Feeling Demotivated

[dave1992]

Guys, bit of a moaning post!

Ive been very slack going out and getting anything done country sports wise fishing or shooting for around 4 years. Used to do a lot more because of an old job, now one main permission is now gone and I'm left feeling like the others I've got are just about hanging on.

Is there anything anyone has done to get the bug back and get out and gain some new permission? Ive got the SGC, FAC and Insurance etc, should i be out there knocking on doors and offering mole trapping or helping out elsewhere etc?

Fishing wise its just EVERY weekend with the rain! ridiculous! Is anyone out there still bashing away for any results?

 

[islandgun]

3 minutes ago, dave1992 said:

Guys, bit of a moaning post!

Ive been very slack going out and getting anything done country sports wise fishing or shooting for around 4 years. Used to do a lot more because of an old job, now one main permission is now gone and I'm left feeling like the others I've got are just about hanging on.

Is there anything anyone has done to get the bug back and get out and gain some new permission? Ive got the SGC, FAC and Insurance etc, should i be out there knocking on doors and offering mole trapping or helping out elsewhere etc?

Fishing wise its just EVERY weekend with the rain! ridiculous! Is anyone out there still bashing away for any results?

 

Buy another gun and wait for better weather for the fishing, its what im doing

[dave1992]

Im planning on fixing up some of the old nails in the cabinet, always liked the idea of doing up a rifle or shotgun that was cheap as chips and making it new again, about all ive got going on at the moment!

[scarecrow243]

i have not been out doing pest control or up at the range for 2 months because of the weather

[Sweet11-87]

well it started raining about July last year and just hasn't really stopped has it?.  i drive all over the north for work and up here the only thing that could be grown in the fields is probably rice or whatever else does well under 4 inches of water. what is dry enough to be drilled will concentrate a very hungry population ofbirds  and the farmers will want it protecting. so good times may be coming.

not to hijack the thread but im not clued up that much on farming or in touch with that community outside of a text asking to shoot. what is the deal are they getting worried by this amount of water?

[Rim Fire]

Mabe join a small shooting syndicate with like minded people will help motivate you i watch a lot of youtube and motivates me 

[Dave at kelton]

Ever thought of taking up fly tying if you don’t do it already? Wets the appetite for the coming season when hopefully the weather will be better for a fly rod!

[marsh man]

I believe if the motivation is gone then it is very difficult to get it back , we cannot do anything about the weather and you have to take whatever come your way , no body like sitting around in the rain but it shouldn't stop you going out when it dry out just to have a look as I get as much satisfaction going for a walk around my perms as I do when I take along my gun , everyone is different ,might be lack of time , perms to far away and maybe not enough of them , give it a bit longer as we are now in March , the daylight is getting a little longer and hopefully it will soon dry out and get a little warmer .  GOOD LUCK whatever you decide to do      MM

[old'un]

 

Is it possibly an age thing? Most of the people I know that have lost the spark are in their 70s, they still go out but do not have the same enthusiasm they once had in their younger years.

In my younger years you would be hard put to find anyone as keen as myself, I am now in the 70s category and will admit I no longer cover the same amount of farms I once did, I still try to get out 2 or 3 times a week but now I have no desire to shoot some of the bags I once did, I have the farms and the tools to shoot fox's and rabbits but I cannot remember the last time I shot either.

Mind you, with this bloody rain I am finding it difficult to get out, don't do rain any more.

 

[Miserableolgit]

The constant wet, grey weather recently certainly has not been encouraging, especially if a bit older and possibly have a few age related aches and pains. 

 

Edited March 2, 2024 by Miserableolgit

[dave1992]

Well I went to B&Q today and got the stuff to redo the stock on an old Anshutz 17HMR, was already a nail so got the intention of learning a thing or two from it!

 

I definitely agree with the comments about the weather its barely stopped since the start of autumn weekends especially, had bloody snow today too.

7 hours ago, marsh man said:

I believe if the motivation is gone then it is very difficult to get it back , we cannot do anything about the weather and you have to take whatever come your way , no body like sitting around in the rain but it shouldn't stop you going out when it dry out just to have a look as I get as much satisfaction going for a walk around my perms as I do when I take along my gun , everyone is different ,might be lack of time , perms to far away and maybe not enough of them , give it a bit longer as we are now in March , the daylight is getting a little longer and hopefully it will soon dry out and get a little warmer .  GOOD LUCK whatever you decide to do      MM

I should take this on board and regardless of weather get out there, clay ground is always worth a trip even if its just for an hour.

Ive found that permissions are so difficult to get because of previous people ruining it for anyone else thereafter. So ive sent some emails today just to try my luck with some places

[marsh man]

7 hours ago, old'un said:

 

Is it possibly an age thing? Most of the people I know that have lost the spark are in their 70s, they still go out but do not have the same enthusiasm they once had in their younger years.

In my younger years you would be hard put to find anyone as keen as myself, I am now in the 70s category and will admit I no longer cover the same amount of farms I once did, I still try to get out 2 or 3 times a week but now I have no desire to shoot some of the bags I once did, I have the farms and the tools to shoot fox's and rabbits but I cannot remember the last time I shot either.

Mind you, with this bloody rain I am finding it difficult to get out, don't do rain any more.

1 hour ago, Miserableolgit said:

I'm in a similar situation, certainly not helped by the current weather. For the past three years I have been struggling a bit health wise [post cancer & treatment] but having just seen another season come and go and watched the neighbouring shoots I've been determined to give myself a kick up the backside and get out more again. I recently  chopped in one of my old SBS's for an O/U, had a few days at the clays and am currently toying with the idea of looking for another small syndicate for next season. 

You only live once... and this is not a rehearsal.

 

You have certainly hit the nail on the head when you say that a lot of people who loose the spark are in the 70s , I can vouch for that but is it because we have got plenty of time on our hands and we can pick and choose when we go ? , I went out this afternoon and it looked like rain at any minute but somehow it stayed dry , I haven't seen anything for ages to tempt me to set up in the dull conditions , I walked around one O S R field this afternoon and not a word of a lie it was on average a around two feet high and a bit higher than that in places , although I didn't see any Yellow flowers and needless to say Pigeons .

MM

 

[JDog]

This wet weather is enough to de motivate anyone. I am as flat as a pancake at the moment.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Blimey, don't let your FEO find out, he might take your SGC away.

[ehb102]

Find someone to mentor. Nothing like seeing something through fresh eyes to make you less jaded. 

[marsh man]

8 minutes ago, ehb102 said:

Find someone to mentor. Nothing like seeing something through fresh eyes to make you less jaded. 

That might be fine if you have got a fair bit of land to go on , just finding new perms can be a pastime in itself , once you have got more land then you might refresh your urge to go , having the odd farm with very little vermin on it is hard work , with taking another person with you and you can soon loose interest if you keep putting yourself out without getting any sport from the effort you put in , so get a quantity of land and then check with the landowner about taking someone else if he have only giving you permission  , also check it out if you can use plastic or felt wads and don't forget to make sure who you are taking is insured. 

I have taken several people with me in the past , b t b h I prefer to go by myself and do my own thing , if I don't see enough to set up then so be it , I either move on or go home . MM

[TIGHTCHOKE]

23 hours ago, dave1992 said:

Ive been very slack going out and getting anything done country sports wise fishing or shooting for around 4 years. Used to do a lot more because of an old job, now one main permission is now gone and I'm left feeling like the others I've got are just about hanging on.

Is there anything anyone has done to get the bug back and get out and gain some new permission? Ive got the SGC, FAC and Insurance etc, should i be out there knocking on doors and offering mole trapping or helping out elsewhere etc?

Doubt the Farmers will be impressed if you never turn up.

[team tractor]

I can’t be ***** with pigeon shooting currently but I do enjoy squirrels with the 22lr . 
I like to go out 2-3 times a month this time of year at night but the muntys like the better weather the same as me 😂. 
I haven’t fished in 2 years on the fresh water . I can’t be bothered truthfully if I can’t eat it . 
im finding it hard to bother if theirs nothing about . I think wondering around for 4 hours to see nothing is pointless when I should be working on my house 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

8 hours ago, team tractor said:

I can’t be ***** with pigeon shooting currently but I do enjoy squirrels with the 22lr . 
I like to go out 2-3 times a month this time of year at night but the muntys like the better weather the same as me 😂. 
I haven’t fished in 2 years on the fresh water . I can’t be bothered truthfully if I can’t eat it . 
im finding it hard to bother if theirs nothing about . I think wondering around for 4 hours to see nothing is pointless when I should be working on my house 

Oh dear Nath, do you realise you are getting................................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

..............................................OLD.

[team tractor]

1 hour ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Oh dear Nath, do you realise you are getting................................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

..............................................OLD.

😂 I know . I used to shoot any weather any time of the day . I wish my kids would drag me out shooting 

[marsh man]

9 hours ago, team tractor said:

I can’t be ***** with pigeon shooting currently but I do enjoy squirrels with the 22lr . 
I like to go out 2-3 times a month this time of year at night but the muntys like the better weather the same as me 😂. 
I haven’t fished in 2 years on the fresh water . I can’t be bothered truthfully if I can’t eat it . 
im finding it hard to bother if theirs nothing about . I think wondering around for 4 hours to see nothing is pointless when I should be working on my house 

Some truth in that T T , I have got a lot more time than you but even so I don't like wasting it , take the four Saturdays last month , we start the roost shooting the first Saturday in February , the area I am allocated is mainly a decoying area rather than roost shooting , this year we had two fields of o s r and a field of fodder beet for the livestock , I went out the four Saturdays and didn't hardly get the gun out of it's sleeve , I would start off driving to the rape fields which had some Pigeons on throughout the Winter but very few to be seen when the game season finished , my next move would be walking around the whole area and then go back to the motor and have a coffee , I would then scan all the various fields and you can soon tell if it is even worth the bother in putting all the decoys out , by mid afternoon you can hear shooting going on in the various woods but very few signs of Pigeons where I am so rather than waste any more time I would either go and see how my mate is getting on in the wood he go in, or make my way back home and do anything I had left before I went out , this would then give me more time when I go out again later on during the week when the weather is suitable .    MM

[Konor]

Take up fly tying ,read a bit on the subject to get started and focus on tying flies using mainly the by products of your shooting or trapping eg moleskin dubbing roe deer hair pheasant tails magpie feathers. I’ve just started and although very slow it’s given me a lot of pleasure and it’s a great antidote to the pressures surrounding shooting at the moment.

Edited April 20, 2024 by Konor
Addition

[Dougy]

We had 2 years lockdown which in my opinion affected all, even though we didn't realise it. 

I started to become so un interested in just about everything. I decided to give myself a kick up the backside and get out the wife's way. I decided to take the rifle out and just sit out in the truck and watch the world go by, it was enough to kick start the interst I had before.  I lost 3 really good perms, in that time of moping unfortunately.