This has probably come up before.   Just link if it has please.

Man time really does fly.   I cannot believe it but I think it’s gonna be 3 years.   Jesus is that possible?   As soon as the kid got to 2 and became “needy” all the free time just disappears..  poof.   I had a good reason to take the first year off.  The kid.  Then the second year excuse was I was gonna wait for the GFH range to to completed for members only area.   Now I can’t believe Another year is gonna go by.   So interesting to note the finger print vault for the HG battery lasted a year when I opened it to ditch the 15s.   I just replaced it.  But the LG vault I haven’t even attempted in probably 2 years.  Is it just like riding a bike?   Yeah my eyes are probably worse.   Has anybody here taken off an extended period of time?   I think I was a pretty darn good shooter.   Bunch of training and I even  used to hit some steel on Sunday nights but man I cannot believe that was almost 3 years ago.  

PS.   And what’s crazy is I still paid the dues on GFH and NJ Trap the entire time.  

 

 

@voyager9 has everyone beat...

jus sayen 

I'm moving in the opposite direction... getting more and more consistent with my shooting schedule. When I first started, I'd shoot every 4-8 weeks or so, now I rarely miss a week... usually shooting once per week, sometimes twice. I even had a day not long ago where I hit 2 ranges in one day, lol... that was a "personal best".

That said, you need to give yourself a real "pass" when you've got young kids as you do. Those little ones will suck up your time like little Hoover vacuum cleaners, lol. Forgive yourself! That said, now that you've noticed the big time-gap... you need to get to the range... STAT! 

Yo, Mrs. Peel... where you hauntin' right now, since home is closed for rebuilding?

@Barms  I fell into the same trap as you.  My longest stretch was, now don’t laugh, was 12 years.  That’s right 12 long years.  It started with getting engaged and my fiance (now wife) wasn’t into shooting and the need to save for the wedding.  After the wedding it was saving for household updates like a furnace, roof, windows, you know the small stuff.  Then came my oldest son.  Like you, any free time, was spent with him.  Then kids 2 and 3 came along and any free time was spent changing diapers or cleaning up spit up.  Not to mention the cost of 3 in daycare made it virtually impossible to shoot, let alone buy any firearm.

 Fast forward  to 2012, when they were “big enough” I got back into the hobby.  My longest stretch for live fire is about 3 months when it’s primetime travel soccer season.  If you count dry fire practice or BB guns, then I shoot weekly but that gets old quickly.

Like everyone else:  it was tough enough shooting regularly when I had just one kid. Then when 2 and 3 came along that possibility dropped to near zero. 
 

still despite Zeke’s complaints I did manage to get some range time mid summer. Enough to justify buying more ammo anyway. 

 The dark ages spanned 1994 through 2013, I was not shooting on a regular basis.  During that 19 years period, I may have gone to a range, three, maybe four times.

I have been shooting  a little less than usual recently.  I typically shoot on Pennsylvania gameland ranges, as I used to live 20 minutes from one ( I miss living in Pennsylvania....even shooting outdoors on top of a mountain in sub-freezing weather!).  I am still "close" to a few of those ranges, but sometimes getting out there on weekends (go figure!) can be difficult, unless I am in those areas for a different reason. 

2 hours ago, Sota said:

Yo, Mrs. Peel... where you hauntin' right now, since home is closed for rebuilding?

I'm at TTC once a month anyway for The Well-Armed Woman (TWAW) chapter meeting... sometimes there a 2nd time for a different ladies event, and the other weeks get filled in when my uncle guests me into his range (Philipsburg). It's a cobbled together schedule at the moment... and probably not the wisest use of my money. I just haven't had time to set up a more budget-conscious plan.

For instance, I really need to start getting to the outdoor range I already belong to before it gets too miserably cold, which will happen quickly. And, to boot, I never even looked at the "deal" that TTC was offering SCFGPA members while the range is closed... maybe it's good? I should look that up,  as I may be throwing my money away (stupidly) by paying full price at TTC... I mean it's a nice range, but certainly not cheap!

14 hours ago, Barms said:

Longest you’ve not shot.

8 years. (from birth til my 1st pellet gun)

In my travels making appearances as a #2AHeavyLifter I often find myself going to ranges w/o a gun.  I do a LOT of mentoring and folks always ask me to shoot their guns, which I do.  Then I often mentor their stance, grip, trigger squeeze, sight picture, breathing, etc., and they get tighter groups.  Then they tell their friends, and the story repeats itself.  I probably shoot less than I used to, but have competed in USPSA & IDPA using friends' guns, ammo, etc. (at their insistence!) and scoring decently.  It's like riding a bike to me.   I try to shoot clays 2-3x a month.  In a weekend I've visited up to four ranges/clubs, and shot at most of them.

I belong to a private club (Old Bridge) that has an outdoor as well as an indoor range facility.  Sometimes I just show-up w/ a cigar & hang-out chatting & shaking hands.

Last weekend I was open carrying at Rod of Iron Freedom Festival at Kahr Arms.  Met Alan Gottlieb (we were set-up in an adjacent booth) & he donated cases of his two books to us as a thanks for doing a great job in NJ.  

This Thursday I'll be at Gun For Hire w/ Tony Simon as a volunteer at his Diversity Shoot.  I'll shoot a few rounds in a quick drill, but I'm not there to shoot, I'm there to mentor.  For $20 you get pizza, use of the guns, ammo & your port fee covered.

In the days prior to the Coalition, I never went to the range when I wasn't competing, 'cept to guest-in an occasional friend.  I've competed in a ton of shooting disciplines, and once belonged to three clubs at the same time.  So every weekend I'd be shooting a different league, and I'd try to shoot clays during the bidness week.  The leagues are full of great people.  Like you show up w/o a thing & suddenly you're invited to shoot the league & loaner stuff & ammo gets dumped into yer lap.   

~R

On 10/13/2019 at 10:07 PM, Barms said:

This has probably come up before.   Just link if it has please.

Man time really does fly.   I cannot believe it but I think it’s gonna be 3 years.   Jesus is that possible?   As soon as the kid got to 2 and became “needy” all the free time just disappears..  poof.   I had a good reason to take the first year off.  The kid.  Then the second year excuse was I was gonna wait for the GFH range to to completed for members only area.   Now I can’t believe Another year is gonna go by.   So interesting to note the finger print vault for the HG battery lasted a year when I opened it to ditch the 15s.   I just replaced it.  But the LG vault I haven’t even attempted in probably 2 years.  Is it just like riding a bike?   Yeah my eyes are probably worse.   Has anybody here taken off an extended period of time?   I think I was a pretty darn good shooter.   Bunch of training and I even  used to hit some steel on Sunday nights but man I cannot believe that was almost 3 years ago.  

PS.   And what’s crazy is I still paid the dues on GFH and NJ Trap the entire time.  

 

 

I remember your anguish. 

As kids come along your priorities change. You’ll get back into it eventually. 

As for GFH, I have been waiting for their new facility to open.  Just don’t know when that will be.