Limiting your hobbies

[IdahoElk]

Moderation is the spice of life

 

[Hoot]

The number one reason for my loss of interest in other hobbies is focussing on my young family, and my career, both of which are fulfilling for me.

As far as hobbies go I find that only one fulfills me now and it comes in two seasons, Hunting Season and Getting Ready for Hunting Season...

I used to be an avid fly-fisherman, loved baseball and beer league softball, enjoyed skiing and snowboarding, wake boarding and drinking beer on the lake, etc. Now I hunt, or prepare for hunts. I also used to LIVE for waterfowl, especially snow geese, and pretty much spent all my time hunting birds, even went 11 years without a big game hunt, but have now switched priority to hunting as many big game hunts with my bow as I can. I still love the challenge of decoying birds in close, but find bowhunting the ultimate challenge I've been looking for...

 

[justinspicher]

It was work and try to fit in hunting when I was working. Now I'm retired and everything I do is hunting related, to include work, to a point.

If I have time or money to do another hobby, I'd just be thinking about why I'm not getting ready for the hunting season.

 

[missjordan]

Sometimes it's a hard decision to make but for me and my spouse it came down to where did we want to spend our money. We were big into the motorized sports like snowmobiling and side by sides but those get mega expensive after awhile. Selling them and putting that money into guns and optics is a lot better choice since they don't depreciate in value quite as fast. Plus we really enjoy our lifestyle and everything it has to offer. Our camper gives us the flexibility to pack up and travel anywhere we want in the off season and makes a great base camp during hunting season.


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[cnelk]

I have a full assortment of 4 Season hobbies.

Snowmobiles get me out ice fishing in the wintertime chasing lake trout

A 14' alum boat gets me out in the spring early summer chasing walleye

A Harley Davidson gets me out in the summer along with ATVs for more summer camping fun

Fall brings hunting which means bows and guns and all that goes along with that

I don't fly fish as much as I used to, gave up golf decades ago.

It's all about balance - and 4 seasons for me

 

[1signguy]

Team roping, motocross, flyfishing, waterskiing, and hunting keep me pretty busy. Son (14 years old) asked me to start golfing with him and I said no. I'd like to give up the motorcycles but there is no way my son will allow that... just need more time...

 

[archer wapiti]

I don't think I'll ever give up a hobby, I've just put some down for an undetermined period of time. They'll be back...

 

[FlyGuy]

I have been questioning this same thing lately. For the past 15 years I have been a serious woodworker. I still love it, but I've been in this new house for over a year now and I still haven't gotten my shop set up. Wondering if I have the time anymore to do it, and I don't want to think about the money I have in both machines and restored antique hand tools. But for the last few years (basically after I bought my first bow in 25 years) it has been all hunting all year - turkeys, deer, Elk, mouflon... next year I really want to add in more travel hunts - bear and muledeer. Then one day moose, caribou, all the sheep & goats....



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[Shraggs]

Great post! Given most up, a flatlander cant condition enough so that is year round. I do hunt a lot of different game and vermin locally and I refuse to give up fishing on weekends - my work out rest time. No more tournaments but salmon, walleye and panfish see rotation time on the boat.

 

[bojangles808]

My hobbies are golfing surfing and hunting. fortunate that i can do all year round. and I'm a teacher and we have no kids yet so I have a fair amount of free time. the only one that gets expensive is golf but i got a once a week shift at the local range so ive been able to play and practice for free this summer. during the school year i dont play much bc the cost of a round is so expensive, so i just hit balls once a week. surfing is free but weather dependent. dont see myself giving any of these up anytime soon.

 

[ozyclint]

Don't half-ass two things whole-ass one thing - Ron Swanson - YouTube

 

[Kevin Dill]

I love to hunt, and seems I've been passionate about it since about age 6 or 7. Still...life is way too short and there is so much to enjoy doing and experiencing. I'll never let hunting or bowhunting stop me from doing the other things I love. No sense listing those things here, but suffice to say I like to do a lot of other things besides just hunting. To each his own but my life would be so incomplete without the variety of interests, hobbies and passions I've held.

 

[ChrisC]

After reading this thread I need to reevaluate what I'm doing! Up at 4am to get to work, home from work at 630pm, have dinner, put my kid to bed, and then to bed I go to get ready for tomorrow. Traffic is the killer. In my mind i like to think moving out west will bring a more laid back lifestyle in terms of work... not sure if that's true or not.

 

[5MilesBack]

The only one I've pretty much given up is skiing. And that was mostly because of my knees, and wanting to keep them usable for Sept elk hunting. As you get older, the risk of injury goes up......and the recovery time from injuries goes WAY up.

And as with everything in life, my motto was........"if I'm going to be skiing, I'm going to be skiing the bumps".

 

[tttoadman]

I have all but given up fishing. I hit it once or twice a year. I am well known for my OCD habits. Hunting is it when I am not working on my money pit house.

 

[N2TRKYS]

The problem that I have is that the things I like to do get really good at the same time. So, the weather limits my hobbies, which is hunting/fishing. For the week or two that the ducks are here in January, the deer are rutting. When the turkeys are gobbling good, the bass are hitting top water. The summer months are a boring time for me. There's not enough time in the day for me to do everything I want to do when everything hits.

 

[flatlanderhuffandpuff]

The only thing I feel the need to be the best at is a husband and ,in a few days, a father.

Hunting to me is less a "hobby" and more of an obligation I hold myself to. I enjoy it a ton and daydream about it, but it goes beyond a hobby. It's not something I do to fill up my time.

I mountain bike and climb which have fallen by the wayside lately as I'm prepping for my first western hunt. I have infinitely more money in mountain biking than I ever will in hunting gear. I might only get in a ride or two a month, but being able to go when I want to is worth keeping it around.

I don't have any motorsport hobbies which is where the real $$$$ goes.

 

[Ben]

Family, work, hunting, fishing. There is nothing else.

 

[woodmoose]

limiting work is better.

nailed it,,,,,

though truthfully all of my "hobbies" are hunting/fishing related,,,to include what cruising I do on the internet,,,,,,,,never swung a club (in anger or otherwise) and don't give a hoot about any "sports" of the spectator type,,,,,,,

 

[Burnsie]

I have never been the type who can just dive into a particular hobby and go full bore at it. There are too many things
to do and experience in this world, I can't commit to just one thing. That means I never get really good at anything, decent at
several - master of none. I see it all the time- someone buys a nice expensive ski boat, from that point on every single weekend is spent
pulling the boat to a crowded lake, anchoring in a cove with friends and having a great time. Nothing against that, I've spent some relaxing, enjoyable days out on the water myself, but not every weekend, gets old real quick. I've seen similar situations with almost any hobby you can name, especially with craft or collecting hobbies. Someone gets into model train collecting, next thing you know they are traveling to some model train swap meet or show every weekend. I would really like to restore an old 1940's Dodge Power Wagon truck, but I know deep down I'll never stay interested long enough to see it through to completion. Everyone is different, and to each his own, I just can't commit myself to 1 or 2 things and go full bore at them for any extended period of time.