Pretty much everyone on here is ate up with chasing whitetails..... So what else do you do in the down season that's NOT deer related to pass the time? I enjoy training my labs for waterfowl season and tests, making home made waterfowl decoys, photography, and building wood furniture. I also have a 4 yr old that loves to help train the dogs, plays baseball & football so I don't really have a down moment. What about everyone else??? Couple samples:
For now its just shooting my bow and fishing. I used to be addicted to baseball but i kinda grew out of it.
Fly fishing. Just getting started into it and I am already addicted. Photography. Just sold my camera, but will be getting a new one soon. Not addicted yet, but I am always looking for the next great photo. Reading. I am always taking time out to read. Most stuff about the old frontier, hunting, fishing, etc. Hard to find time between them all of that and work but I think I have a good balance.
Golfing - usually golf once or twice a week if I'm lucky. About a 9 handicap. Golfing this Saturday and Sunday. Cycling - rode 85 miles last Saturday. Try and ride once a week. Done ride across Indiana 186 miles twice - looking to do #3 this July. Basketball - Played Bball Wednesday night, my favorite sport to play not named hunting! Try and play once a week. Fishing - leaving work this afternoon to head to the family lake house. Fishing this evening and tomorrow morning before golf. Prefer fishing in small Indiana creeks, no better way to fish than wading IMO. Coaching - I'vd coached middle school track for the past 5 years and coached 5th grade basketball for the last 8 years. Softball - not a huge fan of softball but I do play it every Tuesday night. Im kinda whatever about it - too slow of a pace for me. Running - I do it when I have time or when I'm not doing anything else. Oh yes and I two work 40 to 50 hours a week. But single, not married and no kids - I just do me.
The kids of course. They're getting to the age (now 6) where we have soccer, gymnastics, cheerleading and just playing around the house. I've also been working on building duck calls from blank materials. It's kind of spiraled out of control from just making a cool barrel to buying tools, making fixtures for the inserts... it's fun though and I've learned a ton.
Rutin....is that a old squaw you're using for dog training? Anything waterfowl related. I've been working with my pup trying to get her ready for her first full season on her own. I'm in the process of upgrading to a larger engine on my duck boat and putting a hard side blind on it. I'm also going old school with some decoys this season...two liter bottles painted black. I hunt with several kids and this past season I was telling them how we use to hunt with black bottles. They don't think they'll work and I think they will get a kick out of shooting ducks over coke bottles. So, I've got 50-60 I'm going to paint and rig. I also load all my own shotgun shells so i'm in the process of loading up this seasons duck loads. I'd like at least 3 cases going into the season. Always dreaming big! I've still got a couple of ducks I need to mount. I shoot my bow almost everyday. I enjoy the archery part of bow hunting as much as the actual hunting. The mental part of trying to hold my **** together while putting this arrow in the spot WAAAY over there. I got a new Faktor that I've been playing with and I'm really impressed with it. Archery is also something that me and my son can do together, I think that's a big part of it to.
Anything lake related for me. building and refinishing guitars is still relaxing as it gets for me.oh I forgot arrowhead and artifact hunting takes up most of my time now that spring rains and plowing of are farms.even got a new metal detector for finding stuff a few old mills and old barns sites.
Guess I should add that since the OP said outside of whitetails... My top two are easily backcountry western bow hunts and waterfowl hunting
Let's see.....summer time is camping and clay target shooting. I shoot a mixture of skeet, 5 stand, sporting clays, and I have my own clay thrower when I don't go to a range. Sept. 1st until Sept. 15th is dove hunting. After that whitetails and turkey until January. Jan. and Feb. I run my beagle and shoot some rabbits. Maybe a preserve pheasant hunt. Then it's spring turkey season and after that I start the cycle over again. I also shoot a little rifle and a little pistol during the summer and reload for both shotgun and rifle. Of course, shoot my bow in the summer as well. Bow shooting is usually a weekday evening event and the firearms come out on the weekends.
Definitely trailcams. I know many of you may say that's hunting related, and at first it was. But now it has really morphed into it's own hobby. I am absolutely addicted to them. I have too many, want more, and can't get enough. Yeah, I'd say that's an addiction. Blessings.........Pastorjim
