What hobbies of yours did metal detecting take over?

[L.I.Digga]

Good thread...My whole life has been the outdoors mainly fishing and duck hunting.As i got older im just not into killing stuff anymore.A few yrs ago i would have never believed i wouldnt duck hunt but last season i sold all my stuff.My South bay duck boat all my Decoys it all went.Only thing i kept was my guns .Fishing i was on a boat before i could walk if im not working im FISHING.So here comes the problem.This will be my first summer as a "Pirate" Since last yr metal detecting has consumed my life.My wife just asked me at dinner last week."Babe whats gonna happen this summer?"Im like what do you mean?Im like what are you talkin bout?Shes like are you gonna fish or metal detect?and she laughed and laughed...Then it hit me....I have a problem...I have 2 addictions and they are best at the same time.I fish for everything in the Sound but my love is fluke fishing.Fluke bite the best on the last 3 hrs of the Ebb tide and well metal detecting is the best the last 2hrs of the Ebb into the first 2hrs of the incoming.I guess im just gonna play it day by day i mean if its wind against tide fluking will sux so ill go detecting.Most of the beaches on Long Island you need to be a resident of the town the beach is on.So my boat is gonna be a big part of my detecting this summer.I have alot of beaches in mind im plannin on anchoring my boat off of and jumping over the side with my Xcall.This is my plan of finding fresh drops this summer.As of right now my plan is to balance the 2 addictions but i guess were gonna see wich is stronger...

 

[imalookin2]

I used to surf fish like every other day before getting into beach hunting... then gold fever took over... and now haven't gone fishing in like 3 years. I'm starting to miss surf fishing, and thinking about getting another year pass and fishing when the tides aren't good for metal detecting... to catch some corbina/halibut!

What hobbies did metal detecting kill for you?

Same, I used to fish a few times a week living on the river. I have a dock within a 2 minute walk. After I started detecting the fishing poles have sat. The reels are all gummed up for sitting. I bought a license this year but I have not been once. I think gold smells better than fish in my hand. The hobby is like fishing. You never know what you are going to get.

 

[Gold Digger 2]

fishing big time,,,,well, work also,,,,,I used to fish 3 or 4 days a week,,,,,I do still fish but not as much,,,,next week I start king mackerel fishing in the gulf, then come early summer is tarpon,,,,I am glad the work part is the most that suffered,,,,GL HH

 

[OBN]

The Story of my life hobbies...sports...Music, then women, then choppers, then cars, then detecting, Family kicked in took over no money for hobbies so I gardened, 17 years....... Big D, kids gone, back to women...then back to detecting....Would I change anything..nope

 

[therover]

Fishing and star gazing.

I have no idea if my telescopes lenses are busted or not, they haven't been out in 2 years. I gotta get out and look up...too used to looking down now !

Still fish every so often though.

 

[Surf Master]

Obn

Yep forgot the 69 roadrunner, Harleys, still have the Chopper, and 1 hog, great memories everyone, something that we all share, as time passes on,

 

[BentRod]

Golf. I still fish, but I'm either metal detecting or fishing. I feel like I split my free time pretty equally between the two.

 

[CoiltoSoil]

I gave up mountain biking, there's no reason to hit the woods without a detector anymore. I do still use my bike to get to some of the locations in the woods though.

 

[Crumble]

I'm going out and buying a fishing license tomorrow for the first time in 2-3 years, time to stock the freezer with fish. I figure low tides are good for one week, then crappy then next week, then good, etc. So I will fish on the crappy tide weeks.

I really miss those few quick jerks on the line and not knowing what is taking the bait.

 

[Foolforgold]

I don't sleep anymore..

 

[HullGuitars]

I gave up showers and all personal hygiene. It helps me be one with the dirt.
But seriously, my fishing has declined a lot, only go about two days a week where I used to go five or six. Also my mountain biking and other cycling has taken a hit. But that's going to change this year. I sold my dirt bikes simply so I could spend more time cycling. Now I can just figure out how to detect, racing through the woods on a bicycle at 15 miles an hour up a mountain

 

[Aquaman]

Blue water spearfishing, big wave surfing, firearms/range shooting. Wife is MUCH more agreeable with my metal detecting & longboarding these days.

 

[Tilton]

I wouldn't say took over, but I sold my reef tank before I moved to Hawaii and that freed up a ton of time to be able to metal detect. I will probably get back into that when I get back to the mainland but that really took all of my free time.

Metal detecting is helping fund my truck modding hobby haha. Need to keep finding the gold though. All the gold I find metal detecting is money my wife can't complain about me spending. Haha

 

[Bud-sc]

The other hobby that I still have is shooting my air rifles. No not talking about a cheap BB gun either. Theses guns can run up to about $2000!! At one time I had one rifle that cost about $1800. Now the most expensive one I have now run about $400. Its a great hobby to get into but like metal detecting it cost a lot of $$$$$!!!!!!! Oh another thing pellets are a lot easier to find than bullets and cheaper!!! Bud-sc

 

[Sonny Burnett]

Guns and surfing. I chose today to forego hitting the waves (it was good here today) to hitting low tide near the pier detecting instead. Also seriously considering selling some of my guns to finance my detecting obsession further.

I love firearms, but in reality they are basically useless in the sense that I can't go shoot regularly where I live and ammo is too damn expensive anyway. They are pretty to display and I love owning them, but detecting is something I can actually go do and is much more fun.

Good topic!

 

[Ice Scratcher]

Wow, a ton of fisherman!!

Honestly, I picked up detecting for something to do in the off season..

I am an ice fisherman at heart, that will never change..

I used to summer fish a lot on inland lakes, but the invention of jet skis sort of killed all that somewhere in the mid 1980s....

I now, am very thankful, I have a full year of outdoor activities again!!

<*)))>{

 

[Jeepy27]

I had to give up travel last summer. My wife and I both teach, and we save all year to travel during the summer, but last summer was different. My dad's dementia got so bad we had to put him in a home for people with dementia and altzheimers. Saddest day in my life was when I told my dad he couldn't go home from the hospital after a fall and live with my mother. They were married for 71 years. I had to visit him every day, because I know how much he hated that place even though they took good care of him. I started metal detecting because I needed something to do other than worry about dad. He passed away in November. I talk to him every time I go MDing now. I think he would have really enjoyed this "hobby".

 

[cdv]

Gave up fishing, gun and bow hunting, airbrushing, motorcycles and working for a living to beach/water detect....... well, Florida traffic and my desire to stay alive longer were also a reason for selling the bikes!

Cliff

 

[dewcon]

Hummm wonder whats seems to be changing the tide here? I hear more of you wanting to get back into some of your hobbies. Gold prices... competition putting the hurt on finds.... in ability to get in the winter water, or burn out?

Not many things i havent tried and have to admit im obsessive. Grew up on a farm so i was taught young how to fish, hunt and trap. Then it was sports... any kind, still run even after long days of hunting. Cars, prospecting, and Rvs.... ooo ya. Military.... a hobby i enjoyed, not work. Soooo we all have our MEN things..... any cooks, veggins, or girlly men hobbies you want to admit to?

Dew

 

[fsa46]

Wow, if it as outdoors I did it. Fishing, hunting, falconry, winemaking,mushrooming , clamming, crabbing, and I can go on and on.

Fishing is what I had done the most before getting into detecting. Gold fever has a way of changing your habits.