Limiting your hobbies

[Peaks&Creeks]

Just wondering how many of you have cut down on hobbies to concentrate on hunting? I woke up this morning feeling cluttered in terms of toys. I have always been mediocre at most of my hobbies because I pursued so many. The only hobby I ever became a expert at was snowboarding because its the only hobby I focus on during the winter, which made me think, what if I sold all my kayaking, hockey, and brewing equipment to solely concentrate on becoming a more lethal hunter. I shoot my bow everyday, and when time allows I go and shoot at the local 3D range and local 3D tournaments, so why need the other stuff if I am solely focused on scouting and shooting all summer? Have any of you sold your less used toys and regretted it? I may keep the brewing stuff cause beer is awesome, but damn if it doesn't take all day to make 5 gallons.

 

[skaldugwas]

Whats it like to have other hobbies? I have no other hobbies that aren't somehow or some way related to hunting.

 

[Nick Muche]

Quit them all... can't do them all well enough to justify the cost/time so eliminated basically everything. Thought I'd miss them, but I truly do not.

 

[Ridge Ghost]

I have certainly cut a few other hobbies out, especially now that we have a 1 and 3 year old. Rather than getting out and mountain biking in the summer, I'm banking my spouse brownie points for hunting season.

Keep the hockey and home brewing up though. They will give you something to do in the winter after most hunting seasons have closed.

 

[elkyinzer]

Yeah golfing got cut. I play maybe 4 or 5 times a year mostly for work. Still hover around single digit handicap and people I play with look at me like I have two heads when I tell them I used to be better. Otherwise it's family then hunting and fishing, no time for anything else. I camp but only as a means to an end.

 

[JWP58]

Have twins, then you'll decide really quickly what hobbies are most important and the rest will be dumped just as quickly.

 

[elkduds]

For me there is a sweet spot of doing something enough to be competent and feel fulfilled; but not too much. Burning out on something that was thrilling is sad. During the years of my hunting obsession, the only thing that mattered was filling the freezer. The greatest reward was satisfaction that there was plenty of meat. The alternative was a winter, spring and summer focused entirely on getting the next elk, driven by a sense of having failed the previous fall's hunts. Not much room for fun in that way of thinking.

When that eased up there was a lot more fun every year, even w less in the freezer sometimes.

 

[ezmorningrebel]

Yeah golfing got cut. I play maybe 4 or 5 times a year mostly for work. Still hover around single digit handicap and people I play with look at me like I have two heads when I tell them I used to be better. Otherwise it's family then hunting and fishing, no time for anything else. I camp but only as a means to an end.

pretty much same for me. i'll go out and walk 9 holes in the evening during the summer but lost the stomach for 5-6 hour rounds that cost me $40 a pop. if i threw everything at it i might be able to get to a single digit handicap but i'm happy to be a bogey golfer with little practice.

 

[Tod osier]

limiting work is better.

 

[Peaks&Creeks]

I feel like hunting is such a big category also, as it encompasses a few different hobbies such as hiking/backpacking, guns/bows, and all the necessary knick-knacks that go with each one of those sub-categories. My wife and I love to backpack together, so in terms of backpacking I would not get rid of that gear as it's part of my hunting equipment, but I have this itch to just rid myself of the stuff I do under 10 times a year. I love to whitewater kayak, but just getting out for a day has become a chore as I'm needing to find a partner to go with, and then running a shuttle...etc. I guess if I truly missed it I could buy it all again. Thanks for the motivation guys.

 

[RoJo]

I have made it a point to not ever play a game of golf, or go snow skiing/boarding, for that very reason.

 

[Greg Beck]

Oh boy!!! This is a subject I wrestle with all the time!!! I sold my mountain bike and gear a few years ago and now really regret it! Mainly because I now have no bike and my kids want me to ride with them. I enjoy hiking and backpacking but that gear is interchangeable with hunting. My main problem is trying to decide on whether to get back into Bowhunting (which I quit a few years ago) or waterfowl. Living a quarter mile from the Snake River during waterfowl season has me almighty tempted! But I can only afford to do one or the other right now!

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[camping1601]

I have prob have 6 five gallon buckets of shot shells I have a feeling I'll never shoot. Then there's that little boat that looks new and all that caving gear.

It's a matter priority and hunting, scouting, hiking, backpacking, and biking are the winners.

 

[WV Mountaineer]

I hunt, fish, reload and shoot. If I'm not doing any of these things, I'm likely planning to do one of them this weekend. In between, I try to get my wife naked so I can chase her around. I don't get nearly enough time doing any of these things. So, I quit several other things to make the most time I can muster for each. God Bless men

 

[Scott/IL]

I have quit tournament bass fishing. I still own the boat, but it has only seen the water once this summer. I miss it at times, but the time dedication needed is more than I want to exert right now. And my hunting budget has grown substantially. I often ponder of selling the boat and some gear to fund a goat or sheep hunt...

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[LongWayAround]

I find a little time and money to snowboard. Occasionally, I catch a fish.

My change has really been in what I hunt. Several years ago I was basically a full time goose hunter, part time college student. Now I find my self paring down my waterfowl gear to buy more mountain stuff. It's mostly an effect of geography but for the most part, I'm happy with the change.

 

[Jmitch1488]

Im there right now as well. I hunt pretty much everything that's legal in my state love to musky fish. Like to garden/raise our own food, woodwork, dabble in wine making, and i have a 1938 chevy 2 door sedan that id love to build. But i also have a 16 month old son and a wife that want to spend time with me too. In my life right now its all about priorities. So i keep giving up things little by little to fit into my family life. Ive made maybe 5 musky leaque nights out of 12 or so this summer. All but quit duckhunting and pheasant and cut way back on the other stuff. Im not sure ive done anything outdoors or with my hands that i dont enjoy so its hard for me cut back but at this point there is only so much time in the day. And i want to be a good dad as much as a good hunter/fisherman/everything else so something has got to give

 

[BroodBuster]

I didn't start hunting until after my fishing obsession had run its course. Even with much less opportunity to fish steelhead in the rivers and salmon in the sea I'll never sell my drift boat and 16' Lund. In fact I'm re powering the Lund now. By cherry picking conditions I still do well fishing despite less time and effort. Even though I spend most of my time concentrating on hunting I've still got a long way to go until I'm half as proficient at killing hooved critters as I am catching finned critters.

A few years ago, after rowing all day, I caught two steelhead on just a few casts. Back at camp it turned out I was the only one to catch two fish that day. One of the guys on my boat was like, "Damn, and he only took a few casts to my hundred or so."

To this one of my non hunting buddies opined, "If only steelhead could grow horns!"

At that my hunting buddies almost put the fire out with beer shooting out their nose.

Ayup! That pretty much sums it up where I'm at in my outdoorsman career .

God gave us four seasons and I love each of them!

 

[Poser]

Ive been through a phase of "all hunting, nothing but hunting" for a couple of years. I tend to go full throttle at whatever I do, but I tend to lose interest in things once I reach a certain level of competency. These days I'm making a conscious effort to not be so singular and have a wider array of casual hobbies. I have pretty much nixed bowhunting completely because it's so time consuming unto itself. That opens up a lot more time to do other things. Snowboarding, Mtn biking, fat biking, women, guitar, whiskey, strength & conditioning, cooking... anything that might strike my fancy, make life more interesting and has a challenging learning curve.


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[Ashy Larry]

I played golf today. I'll likely fly fish tomorrow. Played disc golf Sunday. Prepped some brass for loading this evening. Shot my bow too. Probably check trail cams tomorrow. Need to tear the transmission on my fourwheeler apart soon.

I have to be busy or I get real ornery.