If your husband says he's going fishing for half the day, what time do you expect him home by?

Question

My husband does this all the time. I told him to stop telling me he's going fishing for only half a day or just the morning. To me, that means he's home by noon, but certainly no later than 1pm.
He told me he was going fishing this morning. I asked what time he'd be back. He said "Early". I said what TIME. Like 1pm, 2pm? He said "I'm only doing a half day."
It's now 4:30pm. I have no idea what time he'll be home. He's ignoring my texts. I took the kids out for a walk, went to the park, got ice cream, and now I'm making supper. No effing clue where my husband has gone off to. 
Now usually the lack of communication would just be annoying, but then he complains all the time about how he misses out on family stuff but I told him that maybe this is why. He spends his time off fishing and even when he says he'll be home early because "I'm only fishing for a half day", he's rarely home before the kids are in bed. The kids are in bed at 7:30. We eat at 5pm and start bedtime at 6:45pm.
He does this all the time and I'm like whatever. He works long hours and needs his alone time but for the love of God communicate that. I've told him 1000 times it's ok to go fishing for the day but don't tell me it's a half day and get home after 4pm.
Edit to above: he's 1000% fishing. He comes home with tonnes of pictures and reeks to high heaven. If he catches fish for eating, we filet them. I told him that I truly do not care if he's out all day. Good for him. But for safety reasons, give me a time you'll be home by. If you tell me you're home at 2 and you're not, I know that by 6pm and no answer, I can call the police. When he says "I'm only doing a half day" but leaves at 4am in the morning and isn't back until 10:30pm at night, that to me is a full day. 
He also took labour day off and told us that he was going to spend the day with us. Then this morning he woke me up at 4am and said he was going fishing. Don't hype us all up and then ditch us either. Dick move! It's now 5:30pm and no answer. At 6 I'm calling the police because who knows where he is. Enough is enough.
Edit:10pm. Still not home and police have been called.
Edit: 6:40am. The police found him! He's ok. He was fishing and he called me at midnight and got home at 1:30am. He was pissed I called the police but what else was I supposed to do?

Answer

Don't act like you don't care if he goes out all day and you just want to know what time he's getting home. Bullshit. You want him home with you and the family to spend quality time at a certain time. You absolutely do care if he goes out all day. It is OK to say that. If you pretend like it's all about missing the time he said he'll be home, you will not be getting what you need in this situation. From his perspective you're telling him that you don't mind if he's out all day. He's a big boy and can take care of his own safety, so using safety as an excuse of why you want him home at the time he said, doesn't work. Tell him that you feel neglected and you need him home to spend time with you and the family. Tell him you are not OK with him being out all day. Tell him you are OK with him being gone 3-4 hours tops. Not doing what he says he will do is putting strain on your relationship. You need him to be consistent with what he says he will do. If he were to spend more time with the family, I bet you wouldn't care if he went every once in a while all day long.

Answer

I am an avid angler. I usually go fishing with my partners and our son. If I do go by myself, I always have my phone on loud and I always give a time. Sometimes, I meet them for lunch and go back to fishing. If I say I am going to be home by 8pm, I am going to be home by 7:30-7:45pm. I am always in communication with my partners. There isn’t an excuse not to be. If I take one of our boats out, I make sure to have heavy communication with them or even invite them along if I use the  large boat. 
Your husband should stay in communication with you and give a ballpark time. I would say 1/2 day of fishing would end at 12pm if he left at 4/4:30 am. My partners expect me to update them when I am out fishing/golfing/ etc. It’s courteous and it prevents worry.

Answer

What if he’s going somewhere else before he goes fishing??!! What if you have an emergency? Your husband is completely engrossed in his own needs, he’s neglecting his family. Make clear boundaries, time to get home, for him to be reachable at all times, tell him not to be a Disappointment and going MIA. Who the hell goes fishing ALL day - that makes up for 3 shift work within a 24h period. With family at home waiting. He’s not single so remind him

Answer

My husband hunts and fishes regularly. He often goes into hard terrain wilderness where he doesn’t have cell service. Sometimes he’s gone for a week or more! Obviously the long trips are planned, so it’s not like I’m unaware of them. 
He and I share phone locations with one another for safety reasons however that doesn’t work if there is no cell service. 
He always gives me a ballpark time, and makes an effort to update me if he’s running late, but he also isn’t shy about letting me know that he doesn’t have a set return timeframe, if he’s really not sure. 
He communicates as much as cell service allows, and depending on where your husband goes…. It’s not hard to respond to a text when you’re sitting on the bank/in a boat/on a dock, etc. 
if he has cell service, he should have no issues giving you a quick text to Let you know what’s up. 
On my husband’s most recent trip he went with some buddies into desolation wilderness and they were gone for 2 weeks… he hiked to the top of a cliff ridge daily in between their hunts just to let me know he was alive and to check on me and the kids. 
If he can do that, surely your husband can respond to a text lol. I’ve been fishing more times than I can count. There is a LOT of sitting around, waiting for a bite, unless you’re fly fishing but even then you’re still taking breaks. He should be able to reply to you, or at least not give you incorrect timeframes! Minimum he should say: “don’t wait up, idk when I’ll be home” If he’s not going to respond to texts or let you know what’s going on!

Answer

When my BIL and FIL go out fishing they give a time they'll be home by and they're home by that time or within the hour. When the whole family is at the lake and my MIL and husband are at the cabin with all of the kids we'll say half a day, but they know damn well we mean dinner time because we'll all be up until midnight.

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That's so rude of him.  I don't know though.  I think he's doing more than fishing

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I’d be upset too, like at least tell you so you can plan around him and not be stressed when he’s not home. Half the day to me I’d expect him to be home around 2ish, but if he said “I’m coming back early” I’d think noon or sooner. Have you tried to tell him how you feel when he doesn’t respond? Like have a real conversation where he’s listening and say “it makes me anxious and worried when you don’t respond to me while you’re out. I need to know so i can stop stressing about if you’re okay or not. I also need to know so i can plan dinner. You know i don’t mind for you to be out but i just really need to be able to plan around it and it makes me angry when i can’t” don’t come off snippy or with attitude it has to be genuine and sincere

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He's fishing the entire day that's all.

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Well then he should have called you!

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My husband and his mom do the same thing! The annoying part is there’s no service where they go so if they decide to stay, he has to drive up and make a call. It’s completely unreasonable. I have no advice 😂 I’m just here to tell you you’re not alone and I know he’s actually fishing 🤣