Ya my company does the same thing. Blackout dates from sept-dec for the holidays. Just do what I do every year.
I told my employer that hunting is my passion. It helps feed my family and I live, work, plan all year and invest $$ in my gear. It's only second to God and my family. So not being able to go means I don't get to do what I love, which is what makes makes me who I am. So for me. there is no job in the world that could keep me from doing what I love to do. They get me for 8-10 hours a day and they can not control "MY TIME". My vacation time is "MY TIME", and I will go when I want, where I want, and with whomever I want. So they can schedule me if they like, but I sure as hell won't be there. When the seasons open, my job takes the back seat.....period!!! They want to fire me for it?? Go ahead....lose the best guy you have. I was looking for a job when I found this one. Wouldn't even take me a full day to get another one. Would I feel bad? Nope!!!! Why would I want to work for a company that wants to keep me from doing what I love???
The kill is the satisfying, indeed essential, conclusion to a successful hunt. But, I take no pleasure in the act itself. One does not hunt in order to kill, but kills in order to have hunted. Then why do I hunt? I hunt for the same reason my well-fed cat hunts...because I must, because it is in the blood, because I am the decendent of a thousand generations of hunters. I hunt because I am a hunter.