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What do you sw hunters do.....

sethgade280

sethgade280

New Member
for a living?? I have a biology degree and my wife and i are thinking about making the jump and move to iowa. Only problem.....i don't know if I can find a job down there. My wife is a vet, so that wouldn't be a problem, but I need to find something to do. Anyone have any ideas about job opportunities down in sw iowa?? What do you guys do for a career?? Just wondering. Thanks
 
Most hunt all the time and have the wife work double shifts at Casey's! I would put HA, but it is true in some cases.
 
With a biology degree I thought you would have gone to med school or optometry school, etc. afterwards. Do you have your education certification? You could teach. What do you do now?
 
Job market is better here than most states. I personally think you'd be fine. if it's what you wanna do, make it happen!
 
If my wife was a vet I would gladly hunt, fish and watch the kids full time. .......not necessarily in that order:)
 
If ya can handle some tough winters, by FAR the best job opportunities currently are in North Dakota. I would be gone in a minute if I were younger. Housing is tough tho!!!!!!!!!!! Start watching the Bismarck Tribune online. If you are breathing it won't take over a day to find a job.
 
I hear there isn't much of a job market /opportunities south of interstate I-80 with the exception of a couple larger towns. The Des Moines area would be your best bet. Southern Iowa has outsourced most of the manufacturing jobs and the ag sector is the only thing proping the towns up. Many of the towns and schools are struggling from what I have been told. Both decreased enrollment and money. I would look at the area schools and take that into consideration if you have young kids. Also Iowa in general is loosing most of the college graduates to other States due to better job opportunities. If you can find a good area and get a stable job than go for it. If your moving to Iowa just for the hunting you may want to wait a couple years because if commodity prices stay as high as they are now there wont be any habitat left. Then add the continued onslought by the DNR and FB on our deer herd and the main reason your moving here will be gone.
 
I have a degree in fish & wildlife biology and just to stay around my home and hunting area I took a job with the county environmental health dept. This job requires a biology/science degree and there is an environmental health department in about every county. Our office gets emailed job openings every couple months or so scattered around the state so there some job openings.
 
I'm not in SW Iowa, but Iowa City. I work at Integrated DNA Technologies and manage the Synthetic Biology Dept. I have 2 full time openings right now for someone with a biology degree. Shoot me a PM or go to idtdna.com and check out what we do if you are interested. I think Johnson county is one of the best counties in the state to hunt deer. A lot more to do here than in SW Iowa too which might make the wife happy.
 
Man, thanks for the replys. The whole sw iowa deal is because my wife and I own 240 acres there and would like to sell our farm in WI and build down here. Alot cheaper to live in Iowa than wi FOR SURE! I love the hunting on my farm, but I know that it is pretty rural and I worry about finding a decent paying job which I like.

I have been in the commercial pesticide industry for the last 10 yrs. I manage aquatic resources for private, industrial, and home owner associations. Don't need to get into this field. I just want a change of pace for me and my family.
 
Jobs are tough to find, I wanted to live back around home after living in Des Moines and went back to college to get my teaching certificate. I now am a teacher and it is a career that allows you to live and make a living in rural Iowa. They are always trying to find more teaches for the core areas (math, science, and language arts). Some colleges have very short 1 year programs or even fast track courses to allow you to get your Ed. degree.
 
Iowa

Seth: I am in the insurance business in MN...there are many insurance companies based out of Iowa. They will always look at qualified, educated individuals to hire.

You might have to look more at a Des Moines or larger city but not always. My farm is near DM and I have thought about it also, another option would be to part with the 240, and buy closer to a major city, but I realize that maybe that is not what you want.

Good luck!
 
If a Federal job interests you, start looking on USAJOBS: http://www.usajobs.gov/

I haven't seen anything on my particular search que, but I have a very limited selection of Federal agencies I'm willing to work for (something you learn after 8 years with the Feds). I know most agencies' budgets are not looking good for this Fiscal Year (FY12) and FY13 is looking worse, but I also know there can be a high turnover with the NRCS and they tend to have more openings. If you need help figuring out how to maneuver around the website and how to do searches, shoot me a PM and we can figure it out.

I've seen a couple of FWS National Wildlife Refuge jobs along the Missouri River refuges (refuge biologist) in recent months, so you never know what will turn up. Good luck!
 
breiner11 said:
I'm not in SW Iowa, but Iowa City. I work at Integrated DNA Technologies and manage the Synthetic Biology Dept. I have 2 full time openings right now for someone with a biology degree. Shoot me a PM or go to idtdna.com and check out what we do if you are interested. I think Johnson county is one of the best counties in the state to hunt deer. A lot more to do here than in SW Iowa too which might make the wife happy.
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That's a great opportunity. I do pretty well hunting here in Johnson county, tho I'm not sure it's one of the best counties in IA.
 
A really good paying job in sw Iowa is farming. Seth you could always be Donnie's hired man :grin:

I think he is paying up to $5/hr now.
 
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