Time management and shooting

[obsessed1]

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

[Dick284]

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....

[obsessed1]

Originally Posted by Dick284

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.

[catnthehat]

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

[oldgutpile]

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!

[shooter12]

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

[32-40win]

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.