Limiting your hobbies

[Murdy]

I gave up golf about 10 years ago due to an injury, never got back into it as hunting started taking up more of my time & money. I haven't officially given up mushroom hunting, but find it hard to find the time to look for morels during turkey season (unless I'm out turkey hunting and take a break).

 

[mj23polaris]

Is being a outdoorsman a hobby? I mean all mine revolve around being outside, shooting guns and bow every weekend to hiking/scouting. Then hunting obviously, And since I love off roading in trucks I for the most part get to full fill that hobby doing my other hobbies.

Yea I've had to tell myself and people that no I'm not gonna go down that rabbit hole bc I don't wanna get off track of my current hobbies. Bc like it has been said if I spread it out to much I don't think I'll get good at one thing. And right now I'm really focusing on the bow and gun stuff.

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[Peaks&Creeks]

Great replies here. Seems that people are quite split in the ways they handle their multiple hobbies. From some being die hard hunters and nothing else, and others dabbling in various hobbies. I have pared down my hobbies once already, so the hockey, kayaking, skiing and homebrewing are what I decided to stick with. I used to be an avid rock climber and had literally thousands invested in gear, but when a good friend of mine died from a climbing accident it kinda took the wind outta my sails, and so I quit that hobby and sold everything. Mountain biking also went away. Maybe I just look at it this way. Summer and Fall is kayaking and hunting, winter is hockey and snowboarding.


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[boom]

screw that..i limit my stupid ass needless spending now. besides, my wife doesnt hunt, and my world does not revolve just around me.

hobbies? i got rid of one. a 1981 911SC Porsche i drove around, and did track days with. multiple sets of wheels/tires..suits, helmets..it got expensive..so i sold the car for a crazy ass profit.

but i refuse to check off this green earth as a one-hit wonder..i want to do as much as i can within reason.

hunting
travel
my motorcycle..i am gonna do x-country trips with it.maybe even ship it to spain and ride around the country side checking out all the hot Spanish ladies.

i have gone some years not hunting to accomodate my other hobbies. not hunting and spending a couple of months traveling south east asia does not suck. my wife and i had so much fun..i didnt miss the hunt season at all.

 

[elkyinzer]

I did have a few more until last year, a toddler and single income has a funny way of keeping life simple. I'll get back into homebrewing someday down the road. Would mind playing hockey either but I need my sleep and beer leagues here have brutal ice times.


Does cooking count? I guess it does, I spend a lot of time doing it. I could eat a big mac every day and probably have the time to golf then.

 

[mtnkid85]

I struggle with this all the time! I pretty much quit resort skiing, mountain biking and fishing. The way I had to look at it was what was the reason I do all the things I do? For me it broke down to spending quality time with my loved ones and simply being in the mountains. So I quit doing the time consuming, expensive things that didn't fit in that ideology.
I still do plenty of things backpacking, road biking and trail running with the wife. Backcountry skiing, climbing/mountaineering to enjoy the mountains.

And further more I blend the lines of all those other activities with hunting. I trail run and back pack in areas I want to scout or often times I've got glass with me on mountaineering trips ect.

 

[DmrbigEshotT]

In my opinion, a good way to go about it is to have a focused hobby per season. I wouldn't be able to limit myself to just one or two things throughout the year, but rather 4 or so main hobbies with a couple on the side and they are usually all closely related. Fall hunting, Winter ice fishing/rabbit, squirrel, coyote hunting, Spring walleye and turkey, Summer bass, perch, and walleye fishing. Also, hiking and camping (2 other enjoyable hobbies) are mixed in with just about all of those.

What I'm confronted with now is LIMITING MY FRIENDS. With time becoming more and more valuable, how much of it am I willing to devote with those friends who don't enjoy doing any of the above listed hobbies? Sure, an after work beer in the backyard with a non-hunting/fishing buddy is good, but very seldom does my time on the weekend get spent with someone who doesn't hunt or fish.

 

[vanish]

The rough part of fishing and hunting is that they can be way more than just one hobby. My problem is I like to hunt and fish for almost everything and almost every way, and that takes a lot of dang gear. I know people who only "dry fly fish for rainbow trout on rivers with store bought flies" - that's one hobby by itself. Fishing is almost a different hobby for each species and method!

 

[kickemall]

I don't limit myself on hobbies at all. Some seem to weed themselves out and I always focus on the one I like the best. I want to try everything, may not like it or stick with it, but I want to try it.

 

[backcountry_hunter]

Like a few others have said, for me it's not hunting or nothing..... Although I'm very passionate about hunting, my life would be dull if that was all I had. At my age I've accepted the fact that I won't be the best at anything, might not even be "good" at it but if I'm having fun, and I'm with loved one's I could care less if I'm making a fool out of myself.

My hobbies also are a moving target, some things come and go and I generate specific interests within certain hobbies at different times. This year I fished really small streams for trout harder than I have in the past simply because I had the time, it was easily accessible and I had alot of fun. Might or might not do it again next year... who knows

The biggest thing for me at this point in my life, looking at retirement is not to acquire a lot of crap and things. I never want to get to the point where by owning things, the things own me. I have lots of friends with 2-4 4-wheelers, ski boats, condos, timeshares, etc... and then they're committed to getting their money back out of those. If that's what you're into, I accept that but it's not for me. I've tried to be smart with my finances and haven't acquired a bunch of stuff I don't need thankfully. Lately I enjoy working on habitat around my farm now more than a weekend get away @ a lake resort. I enjoy traveling, a lot really, but avoid as much of the tourist traps and expensive parts of other areas when I can.
just my $.02

 

[theleo91386]

There's a lot of "use too's" I can think of but the list is easing up as kids are getting older. Much of the limiting factor is saving the brownie points with the wife till the fall. I can't get away with doing the things that drive her nuts on the weekends she's around the house (she works 3 12's) so those have to be limited to the weekends she does work lest I lose brownie points. Some hobbies I've just had to make cheaper and more time consuming to keep me occupied like my reloading, got into casting bullets so it's cheaper and gives me a something else to tinker with. Skiing will start back up in this over this winter and next as the youngest will be 2 and I can get her started slipping and sliding on the mountain (the silence in the backseat of the car after a ski day is one of those miracles every parent should experience at least once in their life) so we can be going back up the chair lift next winter.

 

[kda082]

Mountain and road biking have been replaced with running. Way easier to squeeze a good run in than a 2-3 hr ride. I do miss my mtn bike every year when we go to CO. Kids really made me prioritize my hobbies. My kids were into club and school sports so weeks were full of practices, weekends had games and travel. Sports are starting to slow down now and it's odd but I miss the crazy days. It seem weird having an entire weekend with no where to go, nothing scheduled to do.

 

[Vids]

We're in the thick of it with three kids 7 and under right now, so I've definitely given up some hobbies. Golf completely went away, fishing is once or twice a year. I gave up biking for running for the same reason as kda082, but also because I've known too many people that have gotten seriously injured on a bike. Skiing - once or twice a year is fine, ski traffic in Colorado isn't worth it. Hunting is the one hobby that I don't think I'll ever drop because I enjoy it so much. Variety is definitely the spice of life for me, but with little kids it seems like you have to choose hobbies carefully and it's easier to keep the ones you're passionate about or don't require as much of a time investment.

One interesting thing though - as my kids are getting a little older their interests are starting to impact my hobby choices. My oldest daughter loves going to the driving range, so who knows we may be golfing buddies here in a couple years. She is also picking up archery which makes dad happy, anything except dance recitals is great!

 

[SWOHTR]

Yep. Gave up mountain biking in favor of strength and conditioning. Hunting is deer and elk. Have some nice tools for the occasional project.

Priorities are family, hobbies, school, work. Next year that will change to family, work, school, hobbies as I get ready to go back to sea.


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[hodgeman]

I don't have time for other hobbies- most of mine revolve around hunting in some way or another.

I do like to explore different facets of hunting as time allows- I started shooting a bow a couple years ago and got heavy into upland birds last year. I likely hunt a fair bit more than the average, but I still would hunt more if I could.

 

[awaldro7]

I have struggled with this issue my entire life. I have way to many hobbies and it is difficult to become proficient and obtain all of the gear that you need for each one. My biggest hobby the past 5 years has been bowfishing. We got into tournaments big and I literally spent 2 nights a week working on the boat, 1 to 2 nights a week scouting the next lake, time studying maps and lake topography, and 1 night a week tournament fishing. We hit our peak last year and finished first in the state by a large margin. It had become so competitive and it involved so much work that this year I have been out less than 5 times total. It had turned into a job and it was something that I felt like I had to do. This year when the tournaments started I didn't have the desire to put in all the effort to compete but I felt like I "had" to go. I went out to a few competitions and decided that it would be best for me to just give it a break.

I guess the moral of my rambling is that you should always make sure that your hobby is just for fun and make sure that it stays that way. Don't do something so much that you get burned out and it looses its fun. For me personally I have to retain enough hobbies that I don't get bored with one, however, too many gets overwhelming. Currently I like to reload, shoot guns, work on my house/property, ride atv's, ride streetbikes, camp, fish, hunt, hangout on the lake, rock climb, kayak, building and flying large remote control airplanes, or basically any other outdoor activities. I recently got into waterfowl hunting which is a huge undertaking in itself to obtain all of the gear and knowledge. I try to not get into any new hobbies these days unless it is something that I think I would really enjoy for a long time. Maybe one day I will drop half of these hobbies that I have so that I can obtain my pilots license.....That is one thing I have wanted to do since I was old enough to know what an airplane was.

 

[mathews8pt]

I have struggled with this issue my entire life. I have way to many hobbies and it is difficult to become proficient and obtain all of the gear that you need for each one. My biggest hobby the past 5 years has been bowfishing. We got into tournaments big and I literally spent 2 nights a week working on the boat, 1 to 2 nights a week scouting the next lake, time studying maps and lake topography, and 1 night a week tournament fishing. We hit our peak last year and finished first in the state by a large margin. It had become so competitive and it involved so much work that this year I have been out less than 5 times total. It had turned into a job and it was something that I felt like I had to do. This year when the tournaments started I didn't have the desire to put in all the effort to compete but I felt like I "had" to go. I went out to a few competitions and decided that it would be best for me to just give it a break.

Thats the main reason i stay away from tournaments! Even if you only scout 1 night and then shoot the tournament your whole weekend is pretty shot from lack of sleep. I really enjoy bowfishing and want to keep it that way. I think a lot of hobbies can get overwhelming and i have certain hobbies im very aware of keeping that from happening and ruining it for me.

I have a diesel truck thats been an expensive hobby for 7ish years and im finally about to give it up. I do ALL the work myself, which saves some money but ties up a lot of time i could be spending with my daughter. She does love it though. There isnt many 3 year olds riding around in a 6400lb truck that makes around 850 rwhp with a 1/4 mile of 10.97 @ 125mph. Going to be a sad day for both of it when it sells but ill take that money and put it towards things we can do together a little easier and safer(she doesnt do full runs with me).

So many fun things to do and try and so little time/money, always a struggle for me!!!!

 

[arri1942]

i have narrowed mine to basically hunting and golfing. Fishing has basically gone by the wayside. Those 2 alone keep me plenty busy. It helps that my kids are interested in hunting and golfing also. Don't do much golfing though from august-october.

 

[JDZ]

Several years ago I decided I had too many hobbies. I had pretty much made up my mind I wasn't going to hunt anymore. But, my wife told me it was good for me. "Go hunting. Spend time with the few hunting partners you have." So I decided to stick with it. I'm not sure I've been any more successful since then, but it has made me focus. My main hobby is hunting, with sub-hobbies of archery, backpacking, shooting, and horseback riding. I have a couple unrelated hobbies, but they get very little time.


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[Brendan]

I'm not necessarily focusing on fewer hobbies - but less gear, less stuff, and replacing with higher quality stuff. So, if I want to go shoot some skeet or clays - grab my beretta O/U. If i want to go fishing, I got rid of the boat and dive gear, but have a kayak and a bunch of nice rods (Saltwater mainly for me). Golf - haven't played in a while, but I'll always have a set of clubs and used to be a single digit handicap. Right now archery and hunting is probably my #1 - but I live in the northeast so I can't obsess about western hunting year round when I can only realistically do that a couple weeks a year. Then of course, there's all the tools and woodworking stuff for projects around the house, and we're looking to move soon...

The kicker is the car... E30 M3 race car sitting in the garage and a whole hell of a lot of tools that haven't been used in a couple years. That may go up on the chopping block and get replaced with a weekend cruiser at some point, but need to get it out for a drive before again before I make that call.