I have to say, the older I get, the more strange I think I am:D I've always been a little shifty on hobbies and interests (hunting has always been a pretty strong constant in my life). There was a while a few years ago, that I was obsessed with archery (beyond hunting). I read countless tuning threads and bow reviews on AT and Hunting.net. I had plans to shoot 3D courses, spots in the winter, buy a target rig, etc., Well, I've shot a few 3Ds, never shot a sanctioned indoor event, and sold the only target rig I ever bought (a Constitution...that was shot maybe 20 times). In the last three years I've own my house, I've hung up my bow on the last day of the season, and didn't pick it up until about August to get dialed in for our October opener. I wanted to pick up flyfishing a few years back, so again, I read, read, and read some more. I joined Paflyfish.com, talked with members, bought some entry level gear and tons of flies. Hit the water once in 2010 (first year flyfishing), three times in 2011, and three times last year. The ONLY thing I'm pretty driven toward (and admittedly enjoy most of the time) consistently during these last three years is home improvement projects, and the actual hunting season itself. I have no problems dropping $$ on hunting prep since I know I'm going to spend 6-8 solid weeks of regular time in the woods in the fall, and I have no problems dropping $$ on home remodeling, because I'm getting permanent improvement, increased equity, and I enjoy the improvements every day. Recently, the firearms bug has bitten me a bit, and I'm thinking of getting back into shooting guns for recreational purposes(no competition). I just bought an XDm and 1200+rds of ammo, but in the back of my mind, I have to wonder will this too fade? I know a few of you on here are die hard about your hobbies/passions. You may not have many, but you're 110% in or nothing. I sometimes wonder if it's normal to have such inconsistent interest levels toward a hobby. So where do you fall?
I'm usually all in or nothing, but they do come and go. I'll bowhunt for 2 months as much as I can, but when I stop, I don't go back. This year I went from bowhunting, to duck hunting, and now fishing, and once turkey hunting gets here, that is all that will be on my mind. But during those times I'm pursuing that particular hobby, I'm all in. The only real constant, year round hobby would be running and beer, I guess.
Oh, I agree, I'm all in once I decide to do it, but I definitely switch from one thing to another more than just having one or two main hobbies for years.
I have a 12 second attention span some days.... other times, I'm hardcore into the hobby of the day. ...also, who was the electrician who had to have his switch plate screws lined up? Did he draw that??
I'm all in as well, I shoot my bows all year long. I bought a boat last summer to further my bowfishing interest! I've been really into my guns since last summer when I bought a new .300wsm and a XDM .40.....just picked up a PK380 as well! C'MON Bowfishing!
I go thru cycles. Hunting & fishing have always been constant, but in that there have been ventures into various things and intensity levels in participation. Deer with a bow has always been the primary focus, but for a while I was into grouse. then predators. Then turkeys(I sitll like to turkey hunt) Now I've really enjoyed hunting a lot of different critters in a single fall, even if it means spreading myself thin. Fishing, trout was always a constant. For a while I got HUGE into smallies. Fishing time has dwindled more than I would like the past few years, I've had a few forays into fly fishing for a summer, then bail for a bit until I get the itch again. I got HEAVY into trad shooting a while back. Now, not so much. I've gone thru lots of cycles in my shooting reloading. Currently as many are, I am in an upswing, but it had started well before the latest craze. Fitness has always been a constant whether it was running, lifting weights, pick up sports. Right now is a little running & body weight exercises.
Bowhunting, Fly Fishing and Running hounds have been my staples with out any let up...I go though phases with other things...I will go on knife kicks where I can't buy enough custom knives of certain makers.....do the same with guns also....happened enough over the years I have safes full of both. Some other interests I have are pretty steady also..good beer, wine and food.... Traveling kicks come and go for me as there are years the wife and I do tons of traveling. Certain business interests tend to come and go with me also...I tend to let things go after they loose the challenge and hence my interests... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I have always been 100% into deer hunting (archery and rifle). My dad, on the other hand, has been on a rollercoaster of hobbies through his 40s and 50s. Here is a rough rundown of his hobbies in the last 10 years. archery hunting motorcycle wood burning coyote hunting (no more archery hunting) trapping (sold the motorcycle) duck hunting (hasn't got the foxpro out for coyote hunting in a couple years) goose hunting Im afraid of what might be next. He just bought a muzzleloader so....
Like mentioned deer hunting is my #1 constant. I have faded in and out of others. Through high school and the early part of college, I was huge into turkey hunting, ive been on an average of once a year since. 3d lasted about a year. Fly fishing is peaking an interest from last year until now, I went once last year but really dont see myself pouring much money into it. Being bitten by this trail running bug the past two years has been great, however once the race is over (mid-march), and the woods start to green up, that fades some.
I'm an all in kind of guy. Usually for a long haul as well. Hunting for deer - 46 years (small game and turkey also). Competitive archery - 10 years Drag racing - 9 years Slalom and barefoot skiing - 12 years Golf - 4 years Built and drove a hot rodded, lifted truck. 12 years Woodworking - last 15 years..... still at it. Owning and managing land - My favorite of all....... last 3 1/2 years. I know there's more.....
i have always loved to hunt use to gun hunt deer but now i only hunt deer with a bow i hunt ducks and geese a lot do some fishing fresh and saltwater and this summer will be training my new lab pup use to shoot 3d but now maybe 1 time a summer use to reload shotgun shells but now i only shoot steel so i buy it buy the case
I am also an all in guy. Last spring I started getting back into bass fishing. I bought 5 different baitcaster set ups, and quality stuff for the most part which is not cheap. I also bought a ton of tackle as well. My fAther in law bought a nice lund boat, i bought a trolling motor and was ready to get serious. I actually fished alot last year and I worried maybe this would trump hunting. Come August when it was time to start baiting bear i forgot all about fishing. I have also got the gun bug as well. Now i sm looking on gun broker and predator master all the time looking to aquire a coyote gun, hopefully on an AR platform, and plan to deck it out with a nice scope, bipod and other goodies. Hopefully my interest will wain before i actually pull the trigger. I can only keep so many hobbies from the wife.
I don't even know where to begin with this topic. I'm probably as about an "all in" kind of person there is. WHATEVER it is , I don't know how to do it any other way. And that's not really a good thing. In fact it's probably a fault. I've had some passions/hobbies come and go. Mainly because I couldn't do them at the level I felt I had to. Simply put... I really don't "enjoy" them too much if I'm not as good as I can be at them or at least continuing to strive to be. Anything from ping pong to hunting, I have to give it everything I have, do it at a high level or let it go. Hunting however (and golf) has been the mainstay throughout my life. I'll keep on keeping on with them. Nowadays I"ve dialed back quite a bit with a lot of extra curricular stuff.
I have more interests than i have time. I am definitely an all in or nothing type person, so at the age of 52 I have narrowed my hobbies/passions down to four (not counting work and family). 1. Snow skiing- my favorite by far. If God came down and told me that I had to either give up skiing or sex....I would give up sex. The other three..all about the same rating as far as enjoyment...bicycling, photography, and bowhunting.
Good thread! I am completely OCD when it comes to hobbies. Hunting and fishing were a way of life for us kids in my neighborhood back in the day, so that goes without saying. Let's see, in the early 80's I found downhill skiing. I was young, single and all I did was work part-time so that I could devote every spare minute and dollar to hit the slopes. All I needed each week was enough cash to buy a lift ticket and have barely enough gas money to get back and forth. I packed a thermos of coffee, snacks and lunch because I didn't have a dime to spare. I once quit a job as soon as I had saved enough to take a ski trip when they wouldn't give me the time off! Then there was mountain biking. I still have and occasionally use the same bike I got in 1985, a Specialized Rock Hopper. That bike probably has thousands of miles on it. I even had my parents ship it to me when I was in the Navy Seabees in Port Hueneme and rode all over southern California. After that there was rock climbing and backpacking. Still have lots of that stuff, too, but at 47, I just don't have the desire to climb (or more accurately, don't have the joints and hand strength anymore). I got bit by the golf bug and had to have the very best and newest clubs as soon as they came out, because top-notch equipment always makes one a better golfer. Yeah, right! I took lesson after lesson and never got better than a 10 handicap. I think I golfed once last year, just to reaffirm that I'm never going to win any tournaments. Mission accomplished. Next was kayaking, and white water soon gave way to kayak fishing, something I still enjoy. Of course paddling across the lake is one thing, but power boating is another and I happily just sold my Chaparral a couple of weeks ago. I think we went out once last year, but we hit it hard in the years before. The gas prices put a hurtin' on that hobby pretty quickly, as we live an hour from the closest lake. Somewhere in between I found out I was pretty good a woodworking, and have enough tools to fill a good size building. Jointer, planer, cabinet saw, hollow-chisel mortiser, band saw, scroll saw, radial arm saw, shaper table, lathe and tons of hand tools. Sadly, that one's been put on hold for the better part of 10 years, just because I don't have anywhere presently to spread everything out the way it should be. I had a Harley in the early 90's and got bored of it and sold it a couple years later, but got back into motorcycles around 2009. Counting a scooter, I have three. One for speed, one to cruise and another one for trails. The scooter is just for hanging on the back of the camper to have something to tool around on when we get where we're going. Of course, last year I picked up an entry level bow. First one I've shot since owning my Bear Polar LTD (top of the line then, if that tells you anything!). So now hot and heavy back into hunting. Matter of fact, tomorrow I'm heading into west Tennessee to pick up a Treewalker ProMag XL climber and 1100 12 ga. hulls from another guy, because I just found an MEC 600 Jr. Mark V shotshell reloader......I may need medication.
Glad I'm not alone on this:D Part of my problem is I'm sort of like a few of you in that I have a hard time doing something just a little. Once I start getting into something I want to be just as good as the best who are involved with the hobby, even when that's not realistic. I'll give a few examples. I remember back when I was first becoming active on Hunting.net, local and semi-local members like Rob/PA, Rick James, Matt/PA, etc., had a history of competitive archery. I started getting more interested, picked their brains, and I really thought about making a serious run at it. Then I saw how much time some of them told me they would spend shooting, practicing, traveling, etc,. I wasn't exactly thrilled with the prospect that I probably wouldn't be nationally competitive, let alone even as good as they once were or are. So, I dabbled in some small amounts of 3D and paper, but never truly got crazy with it. A few years back, I discovered homebrew game cameras. I researched, joined Hagshouse (btw, if you're into or want to be into homebrew building THAT is the site to join), and built a few cameras since then. All white flash. Then I saw how many cool things you could do beyond a white flash cam (IR, black flash, remote/slave flash, video units, IR/White flash combos, etc,. I ALMOST started building more advanced setups, but then I realized between time spent hunting and planting plots, home improvement projects in the offseason, and yeah, spending time with the wife, I couldn't dedicate the time to building more advanced setups. Mountain biking. As many of you know, I love it. I've been doing since middle school. My older brother is REALLY into it, and has done everything from sanctioned XC racing, to downhill, to all mountain/freeriding. I started to get more into the freeriding in high school, until my brother had a nasty wreck in a downhill even, and since then, it shook me up a bit. I still ride, and the more I watch the videos that I post on here, the more I want to rush out and buy a nice all mountain setup. This is just a small example of what I'm talking about, but it seems I'm very easily swayed from one to another. It's odd that hunting and all of the prep that goes along with it has NEVER faded. I know it never will either, so I suppose I can't be THAT strange if I've stuck with something that long:D
Once I bought my land every thing else became secondary, building ponds ,planting orchards, clearing fields and cutting trees. I now have five chain saws, four tractors and enough other "stuff" to fill two barns. But, for some thing the whole family can enjoy owning land is your best bet.
