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Being honest...
I love my guns, but readily admit that I'm tight as a Frogs butt (and that is water-tight!), so I do have a tendency to save (horde?), rather than shoot my $'s. Never understood the urge of some to "mag-dump". I start to get concerned if, say, my 22lr stock gets below 10,000.
I still do some local target league stuff (couple of 1st's over the last few years) and that is my biggest use of ammo (rim and centerfire) At this point I'm not looking for trouble, but keep myself ready if it finds ME, so I continue to keep up with my house/car/carry guns.
Never had dreams of taking down "the man" or fighting off the Apocalyptic Hordes. I no longer portage a canoe where bears like to forage, and don't care for the taste of most game (why can't it taste like Kielbasa?).

:s0071: I've been thinking of late to maybe try fishing again... I don't much mind fishing ... it's catching the things I'm not all that interested in... (the sitting for hours in the fresh air, drinking beer, eating sandwiches part I'm really, really good at)... anyone know if you need a license to "fish" without a hook?
 
I am just a young one here at age 34. Covid and everything happening has fueled my buying even more plus I'm almost going on 2yrs of using blood money (lol, donating plasma, now good for almost $400 a month). This year might just be a record for me in finding ammo and adding calibers. This year alone including what I still have to pickup, 2 more basic pistols, AR9, couple 7.62x39 ARs, 350 legend AR, 300 blackout AR (not sure where to find ammo but if I do, I can now use it), 5,000rds 7.62x39, and put an order in for a dream rifle (which I need to find ammo) hoping to stockup 300+ rds by the end of the year. .50bmg.

View attachment 858770

Targetsports.com has 100 rd linked, 4 ball 1 tracer ammo for $299 plus free shipping. Cheapest ball ammo I've found so far.
 
We as a family have really been thinking about buying our first trailer of some sort. Camping and the thoughts of camping bring me peace of mind more now than going to the range.

Awesome plan.

Intending on doing the same over the next few years.

As for hobbies? It's good to find new ones. The old ones can always be revisited later on.
 
Anyone else getting tired of this crap and contemplating moving on to a completely different hobby?

Im 90% recreational when it comes to firearms. I carry more regularly lately, but that's about it. I don't LARP or attend training regularly like I once did ten to fifteen years ago. I compete less and less since Covid, and I shoot less and less. I have no more interest in run and gun competitions like 3 gun or USPSA. Speed steel is my jam, with that said I haven't attended as regularly as I once did.

My go to is 22lr. As you can imagine, that's become increasingly difficult to shoot as much as I once liked to. My absolute favorite thing is plinking. Hitting steel at random, or a bunch of clays spread out everywhere, that's the best!

While I don't think I'll completely leave the realm of firearms, I've definitely been giving thoughts to getting out of a lot of the extra parts of the hobby. Like reloading, and offloading a massive amount of stuff I've accumulated. I've definitely, over the years, downsized. Then again, downsized means completely different things to different gun owners, in other words, I still have plenty to downsize. Ironically, the ARs are first on the chopping block. I just don't shoot them as much.

Point of this thread, is to ask those here where are you at? How has this one affected your outlook on firearms as a hobby? Have you completely lost interest in the hobby due to the length of this gunpacolypse? Downsized? Sold off? Moved on?

I have been kind of losing it due to Covid restrictions and the lack of being able to do much. We as a family have really been thinking about buying our first trailer of some sort. Camping and the thoughts of camping bring me peace of mind more now than going to the range. In time, that may change, but the inability to acquire reasonable priced 22lr has really taken its toll this go around. This gunpacolypse may be the straw that breaks this camels back.

Anyways, thanks for reading through this crazy guys thread. If you feel the need to be negative in this thread, please look up to the left on your browser and immediately click the back button!

Reno
Most of us change or alter our hobbies as we proceed thru life, especially as we get old enought to consider what is going to happen to all the stuff we have accumulated... I was more concentrated on firearms when I was younger and then spent decades where my primary focus was fishing; from freshwater to saltwater to flyfishing to fly tying... Last few years the focus returned to target shooting, pistol and rifle.
I think what you are experiencing is just normal life occuring.
 
I'm a gun guy, that hasn't changed. That being said, it feels like my freedoms to enjoy life are being ground on from a bunch of different directions. Why did we quit being happy and now are angry, surly and petty?
 
Firearms are not something I see as a hobby. I enjoy shooting, but I do it infrequently due to the expense. My firearms are tools that can be used to fix problems. How are you going to fix problems with no tools?

However, if you will find more happiness in your life by focusing your energies elsewhere, why wouldn't you?
 
I was beginning to wane in my desire for shooting sports and firearm collections, mainly due to not having any nearby outdoor locations to shoot.

that said I picked up a pocket pistol which interested me and it re-lit the spark so to speak, something interesting and new to me. So of course now I'm looking at collecting more of the cute little things 837C0274-D285-4827-9539-F18423DE1F44.jpeg
 
don't care for the taste of most game (why can't it taste like Kielbasa?).
The taste of animal meat is strongly influenced by what they eat. In particular, animals that eat fish incorporate the fatty acids from fish directly into their own body fat. So if you feed a hog on fish (carp; spent spawned out dying salmon or steelhead) your ham, bacon, and sausage will have soft fat and taste awful. And you get good quality duck eggs or meat only if they aren't eating much fish. Many herbivores like onion/garlic family plants, which can also taint meat. A friend of mine once finished a hog on Sweet Meat squash. The meat had a powerful smell of that particular squash.

Our commercial meats are all harvested from young tender animals. The only exception is ground meat, which is ground. Game is sometimes older animals that are strong flavored and tough.

In addition, beef is normally from females or castrated males. Bucks with huge antlers running around in full rut don't taste nearly as good as does or young males. Lambs are usually harvested in fall of their first year. The flavor gets stronger as the animals age. By a year you have mutton, which is liked in some countries but not by most Americans.

Southern guys I knew in childhood used to trap raccoons in fall, cage them and feed them mostly windfall apples for a couple of weeks, then butcher them. They didn't butcher them right away because the raccoons ate too many things that gave the meat a bad flavor.
 
Targetsports.com has 100 rd linked, 4 ball 1 tracer ammo for $299 plus free shipping. Cheapest ball ammo I've found so far.
Thank you, just ordered 100, want to get the rifle before buying too much ammo so I can afford the rifle, lol.. 12 week lead time so it should be in time for July 4.

Tracer not usable most places I go, but it would be fun to have for those times I could use it...
 
I have been shooting less but it started before the China Flu craziness. I picked up some new hobbies that cut into my shooting time. Lately I've been taking more new shooters to the range. I've been doing less formal teaching because most places I volunteer had to suspend their classes, but more first-time gun owners are asking for one-on-one informal instruction.
 
Thanks for all the kind replies everyone.

I definitely get caught up in my own head a lot more than I should. More now during Covid as I have way too much time to think and not enough willingness to go out and deal with the tremendous amount of stupidity out in the world right now. Things out there kind of suck, a lot. I'm definitely finding it difficult to keep sane by not doing things like I once did. The duration of this and the continued threat of it lasting even longer is truly wearing on me.

I hope I can find a balance with this stupidity known as Covid and find ways to continue doing what I enjoy. As well as something new perhaps.
 
The like was for this :
Thanks for all the kind replies everyone.
And most importantly this :
hope I can find a balance

Finding a balance in life with just who you are , and where you are going...all while living with the world as it is , can be tricky...As well as a life long search.

Our path in life , is ours and ours alone.
Others may come along and help guide us or even hinder our journey...But the path and way we choose is always ours.
Andy
 
The like was for this :

And most importantly this :


Finding a balance in life with just who you are , and where you are going...all while living with the world as it is , can be tricky...As well as a life long search.

Our path in life , is ours and ours alone.
Others may come along and help guide us or even hinder our journey...But the path and way we choose is always ours.
Andy
Dear Lord, grant me patience to learn from those with whom I disagree.
Give me wisdom that I might change my evil ways.
Give me mercy that I might learn to be kind to my enemies.
Grant me the inner peace that brings understanding.
Bring me hope that I might find the courage to do the things I must.
And sobriety that I might, oh, wait, how'd that get in there?
 
Dear Lord, grant me patience to learn from those with whom I disagree.
Give me wisdom that I might change my evil ways.
Give me mercy that I might learn to be kind to my enemies.
Grant me the inner peace that brings understanding.
Bring me hope that I might find the courage to do the things I must.
And sobriety that I might, oh, wait, how'd that get in there?

I usually just ask for patience....'cause if I ask for strength , I'll need bail money....:eek: :D
Andy
 
I'm tired of the crap but no way in hell am I giving it up...

  • This is part of their goal and what they want...to force people out. No way am I letting these A-Holes win.
  • People standing up for their 2a rights are needed now more than ever with all the lunacy the anti-gunners are up to
  • Never in my life have I felt more of a need to be armed when I go out and be well armed in general for what might be ahead of us
  • The political situation aside, I still love shooting
I ain't going anywhere.

Murrica!

WOLVERINES!
 
Firearms used to be a hobby. I've mentioned this a time or two on this forum and don't mean to keep bringing it up, but the wind in my sails and the fun of shooting kind of got lost when my boy passed away a little over a year ago. Shooting was what we did together, one of the few physical activities we could participate together. That was right as Covid hit and a few weeks before lock downs happened and commie Kate put an end to wedding, funerals and dining out.
We were heading back from a tribute that an organization he was involved with put on for him. Stopped by Costco and that was when we knew, or thought, that the bubblegum was about to hit the fan. I had never seen lines like that and I have never heard people yelling for hand sanitizer and toilet paper. Bought more groceries in a few hours than we usually buy in a few months. Next day I hit BiMart and bought more ammo than I normally buy in a year. Grabbed a Mossberg 500 just in case too. That was the moment firearms went from just a hobby to becoming tools that might actually become essential to my families survival.
During the past year when I hit the range, it has been more about making sure scopes are dialed in, firearms and mags are working properly and we have enough ammo to last until the world loses its mind or this whole Covid thing is over with. The days of punching paper just for bubblegums and giggles are paused for now.
As I lay here on the couch, the wife and I both currently down and off work with Covid, I am making plans to reconfigure a few firearms and when feeling better I will take a couple of bolt actions out to dial them in with some more ammo I was able to score.
As I type this and think about how bleak the future looks for firearms, freedom and society I am also thinking about my youngest son. He is 11 and has been recently been bit by the shooting bug. We did burn up a few boxes of 22lr two weeks ago. His smile was priceless. Maybe that's what it is needed to keep the hope alive. Have to quit focusing on my own worries and realize there is a generation that has their whole lives ahead of them, lives they need to be able to live and enjoy. Hopefully one day we'll be able to breath again, take our guns out to the range and just have fun
 
"Point of this thread, is to ask those here where are you at?"

I've hardly noticed gun/ammo prices. And I own at least six powder-burners. Stocked up some time ago and held on to it.
franksammonov2016a.JPG

But, point being, I'm shooting mostly air-guns now-a-days.
ravconbluegunstrainingpelletBB2017a.JPG

100s, at times 1000s, of rounds a week. Keeps my skills up. If you're unfamiliar, you'll find them just as challenging and "adult" as a "real" gun.
stoegershooting002.JPG

It's quiet enough, although I'm on a tiny suburban lot, I can shoot at night too.
nightshooter001.jpg

Spent less on 1000s of pellets than some people spend for a brick of .22LR.
ammoorderapril001.jpg

Whether you hunt, plink or into self-defense, don't underestimate the benefits.
d34targetsapril001.jpg



/exit soapbox
ravenswoodprone2016c.PNG
 
I will never step away from firearms and shooting while I'm still able. But, I've thought on many occasions maybe I should downsize instead of leaving to my wife to do so someday. Then fairly recently, my grown-up boy has a newfound interest in firearms. Makes it easy now to not do a selloff.

I've bought very few guns over the past year. Would have been more if it wasn't for such a lack of availability.:confused:
 
Firearms used to be a hobby. I've mentioned this a time or two on this forum and don't mean to keep bringing it up, but the wind in my sails and the fun of shooting kind of got lost when my boy passed away a little over a year ago. Shooting was what we did together, one of the few physical activities we could participate together. That was right as Covid hit and a few weeks before lock downs happened and commie Kate put an end to wedding, funerals and dining out.
We were heading back from a tribute that an organization he was involved with put on for him. Stopped by Costco and that was when we knew, or thought, that the bubblegum was about to hit the fan. I had never seen lines like that and I have never heard people yelling for hand sanitizer and toilet paper. Bought more groceries in a few hours than we usually buy in a few months. Next day I hit BiMart and bought more ammo than I normally buy in a year. Grabbed a Mossberg 500 just in case too. That was the moment firearms went from just a hobby to becoming tools that might actually become essential to my families survival.
During the past year when I hit the range, it has been more about making sure scopes are dialed in, firearms and mags are working properly and we have enough ammo to last until the world loses its mind or this whole Covid thing is over with. The days of punching paper just for bubblegums and giggles are paused for now.
As I lay here on the couch, the wife and I both currently down and off work with Covid, I am making plans to reconfigure a few firearms and when feeling better I will take a couple of bolt actions out to dial them in with some more ammo I was able to score.
As I type this and think about how bleak the future looks for firearms, freedom and society I am also thinking about my youngest son. He is 11 and has been recently been bit by the shooting bug. We did burn up a few boxes of 22lr two weeks ago. His smile was priceless. Maybe that's what it is needed to keep the hope alive. Have to quit focusing on my own worries and realize there is a generation that has their whole lives ahead of them, lives they need to be able to live and enjoy. Hopefully one day we'll be able to breath again, take our guns out to the range and just have fun
I am sorry for your loss, and love your optimism and turn around at the end of your post.
We will get through the fear and sorrow to look upon a brighter future together!
 

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