big garage and need a hobby

[ChrisC]

while scanning hunttalk I occasionally see some of the things you guys make with the hobbies you have. i bought a house last year and am just now getting around to cleaning up the "barn" which is roughly the size of a two car garage wide by two cars deep. I'm looking for something to fill the space, or part of the space, that will be for a hobby. one suggestion was making room for a freezer to hang deer, but any and all ideas would be appreciated.

thank you,
Chris

 

[Southern Elk]

You could make a place to reload your ammo or if you bow hunt, a spot to make arrows and work on your bow. If you fly fish, a fly tying station.

 

[airlocksniffer]

If you like beer then homebrewing is a fun hobby.

 

[JEL]

If I had the space I would have a walk-in cooler and a room dedicated to meat processing.

 

[LuketheDog]

Insulate the building if it's not already, it's a lot more fun to work in a warm shop than a cold one!

 

[LWC55]

Hang a tv on the wall and install a beer fridge. Drinking beer and watching sports is a good hobby.

 

[el unit]

Insulate the building if it's not already, it's a lot more fun to work in a warm shop than a cold one!

That's right! I'm dying to get my shop insulated.

 

[mdunc8]

Save the money and spend it on hunting trips

 

[Ben Lamb]

Sounds like an all around shop space to me.

Hang critters, reloading/gunsmithing, a place to wrench when needed and a little lounge area. Insulating can be done inexpensively, and an old wood stove for heat can be cost-effective too.

I wish I had that much space.

 

[1_pointer]

Save the money and spend it on hunting trips

This!

 

[Beartooth83]

I have the opposite problem. I have plenty of hobbies, but not enough space in the garage/shop. If I had that space, my woodworking tools wouldn't be so hard to retrieve.

 

[guserto4]

Get into woodworking! That space is perfect for tinkering. I'm big on making things like furniture, built-ins, an acrylic fish tank... and the GF certainly enjoys it too. She thinks (and therefore I figure women might generally also think) building stuff's about as attractive a hobby as a guy can have. A reasonable second is gathering food and since you clearly hunt, maybe get into gardening too. The space could be storage for that. In fact, you could separate it out a bit so you have a space for gun fun, hunting storage, admiring trophies hanging on the wall from a leather chair, garden supplies, woodworking, etc and then any one hobby doesn't infiltrate (sawdust) another.

 

[mixedbag]

Learn to trap and make it your trap shed.In a few years you'll need more space.Trapping is a great hobby.You have to do all your clean up and prep work in off season.Then you need alot of hanging space for finishing your furs.

 

[ChrisC]

thanks for all of the ideas.

interesting that you bring trapping up. I'm waiting for my state to release their trapping classes for 2017, since that needs to be taken in addition to hunter safety. im pretty sure my state only allows live cage traps which I hear are pretty expensive to buy several of. probably no more expensive than some other hobbies. something to consider

 

[Blacktailbc]

Reloading bench, and meat hanging cooler comes to mind.

 

[idnative1948]

I have the opposite problem. I have plenty of hobbies, but not enough space in the garage/shop. If I had that space, my woodworking tools wouldn't be so hard to retrieve.

I feel your pain! Drag/roll all of the tools out, do project, drag/roll it all back.

 

[JohnCushman]

Put in a mini wrestling ring out there for midget wrestling

 

[fishing4sanity]

Chris, I'm guessing you're not married, just because if I had that barn my wife would have already stuffed it with her 'things' that are just too valuable to get rid of. Sorry for the personal rant, on a more serious note, I like all the wood working/shop ideas as well as reloading, etc.

 

[Sytes]

Welding table and tools. I dig watching metal puddle together! A Mig setup with an Argon mix as shielding is like a glue-gun on steroids! Haha! Nothing, IMO, beats the creative ability a simple welding area presents!

 

[ChrisC]

haha...i am married and fear the same thing. what brought this on was that she wanted to fill up the barn with other junk so she could make room for a gym. I figure if i have a plan for the barn, she will stop trying to keep putting things in there.

before I started hunting she said i needed a hobby. I got one...hunting...and now she says all i talk about is hunting. she wants me to get another hobby so she doesn't have to listen about hunting related stuff so often.