i love the outdoors, is there any good careers out there

Wow just wow !!

If you find one let us all know !

Game warden or park ranger

Best advice is if you like the outdoors don't get a job working in the outdoors. Find a career that allows plenty of time off to hunt/fish etc.

Think about it, a gamewarden's job is baby sitting hunters during hunting season. So guess when you work you butt off During hunting season!!!!!

There's plenty of them out here, roughneck, roustabout, pulling unit's and the list keep's going.

cinimatogphy for discovery or free lance.I always thought that would be cool.

The best kind of outdoor career that I can think of is probably the most competitive as well. Any of that stuff with dealing with TV hunting shows and the like. But you better be better than damn good at it to make a career at it and have a few really good ideas.

Other than that, if you have a good chunk of land that is already paid for, selling exotics can make a pretty good living but you will be very busy.

4.5 years until I can retire. 50 yo and retired will make me in the outdoors without a career.

Best advice I can give you is just do something in the industry. You won't make much money so a family will be tough. You will be away from home much of the time so a family might not even be a good idea. You need to enjoy your own company as well as Gods and His creations. If you can live with all these things you will have it better than most CEOs. But if you don't just go do something and work your way into other things as you go along you will end up stuck at a water department setting water meters, fixing valves and pumps and listening to customers complain about things you don't control. Live the dream now. You change your mind later okay but it's hard to go back once you complicate your life.

Do something you love... it makes all the difference in the world. The money is secondary to going to a job that you absolutely hate everyday. I asked myself the same question before I went to college and after heavily researching all of my options I decided that working with natural resources was the most important thing to me. There are a lot of jobs that allow you to work outside but beware that most of the governmental agency type jobs require you to work weekends, which gets old after a while. Environmental nonprofits seem to be a much better way to go as the pay is typically higher, normal work hours/days and you actually get to do the hands on type work that attracted you to the field without being tied to a desk dealing with governmental bs and paperwork. Sorry if that got long winded. I will step off my soapbox now.

just curious, how big is ur hunting ranch?

This really depresses me. My ex br-in-law got the chance and screwed it up. Head Ranch Manager on a very secluded 55OO acres with home and auto's and fuel . Had to take hunters out and process kills that were mgmnt only because of overpopulation of deer.Tons of time involved and hard work keeping up maintenance on 4 houses and pool and sevaral barns. Clearing cedar and fixing roads and fence and feeders and blinds.Livestocks well being. Equipment maintenance and keeping all owners and visitors happy . next

I think he got lazy after learning how to make western movies at alamo village he spent too much time doing that instead of taking care of the ranch......I would kill to get one chance like that...

thanks for the responses

You wont ever be wealthy with green cash but extremely wealthy with being in a place that you love and the surroundings and things you love to do............I guess Im really weird if I like building roads up mountains and fence and maintenance on equipment and machinery and stuff of the like..... but rather be clearing cedar than sitting on the computer for sure....

Pending on how old you are and if in College or not. Soil Science is currently in demand and about to get even better.

I agree with Hunts_With_Stick... I am currently finishing up a graduate school and in today's market the more "Science-based" your degree is in the more job opportunities are available. Not saying that's the only way to go... I research environmental decision-making and how people interact with the environment mainly during outdoor recreation. With that being said, if I had to do it over again, I would look at more water related issues since freshwater is one of the main focal points in natural resource conservation.

most people say that they wish they had the job of a ranch foreman/manager, but its not all its cracked up to be.

long hours, especially during season. hot, dry,dusty,cold, nasty days. On every ranch i've been to the foreman were allowd to shoot maybe a few does, sometimes managment deer, but your so busy during season that your personal hunting time is little.

you still deal with deadlines, unsavory/rude people, equipment failures etc...it gets glamorized way more than it is.

plus, ranches change hands often, owners die, kids sell, so job security is also as much of a concern as anything else.


I love guiding,but after 2 weeks straight of it the last thing I wanna be on is the ranch

A degree in wildlife science would be a good start.

whats the diff in a warden and a park ranger

The difference between a cop and a security guard.

which you think would be a more appealing

That's a tough call... In the National Parks Service the definition of a park ranger in extremely broad. Park rangers can be law enforcement or non law enforcement that specialize in certain areas of park management, natural resources, interpretation, etc....

In Texas, Park Rangers are typically skill oriented position that deal with maintenance of park facilities and interpretation. The law enforcement job with TPWD in parks would be State Park Police. SPP are fully commissioned peace officers that enforce state laws and park rules in the parks as well as assist in park management.

Game Wardens are their own breed. They enforce the rules on private and public land and are mostly law enforcement oriented.

Each job has it's own strengths and weaknesses... Its a matter of what fits your personality. A good idea is to go to TPWD and look at their job descriptions for each of those positions and compare the two. There are also ample internships with the department that would allow you to experience both jobs as well as with NPS.

With any of these jobs a bachelors degree is required or preferred ...

thanks aggie

game warden
State Park Police
conservation officer
park ranger
wildlife biologist

is the ones i have narrowed..

Federal law enforcement is a good venue. Even if not with the outdoors. Time is accrued at 1.5 times the years of service. Early retirement along with good benefits, but you are at the mercy of Congress as to what they think you need to do. Kind of like the military, just not going off to war.