Shotgunworld.com

In this area, as long as you don’t mind getting wet and sometimes a little chilly, we can shoot something year round. I normally shoot Wednesday Nights, Friday nights, Saturdays and most Sundays – occasionally on Thursdays when my schedule allows.

According to Lenny B. it is a good idea to have some down time, say a couple of months where you go and do something else and then come back to the sport. I’ve never done this, I’ve always kept shooting year round going whenever I could find someplace or something to go shoot.

Is this bad? Do most here take time off and would you if it weren’t -20 outside with snow and cold or would you keep right on shooting? This is really my only hobby and still look forward to every opportunity to shoot.

I don't like shooting in the cold; well for me anything below, let's say mid 40's. I don't like shooting in any kind of wet weather, especially if it's cold and damp out, unless I'm hunting and am covered up in Goretex, and using a beater gun. Given that, by the end of this month, I'll be on hiatus from shooting until March. Haven't thought about what I'll do during the downtime.

By Thanksgiving it has become deer-duck-quail-woodcock-dove time. I will go shoot a round or two from middle Nov. to March just to be with my shooting buds. The rest of that time is spent on fur and feathers!

I live in the Las Vegas area and we shoot year round. We start early during the summer so we can be finished before it gets REALLY hot. i don't have many other hobbies and shooting on Sunday is the high point of my week.
Having said that, it'd be a good idea to develop some other hobbies.

The club I shoot at is open all year long. Every Sunday from Sept. thru April is league day, the largest Sporting Clays league in the state of Ohio and the club is also open every Wed. and Sat. I shoot with a group every Wed. as this is my day off work. Keep me out of trouble and out of the beer, at least until after I shoot my round.

The older I get the less I like shooting in bad weather and the older I get the more anything south of 50 degrees looks like bad weather. Still, we always get a few good days each month and I'm sure cabin fever will run me out of the house, it always does.

I got back into reloading a year or so ago and I'm using my down time to refuel my stash. I'm at 3000 rounds at the moment and plan to do another 3000 or so. That should get me well into next summer for practice ammo.

KK

I guess more what I was getting at, According to Lenny, regardless of the weather or opportunity, to just take time off and go do something different every year, taking time to reflect, on what you learned the previous year and set goals for the next. I believe he also mentions that the time off allows your mind to make good “connections” and better ingrain the good stuff. I was wondering if anyone intentionally shuts down for a period every year to just reflect etc. even if you could still go to the range and shoot whenever you wanted. Maybe for no other purpose than to keep from burning out.

It's tough to shoot trap and skeet in cold weather, but sporting clays isn't bad if you can walk the course to keep warm and have some trees to break the wind. Northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin have nearly as many shooters in the winter as in the summer - and people, it gets mighty cold in December, January and February.

Yes, most of the top shooters take some time off after the Nationals. Call it a recharge if you want. I know Wendell Cherry, Curt Mauldin, Will Fennel, Greg Wolf, Anthony Materese and Scott Robertson all enjoy hunting. From now until sometime in January, they will be in the field relaxing, hanging out with friends and getting away from competition. Once they start thinking about the Seminol, the competitive juices start flowing and they start training. TR.

I've been thinking about this for a while. I haven't taken any time off since I started this obsession. 4 or 5 years ago. A month ago I think I lost focus after punching up to A class which was my goal for the year. I ended up bringing up the rear in each shoot I entered. I think it was a combination of loosing focus on an objective but also I had a heavy business schedule and other stuff on my mind. Most of that clutter has been cleared away or lessened in intensity and this weekend I shot pretty well so I think it got the juices flowing again. That being said I won't be out in aweful weather. I've been known to shoot in the rain and once while it was sleeting but I won't be driving in the ice and snow down here to get to a shoot. Too many hills to drive up and down, not enough road cleaning equipment here and drivers that don't know how to drive in it. Otherwise I'll get to all the shoots I can especially when I am in Florida next month.

TR, you are right as usual I have talked to most of the guys and they are ready for a break I pick Bubba up Saturday afternoon and the only rule is NO - shotguns I promised Ann that if he wasnt home by Thanksgiving I would have him home by Christmas She may be looking forward to the break also, I know she who must be obeyed has told me to take my time

RTA48

the time off is for those that really train and compete not for 99% of the weekend warriors