I'm four out of five on this one, depending on what "stage of winter" I'm in. 

I live in the south.  Fishing all winter is cheaper than paying for mental health treatment,  alcohol,  bankruptcy attorneys, and gym memberships.

@BigAngus752 Right off the bat - Thank You for "breaking the Ice" !

I 'voted' for the first choice, only because it did mention animal rescue.

But the real deal is that I'm all over the map ~

Finding unproductive outlets for my time,

walking the frozen earth in a cloud of darkness, 

attempting to distract myself from my pain,

hoping that time will pass so quickly that I feel like I've been magically transported into the future and the next pre-spawn on Lake Menderchuck,

while participating in some type of bizarre of fitness routine.

And somehow it gets me through each & every hard water season.

🥴

A-Jay

41 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

@BigAngus752 Right off the bat - Thank You for "breaking the Ice" !

I 'voted' for the first choice, only because it did mention animal rescue.

But the real deal is that I'm all over the map ~

Finding unproductive outlets for my time,

walking the frozen earth in a cloud of darkness, 

attempting to distract myself from my pain,

hoping that time will pass so quickly that I feel like I've been magically transported into the future and the next pre-spawn on Lake Menderchuck,

while participating in some type of bizarre of fitness routine.

And somehow it gets me through each & every hard water season.

🥴

A-Jay

Are you sure you don't do crossfit?  LOL

I hunt all winter then soon as ice is gone or icy temps I get back on the water fishing. Heck today it was in the 60s in upstate NY and my hunting buddy with no ducks flying made the comment we shoulda went fishing. Do a little cast and a blast if we have a warm day like today. Fish and have the shotguns with us on the boat. 

6 minutes ago, clayton86 said:

I hunt all winter

I pheasant hunt until Jan 1 when our season closes.

 

I've considered taking up coyote hunting in the winter months.  There's plenty of yotes around and I could get permission at a dozen spots to hunt them.  I just have never gotten around to buying a rifle for it, snow camo, or a call do it.

 

Ice fishing, "hard" pass.

1 minute ago, gimruis said:

I pheasant hunt until Jan 1 when our season closes.

 

I've considered taking up coyote hunting in the winter months.  There's plenty of yotes around and I could get permission at a dozen spots to hunt them.  I just have never gotten around to buying a rifle for it, snow camo, or a call do it.

 

Ice fishing, "hard" pass.

We were talking about pheasants this morning in the duck blind with zero ducks flying. 
 

I used to pheasant hunt in high school but they are rare here in WNY. My buddy’s dad used to release them for a state program to try and help their numbers. Could always tell the wild birds from released the tails were much longer and when flushed they would give one flap of the wings and be gone clear across the field if you didn’t get it. The released ones would struggle to make 50 yards it seemed and dogs would get right back on em. 

3 hours ago, clayton86 said:

The released ones would struggle to make 50 yards it seemed and dogs would get right back on em. 

I quit hunting the release birds years ago after my buddy and I went on day one of a release and we had to take turns kicking the birds to get them to fly.  No joke.  We alternated chasing them or booting them to even get them in the air.  We were basically just going to the store and picking up some pheasant breasts. 

@gimruis I really need to get back in to pheasant hunting. My yellow lab is 2 years old, and has done well on waterfowl. He needs some ditch-chicken time!

 

Deer hunting was a success in November. Waterfowl today...but nothing flying. 

Well below that of the average hibernating woodchuck 😂 😂 😂 😂 

38 minutes ago, BigAngus752 said:

I quit hunting the release birds years ago after my buddy and I went on day one of a release and we had to take turns kicking the birds to get them to fly.  No joke.  We alternated chasing them or booting them to even get them in the air.  We were basically just going to the store and picking up some pheasant breasts. 

Lol I've experienced this too.  It's more like "hunting" chickens.  I've had those flare nares fly right into a tree and knock themselves stone dead.  There is zero wild instinct when you have birds raised in a barn.  Its generally very expensive too.

 

I will say that it can be very beneficial training a young dog though because it guarantees success with a lot of slow, dumb birds.

 

All my pheasant hunting are wild birds BTW.  I assume everyone already knew that here.

 

@DaubsNU1 there must be some pheasants in eastern Nebraska.  I'm not sure how bad drought has been by you but severe drought in areas to the east of there in Iowa really limited pheasant production this spring.

47 minutes ago, BigAngus752 said:

I quit hunting the release birds years ago after my buddy and I went on day one of a release and we had to take turns kicking the birds to get them to fly.  No joke.  We alternated chasing them or booting them to even get them in the air.  We were basically just going to the store and picking up some pheasant breasts. 

Yeah we would do that also when his short hair pointers were working them. He ran labs also and they would just run the birds over to get em to fly 

You need to think outside of the box. Have you considered barber school?

I'm thankful that I can fish year round.  I fear if I had an off season it would start like

Quote

Walk the earth in a cloud of darkness, constantly remaining sullen and withdrawn causing others to avoid me and potentially contact mental health professionals.

But would end up like the movie "Falling Down".   

 

 

Added: If you're considering barber school I'm receiving peer pressure to get a hair cut. 

If I feel that it’s too cold here at home, I hitch up and go to one of the lower Salt River lakes. I particularly enjoy Canyon Lake this time of year, just for the “winter resident” ramp follies. 

I definitely had to vote for the answer that involved a woodchuck on account of my profession