcoholic beverages because he was getting liver problems :D

David
 
I'm With Normark on this one... Sometimes it's the work in the city that makes you appreciate your time in the back country more. I've seen so many friends turn thier hobbies into thier jobs and they often say it become just a job. They lost the appreciation of the hobby. It is commendable though to be looking into a career that will allow the hobby to expand. I recently changed careers into Agriculture. Our Harvest time is in August. We're done by September which is when the early hunt sesons open. If Harvest went into November like many aroung us I don't think I'd have made the change.
My $.02
 
I ran into this as I am a Network/IT guy who hates the indoors. But working indoors makes me appreciate all the time I spend in the outdoors 10 fold. I am going to training to be an hunting guide either this year or next year and see if it is for me. I have already been an Whitewater rafting guide and Kayaking guide. Both I love to do but are not as full time so I have lots of time for other things. Normark makes a good point but diff types of guides do diff things.

Research, learn all you can and make the determination. Do you REALLY want to be outside? Do you like the air conditioning? How cold can you stand to be? And can you continuously wake up VERY early in the morning. Maybe not all of these apply but they do to some jobs. Remember that things like park rangers and what not alot of times have biology degree's(I dont know if its required). Look into DNR Police, they spend alot of time outdoors and they have training classes(at least in MD they do). I am just throwin ideas out there

There are lots of jobs in the outdoors but some of them require degree's or fields of interest. What I have found with many is that the pay isnt that great but heck you get to do what you love. Research it, think about it hard and maybe apply for an internship. Good luck, I'll let ya know how the rockies are:D
 
SkunkWerX said:
Geologist, BLM, DNR, surveyor, hunting guide, backpacking guide, bush pilot, Wilderness Reailty TV Show host?

Liam vs. Wild. :thumbup: :thumbup:

Actually a friend's father had a great job, cameraman for NBC news.
He's been in Panama, Grenanda, Bosnia, Mid East, Asia, Africa...ect. etc. etc.
Click to expand...

I like your ideas. Bush pilots man they got stories.
 
In my 20 plus years of working life, 2/3's of them have been in outdoor jobs.

Climbing Guide
Park Warden
Rescue Training Officer
Snowboard manufacturer's rep
Environmental and Safety Manager

The first four were great jobs for a single guy- 100 plus days outdoors, lots of travel, get to paly with cool toys and hang out with cool people....

BUT- the pay sucked, no benefits, NO JOB SECURITY, and living out of a backpack for most of the year starts to get old.

Marriage and kids have changed my choice in jobs, now I get to enjoy the outdoors as a side benefit of my job, not as one of the major benefits of it.

My advice on getting the most from a job in the outdoors is to get a technical certification that provides a GREAT hourly wage when you're qualified (e.g. bush pilot, geologist, logging safety officer, land surveyor, environmental manager, steady-cam camera operator), then tailor that skill set into an outdoor setting.

Working as a ski instructor, outdoor adventure trip leader, deck hand are good ways to gain experience, but there's no money in it. A very wise mentor once told me that the only way to really make money in the outdoors was to sell either the toys that made the outdoors enjoyable to all, or sell the dream of the outdoors by word and/or images to the public.

YMMV.

George
 
there is a kat , I think he's a wilderness photographer on the post your mug thread who's looking fo an assistant to carry his gear and, camp out for weeks at a time...If ididn't have an 8 month old son I'd be on that faster than (insert clever idiom here) might be worth looking into.
 
Liam, what do you do now in Iqaluit? What brought you there? Are you a visitor? A Native? I'm curious. I've always been fascinated by the far North.
 
I have spent over 16 years in the US Army, a lot of that time was in the out of doors, not always in a place you want to be though. I have learned a whole lot about survival and what items you need in BFE to be comfortable, when you have to hump it for 3 days staight with no sleep you learn what you actually need and what you don't. I have also had some formal SERE training, I am very happy that I did and I never want to do it again. Not many people can say they have not lived in a hard building for over a year straight. I would suggest to anyone that the military is a great place, maybe not for everyone but for some it is all there is. :D Chris
 
Moine said:
In our woods against us Canucks, you US troops wouldn't stand a chance anyways :D
Click to expand...

I've thought about emmigrating to Canada-- the urge gets stronger with each Bush administration :rolleyes:

I feel for the Canadians though-- being parked next to the US is politically like living next door to a trailer park full of meth-heads --- always fighting over the wrong thing! Then again, there is Quebec.... :eek:

More to the point, geologists are some of the roughest toughest scientists I know. Not only do they go out in the wild, they bring back bags of rocks! Surveyors have impressed me the same way. There are all kinds of carreers in biology, engineering, law enforcement, and resource managment too.

A number here have written about recreation-oriented jobs. You can even get a degree in Leisure Activities. [Father-Son talk over grades] "What's this 'C' in Fly Fishing 213-- your mother and I raised you better than that!"

There is a whole outdoor equipment industry too. Industrial design is one door into that-- that is what knife designers really are, industrial designers. There is marketing, sales, photography, testing, and writing about it all too.
 
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