Have you changed

[starmac]

Has gas prices changed your hunting and fishing, or just your recreational time.

I have used the price of gas to justify some changes, but am not sure that age has not got as much to do with it. lol

This summer I rigged out a canoe with an 8 horse honda. This gets me into my pike fishing water and back for 8 to ten bucks (not counting fuel for the pickup). The same trip in the jetboat set me back a hundred or more. lol

I don't get there near as fast, but it seems like my need for speed has died down some and I actually enjoy it more.

I run a smaller and lighter four wheeler now (300 honda) which probably because of it's weight doesn't seem to have any real disadvantages compared to the bigger faster ones.

I am now thinking that I need a smaller, simpler, utility sled for winter time fun.

It seems like the older I get, the more I enjoy turning back to a slower, simpler lifestyle. I kinda used the rising fuel prices for these changes, but I'm not sure it really had much to do with it. lol
Have any of you guys made changes because of fuel prices, and found you actually get more enjoyment because of it.

[Harter66]

Every day.

I went from an Expedition to a Ranger. When the weather breaks next spring I will ride a dirt bike to work that clocks in w/60 MPG . I've drifted away from the solitude hunts to hunting w/friends again as well. I've even taken to more aggressive shooter/caster/hunter recruiting just to split the gas.

[Jailer]

It seems like the older I get, the more I enjoy turning back to a slower, simpler lifestyle.

I find myself doing the exact same thing, fuel costs being just one reason.

Don't get me wrong I'm not abandoning technology or going off grid, I just find I like things simple the older I get.

[Love Life]

Not where I am now. Public lands 4 miles up the road. Lake Topaz and the Walker river 5 miles away.

What it has cut back are any random jaunts into town. Going to town for groceries is a 75 mile round trip for me. Work is a 65 mile round trip (not by choice). If only gas were a dollar a gallon again.

[Ickisrulz]

My wife will be deploying in November. As a result, we took two vacations back-to-back. One was a week in Marysvale, UT riding ATVs in the mountains. The other was three days in Disneyland.

Boy, have we been paying for some gas.

My boys and I will be moving back to our house in OK before she leaves and then once she returns from her deployment, she'll retire and be with us in OK. We hope to take significant time off (years) before going back to work full time.

With the cut in pay and prices for everything on the rise, we'll have to be watching money like we never have before. This ought to be interesting. At least our house is paid off, we have no credit cards or any other loans. We hope to garden and raise some small tasty animals too.

[starmac]

Love life,for the first time in my life I live in town (which is different here) @ miles to major grocery stores, and I still buy bulk, as in a month or more at a time. Excluding milk, bread and eggs, I really don't actually need anything else from the grocery store until spring or even later. lol

I have two rivers within 5 miles and can(if I wanted too) leave the house on a four wheeler and get to anywhere I need to go on trails. I generally haul them from 5 to twenty miles though.
I have a public range less than 5 miles away, but never got into shooting at a range, so generally drive anywhere from ten to thirty miles to shoot.

[Char-Gar]

Sure, I have changed, but the price of gas had nothing to do with it. It is the cumulative effect of birthdays. As you get older you appreciate more what life is really all about. You have had gagets and do-dads and they didn't scratch where it itched. You realize the value of life lies in the simple things. You discover that things don't add value to your life. In reality they take away more value than they add.

It is not so for everybody but getting older is a very peaceful time in my life. The battles have been fought and either won or lost. Which doesn't seem to matter so much any more.

[Goatwhiskers]

Char-Gar, you have it exactly right. Goat

[dragonrider]

"It is the cumulative effect of birthdays." That is true but not in a good way.


"As you get older you appreciate more what life is really all about" That is not, there is nothing good about getting old. Nothing that causes one to think about life as getting better. Getting old only brings on pain that grows more everyday. Age only takes from you, it does not give you anything.

[btroj]

I have modified some of my driving habits.

Like Char-gar said, time makes you change. My daughter is now at college, we only have the one kid. Makes big difference on what we do and how. Changes priorities. Changes needs.

life is about changing priorities. Life is a constant evolving situation. I am past the point where I feel a need to Impress others. I know longer have a need to please others besides myself and my wife.

Yep, I have changed. So have the times. It is inevitable.

[nanuk]

.... The battles have been fought and either won or lost. Which doesn't seem to matter so much any more.


the Kinks had a similar thought, in "Living on a Thin Line"

[EMC45]

Nearest range to me is 45 minutes away. 50 and 100 yd and plenty of brass and lead to scrounge. I don't think I have been there in a year. Gas is too much to justify. I really need to sight some rifles in too.....

[David2011]

Yes, I changed but not in the direction you might think. I moved to New Mexico and bought an older 4x4 F-150 because the Honda Accord wasn't suitable for driving on BLM land. The Honda uses very little gas with its hot-rod engine because it mostly just sits and takes up space in the garage. A trip to the gas station in the F-150 is terribly painful. Fortunately, public land is fairly close and the range is less than 10 minutes from the house.

David

[starmac]

LOL I just traded for an older f`150 4x4, a couple weeks ago, and the trips to the gas station are down right pleasant compared to the super duty or the dodge diesel. lol I guess I should get a small 30 mpg car, but have not figured out a use for it yet. lol

[David2011]

Starmac,

It's tough getting by without a truck but the car is good for our weekend getaways that involve SWMBO and 3 hour drives to the mountains that don't involve shooting.

One time I had someone from Monterrey Bay, Kalifornia ask me what I "needed a truck for."

HUH??? The question was so foreign that I had to think about NOT having a truck. People without trucks must pay someone to do everything for them- or live in places like Monterrey Bay.

I recently rode in a 4 door diesel Chevy Duramax 2500 that had a chip, low restriction exhaust and cold air intake. We put fuel in it and reset the computer. On a 90 mile highway drive it averaged an unbelievable 28 mpg with no heavy load. No, it wasn't a downhill drive. I want one!

David

[Char-Gar]

"It is the cumulative effect of birthdays." That is true but not in a good way.


"As you get older you appreciate more what life is really all about" That is not, there is nothing good about getting old. Nothing that causes one to think about life as getting better. Getting old only brings on pain that grows more everyday. Age only takes from you, it does not give you anything.

It is all how you deal with things and your attitude toward life in general. Life is and always has been a head game.

I have no had a waking moment without pain in 20 years and it gets worse each year. I don't walk, I hobble and can't bend or stoop without pain and perhaps assistance to get up. I can no longer sit on the floor, take walks, see or hear like I could. I am short of breath and can't sleep more than a few hourse at a time. In general, I have one foot in the grave.

A fellow can cry and whine about the way things used to be, or find the joy and life that is still around him. I enjoy times with my wife, kids and friends, trips to the shooting range and playing with my dog and cats. I still enjoy good food and good whisky. I can't eat as much as I once could and certainly can't drink as much as I once could.

I still manage to teach two classes at the University, but it gets harder and harder each semester. I don't think that will go on for much longer.

I am racing the clock to finish building a rifle for my son. It takes an hour to do what I used to be able to do in 15 minutes. But, Lord willing, I will get er done!

A man has a choice. He can die living or live dieing. I chose to die living! I am at peace with myself, my God and everybody in this world. I have apoligized to those I have hurt and asked their forgivness, which was given. There are no pending issues in my life, nor regrets.

[tomme boy]

I have given up my bass boat an fishing tournaments. I used to fish most of them within 150 miles of here. Leave on a Friday morning an return on Sunday evening. So 2 nights in motel an 2 tanks of gas in truck at 24 gal each. Then at least 3 tanks in the boat at 48 gals each. Then 1 gal of oil for boat. So add that up.

Now I have a 17' flat bottom with a 40 horse direct injection ETEC. I still go through 10 gals when I go out for a weekend. I stay within 20 miles from here now. No tourny's, Don't duck hunt anymore as where I went was about 45 miles from here.

Gas prices have made a huge difference for me. Let alone food prices.

[starmac]

David, when I still lived in NM My wifes town car sat in the driveway while she drove my dually (her F150 was up here. She finally put a scratch on my dually, so I took her 150 down there.
When I had to put a battery in her town car because it hadn't been cranked for so long, we sold it. Nearly all of our weekend get aways involve dirt roads(if not trails) and hauling a wheeler or canoe. She drives 8 miles a day to and from work, and I am working when I leave the house, so I can't justify paying insurance on a small car for what we would save.
In NM it was 160 miles from the house to our place in the mountains (mora) so could have saved a little, but would have to have kept something there to get around the ranch on.

[bruce drake]

Nearest range to me is 45 minutes away. 50 and 100 yd and plenty of brass and lead to scrounge. I don't think I have been there in a year. Gas is too much to justify. I really need to sight some rifles in too.....

Nearest convenient range is about 30 miles away for me. I've been dealing more with "lack of free time" versus gas prices. I've got some free time tomorrow so I'm hoping to get out there once more before the end of the year.

And if I haven't been to the range in over two months, that counts as gas saved...right?

Bruce

[km101]

Since it is 4 hrs each way to the deer camp, I dont go as much during the summer as I used to. Gas for the round trip and a couple of trips into the closest little town will cost over $100. I sold my big bass boat and I dont fish as much, but that is partly due to health. I cant take the hot weather like I used to, but I dont have anyone to fish with anymore, so that is a factor too. I can run my 16' rig with a 50 hp Merc. for two days on $30 worth of gas, where my big rig used to take $75 per day. LOL

So yes the price of gas has impacted my hunting and fishing very negatively! As it has with just about everyone I know.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Just keeps me from buying things I don't need off of craigslist! Now I just order things I don't need off of Grafs and Natchez!

[starmac]

Doesn't work, three guns today I didn't need off of craigslist, and am talking to another guy on craigslist about an overhead camper. lol

[9.3X62AL]

Gas prices have a bit to do with the changes I've made in lifestyle, but aging and its attendant maturity have the lion's share of responsibility for those alterations. Close brushes with finality change your outlook pretty comprehensively, too. The realization that your life is much closer to its end than to its beginning has an effect. Overall, I am content. My wife is loving and beautiful, my children are all successful, smart, and fine people, and I get to do most of the things I want to do. I am truly blessed.

[Lloyd Smale]

kind of. We do crop damage shooting on a farm thats about 60 miles from here and it cost us 35 bucks a day for gas. Used to be many nights wed come home early with only one deer but we this year figured out that we need two deer to make it worth our while to make a trip so we stay a bit longer till we get at least two. We on a night we shoot two were paying about a buck and a half a lb for it. Seems kind of strange but But at over 4 bucks a gallon a guy has to pay attention to what he does.

[EMC45]

Nearest convenient range is about 30 miles away for me. I've been dealing more with "lack of free time" versus gas prices. I've got some free time tomorrow so I'm hoping to get out there once more before the end of the year.

And if I haven't been to the range in over two months, that counts as gas saved...right?
Bruce

Sure does. I also have a time shortage. I have 3 kids all in soccer and one in gymnastics. I have a small chunk of land (brother's place) that I shoot at. Staple targets to stumps and blast away. I dug about 3-4 lbs of cast bullets out of the stump today so it was a good day!