Time management and shooting
 

Who else finds it tough to spend time on hobbies
Take the shooting sports
I have 15 centerfire rifles and 6 rim fire.
Yearly I shoot at least 300 rounds of each centerfire ( often more with some) and at least a few k of rim fire.
I load every round of C.F. I send
I am also a hard core hunter spending hundreds of hours hiking/scouting in summer and as much time as possible hunting during open season.

I have a full time job 50 hr / week generally
Live on an acreage
Wife and six kids under 10

With work and home responsibilities it's tough to find time for hobbies.
Fortunately with where I live I'm right on crown land so most of my hunting is done within a few miles of my house. I can shoot rim fire right on my own range in the yard and I have a 1600 yd " range" on crown land within 1/4 mile from my house.

For me range time is not the issue as I can whip out for a half hour and get in a decent practice time.

Here's what I have done to maximize my hobby time so it doesn't negatively impact family time.

1 keep hobbies simple. I simply downsized my hobbies, the shooting sports is where I have chosen to commit my hobby time. I don't have an issue with hobbies competing for time

2 get to bed early and get up early.
A few nights a week I try to get to bed by 10pm, I then get up around 4-5 am. My wife and kids wake up around 7 am so this gives me 2-3 hours in the morning to reload, clean rifles,or work on guns.

What ideas have you guys come up with to maximize your involvement in the shooting sports

It’s called life, and it ebbs and flows.

When the kids were younger, there was sports, clubs and all that stuff, heck I was even coaching hockey back then. My job had me on call every third or fourth week as well. My shooting declined, but I still got to the range more than a lot of folks. It helps when you can get the whole family into the shooting scene, which I did/have. Now the kids are grown, on call is now 1 in 6, and my shooting is on the up tick..... ebb and flow, ebb and flow....

Agreed, I love involving my boys in the shooting sports. I am really looking forward to the years when my boys can join in on the hunting side. I feel like I get in a very decent amount of time spent on my hobby and I've found a way to balance it with raising a young family that works for us.

I used to shoot an average of 14 completions a year , including local , Provincials and Nats .
I’m lucky if I can get prepped for one competition a year these days .
It came down to timecand if I only gave so much time allotted to hunt or compete I am not going to head south to compete ,it will be to hunt .
Cat

time management
 

My center-fires are truly getting neglected. Late summer and fall, I just seem to have a tougher time getting to the range.
I shoot thousands of rounds each year with the rimfires, and likely that many or more on upland and migratory. I seem to be doing much more reloading for the shotties than the rifles any more. Work plays hell at times!

Give a try to a quality competition .177 air gun.
Pellets are relatively cheap and all what you need is a 10 m range.
A lot of off hand shooting should keep you in a good shape through the year

S12

When I had a place that wasn't a a 1-1/2hr drive to get to, I shot a lot, for a period of about 10 years, 3-6 times a week. Nowadays, ok, what do I take to work on, what do I take to play with, is this all ready to go, do I have enough time left to do this when I get there. Then there is the do I have enough energy to do all this, is the weather ok for that.
I broke down and bought an indoor range membership this year. We''ll see how that goes, can do some practice with the .22, do all the chronographing I want and ladder tests for new loads, and it is handy to get to. Still have to get outdoors and test things downrange. The idea is get the bulk of the basics done before going out there to prove or disprove a load, I hope.

I stopped reading at six kids and alone time shooting soooooo make it a family outing......until they all move out......maybe not the wife though:)

Lol.. Im not complaining that I'm making time for my hobby. I have come up with ways to make time for it:-)
My wife and kids all love going shooting.

My point of the post was rather to point out that the excuse that you don't have enough time to participate in your chosen.hobbies is often not valid and with a bit of creativity you can often figure something that works.

Time management has nothing to do with the discipline , especially if one has to drive the same amount of distance to the indoor Range .
Cat

Same , work 50hrs week and one weekend a month . Never have enough time for hobbies . used to tinker on old cars keep awhile and flip them for a hobby . concentrate on shooting sports now .
usually I go out on crown land 1 day a month pack a lunch and stay for the day. one day a month go to an indoor range , bring friends or family and bring enough ammo for the day. Couple times a year take a course at Milo or indoor range .
Still I have 11 centerfire ,4 rimfires , 4 restricted, way too much for the amount of shooting I do.

I make a plan, not just a plan like " I'm going to shoot this weekend" but a detailed plan. " I'm going to shoot this Saturday from 8-10 and I'm going to shoot these guns and Im going to work on (load development, 300 yard groupings, etc)" Being prepare ahead of time instead of scrambling, day of, is very helpful for me.

Detailed planning makes things more efficient, for me. When life gets busy clarity keeps me focused.

I still plan out holidays and golf tournaments almost a year ahead. I use to use a "year in view" Calendar and fill it in with family commitments, personal vacation, golf tournaments, etc. I found it very helpful as I have multiply hobbies. ( I think I need to do this again...haha)

I'm pretty lucky. I live in a small town with a great outdoor handgun/rifle range. It's about a 10 minute drive to the range for me. While the rifle range only goes out to 200 yards, I have friends locally that own land and have no problem getting out in the country on privately owned land to do long range shooting.

I built a portable target stand which can hold either paper, a dinger or both. I'm going to build a shooting bench this summer. I used to borrow one from a friend but he's permanently located his on a property he owns but it's further away than where I typically go long range shooting so it's best I just make my own as it's hard to get out to 500 yards at his place and I like to practice right out to 600 yards.

I also love fishing and live about 30 min's from a good walleye lake that actually allows me to take a fish home! I miss living/fishing in SK and try to get a trip back home to fish with my bro every other year (this year is fishing trip to SK year, taking my grandson for his first fishing trip)

My wife marked the fishing on the calendar this year just because she was curious. Between July 1 and Aug 30th I went out about 15 times. Typically I'm up at 04:00 and on the water by 05:00. Home before noon.........usually 10ish so I can get yard and housework done :P

Those are my main hobbies and due to luck and a bit of planning and a very understanding wife (kids are grown and long gone) I'm able to pretty much indulge to my hearts content. :)

Almost any acreage ,even almost any basement will have a 10 m or so range.
In this case he does not need to drive at all and no need to spend time and money on a gas.

How is it not a time management?

It is very easy to start a young shooter with .177 air gun also ,as there is no recoil or noise.

S12

The OP shoots rimfire right on his own property so finding a range is not an issue .
However if one wants to compete time management certainly does become a big issue .
Cat

Time to manage.
 

I am retired, with my gun range thirty five yards from the house. No worries about dealing with range rats, listening to bitching about brakes, or being told by the executive that you can't do that. LOL . Thirty five years with no drama.

Range time is best not be rushed...the other day I went out to the range, minimal people there witch is always great!!! Fired about 100 rounds maybe 200 wasn’t counting them so don’t quite remember... I know I was the last person to leave and was there about 3-4 hours... range time is therapeutic time... so friends this Christmas take your friends and family, “it’s ok to go by yourself too” get your guns, rifles, shotguns, pistols too if you got em, bows and arrows and slingshots if you are into that kind of thing and get out and shoot!!! Merry Christmas... ... ...

I shoot rim fire on my own property, I have 4 different trainer bb blowback handguns that I drill with during summer months, I shoot my bow all summer, I legally have the space and place to shoot 100yds with large caliber rifles but am aware of the possible nouse complaints from nearby neighbours so I limit my self to only a few rounds if needed because I'm working on a particular gun or load, i have a "private crown land range" within 1/4 mile of my house that i can shoot from 0-1600 yds.

I'm fortunate that my " shooting " and "hunting" areas are within a couple of minutes from my front door.

My dream is to compete in PRS but the time/finance commitments are just not within reach at this time.

Most of my shooting buddy's have 1-2 kids and constantly complain to me how they have no time to scout....( can you take me out to get an elk....) or want me to develop loads for them cause they just " don't have time"....

When I tell them most of my reloading happens before 6:30 am and much of my summertime hiking/ scouting happens after 10pm they figure I'm nuts.....but they can't find the time...and I'm still able to enjoy my hobby and balance a young family life

Believe me, I know EXACTLY how you feel!:(
Cat