Age & Hunting...

[Guy Miner]

I had a couple of interesting phone calls last night regarding my planned Wyoming mule deer & antelope hunt in Wyoming this coming fall... I'm hunting with another fellow I haven't met, but he seems fine from our phone conversations.

I was asked if I'd mind if this fellow brings along another hunter "an older guy who just wants to hunt antelope."

Well sure, I'm okay with that. Have images in my mind of some fellow in his mid 70's, having a tough time hiking anymore - that sort of thing...

Turns out the guy is 56 years old, four years younger than me! :shock: Hah! Older? Dang! :grin:

Cracked me up. Yeah, I still have no problem with it. We shouldn't have much trouble coming up with three antelope.

As I've aged, I've found that I have slowed down, but really not all that much. I was never much of one for hurry up and haul-rear type hunting, except when we really NEED to cover ground in a hurry, to cut off a moving animal or something. I can still do that.

Have found that it's more important than ever for me to both watch my food intake, and to get regular exercise to keep that mobility. Hiking, cross-country skiing, cycling, weights, stretching... All that good stuff. Am coming into this year in pretty good shape after all the effort I put into recovery the past 9 or 10 months. Feeling good, and hope to avoid injury/setback.

Age - it gets to all of us who make it past our prime - but with a little luck and some work, we can still get out and get it done.

Just some rambling thoughts before starting work today. Long guns today!

Guy

 

[Rol_P]

Guy, I am one of those "older fellas" I will be 70 when I head to Montana this fall for my hunt. Could not agree with you more about maintaining mobility and strength. When I cut firewood for the fireplace I use the chainsaw to cut and an axe to split the wood. I could buy the mechanical spliter but that would deprive me of the exercise.

I need to improve my weight lifting/carrying ability through the summer when I am not cutting firewood. Hiking in the Catskill Mts and state parks in upstate NY give me a good foundation to build the legs and lungs before heading west. Altitude is still an issue, but I have educated my guide to SHS... "Senior Hunting Speed".. Just keep moving.

Last fall I hunted with my guide and my outfitter's 80 year old father who still hikes the mountains of Montana. He is my inspiration to keep going as long as possible.

Good luck on your Wyoming hunt. Is it correct to assume you are going DIY?

 

[Kodiak]

My Wyoming antelope hunt this fall will take place about 2 months after my 80th birthday.

Just another day,

 

[Thankful Otter]

Guy, I personally can not relate as I still feel people who are 30 are old But my grandfather will soon be 77 and he is still going strong. He has his own little cabin and reloads and works on firearms for my husband and I during the summer months and during the winter months he travels. Last year he went Tiger fishing in Africa, this year he is taking a fine arts course in Florence Italy. He is working on a vacation for next year that will allow him to travel the length of the Amazon River. He hears new words that my generation uses and then works them into a conversation when we talk to him. Last weekend, he told me that he had to get off the phone as he was "hooking up" with an Italian lady he met and she was cooking dinner. I love it and him! To be honest I have more friends over 60 than under 30.

 

[truck driver]

At 67 I feel like a young pup after reading this post but sure wish my body felt the same way. :roll: :lol: I have to admit I lived a ruff and tumble life with the physical abuse my body has taken but I keep pushing it to do the things I want to do.

 

[sask boy]

At 61 years old my shoulders & knees give me grief but that is okay as once I get going I can keep up a pretty steady pace. I am not the fastest guy but I do get there eventually :wink:.
I don't want to quit cause then you do lose it.
I am in the gym at least 4 days every week trying to stay strong.

Blessings,
Dan

 

[Vince]

I'm fifty but have the body of an athlete, the joints of a ninety year old, and the bank account of a heroin addict. Thanks rodeo.


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[Elkman]

Turned 70 in September, packed one of my elk out by myself this fall, and like mentioned before spend as much time as practical in my home Gym. Whether walking, hiking, working or lifting, one must stay busy and active. I discovered yoga a year or so ago and my back loves me for it. Old age is tough, my doctor says that my heart, knees and lungs are those of a man many years younger. He also say's that my back and shoulders are not. Keeping fit, extends your quality of life, there is no disregarding that fact. Keep pushing "all".

 

[SJB358]

You fellas motivate me.

I use Bill to break in new elk hunters. I've seen him out hike folks nearly half his age.

 

[DrMike]

Recognising and working with the limitations of age is a challenge. However, the ageing process is not quite a detrimental as I might have imagined in my younger days. Hunting goats (until just a few years ago), I would tell my partners to go ahead. I would push along at my own pace and make the climb without being terribly winded. I realized that I wasn't prepared to go at the same pace I did when younger; but I could still go.

This most recent truck wreck has taken a toll on my quality of life. It is slowing me much more than I like. I'm trying to push through the pain and limitations. I overcame an auto crash that really crippled me at age forty. Those smack-ups are detrimental to life. Still, I hope to have many more years in the mountains of BC.

 

[1100 Remington Man]

Here is a Photo of my Father he is 81 and when weather is ok he walks a couple miles ever day. The Photo is Pheasant hunting Wild Pheasants. He will still walk 5-6 miles a day hunting them through deep cover.
Age is just a number.

 

[diverdown]

I'm 71 years old and have found out that yes indeed, you do slow down a bit but I can honestly say that walking slower in the woods has enabled me to see more animals instead of walking by them. I'm still able to hump elk quarters out and I think with age you think quite a bit more on how to do something rather than jump in and do it and hurt yourself in the process. Living in Florida at 26 feet above sea level and then going hunting at 10,000 feet takes a bit more getting used to.

 

[truck driver]

DrMike like you I know how accidents can put the hurting on quality of life. Work accidents has left my back in a bad condition and a fall created problems for my ability to do the walking I used to do when hunting. Last week I spent 5hrs walking around the Sportsmans show at Harrisburg PA with my Danner hunting boots on and my feet let me know when it was time to go home. With the back it's standing for long periods that gives me problems so when hunting I look for a comfortable log to sit on and a tree to lean against. If the sun is shining on me I might take a nap also just like Old Rip Vanwinkle:lol:.

 

[longrangehunter]

Yukon Huntress,

That's great your Grandfather lives his life with no boundaries, and chooses to make the most of his life! That's awesome! I wish him the best in life, he must be a great inspiration to you...... He sure as heck inspires me to follow in his footsteps!

 

[REDGREEN]

I miss being able to hike for miles and carry a pile of weight. My back break really slowed me down, and it is getting worse. I am restricted to lifting no more than 20 pounds now. I am scheduled for another MRI to see what is going on. My legs work when they feel like it. Some days, I can't make it 50 yards, and other days, I can make it about 200 before I need a rest stop.I use to run 10 miles every morning before heading to the mess for breakfast, but now a trip to the can and back is a chore. I separated my left shoulder a couple years ago, and it needs surgery, but they said that it would take a year to recover from the operation, and six months or more of physiotherapy and that I would be lucky to get 70 to 80% usage after they filleted me. The abuse that I did when younger has returned to haunt me with interest. No more going into the mountains where the nearest house is 50 miles or more. I miss being 30 or 40 miles into the back country for a month or more. No more horseback riding, no more bull riding, no more motorcycle racing, just cooking and eating. I have had three more heart attacks since the triple bypass as well. I do put a hurting on the crossword puzzles now though. I have access to lands where I drive in, climb out and grab a seat. The deer, elk and moose walk into sight, I knock them down and drive right up to them and do my thing and then off to buddies place to hang and process. I always have a couple buddies to help me load the critters. Getting old really sucks if your health is not good due to not respecting the gift of good health and life that our Lord has granted us. I guess that the only benefit is that you eat less because all of the pills that you take make you full, no room for good eats after a hand full of meds. Now, if I could just find a nice Japanese house girl that would take me under her wing I think that I would be a happy geezer!

 

[Europe]

Dr Mike and truck driver

as I move toward 70, that is also my problem, is past accidents and surgeries affecting my ability to exercise as I once did and therefore my joints and wind have gone south. My last hunt in the States was an Elk hunt on the Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona with my grandson. My last hunt in Europe was an Ibex and Stag hunt in Austria with two friends. Those may have been my last two hunts, although I love to bird hunt and may still try to do that. My mind still wants to do however so I purchased a sail boat and have been sailing from port to port in the Mediterranean, like a Gypsy, only I am in a boat instead of a wagon. You just have to make adjustments that match your age and health, but you can still enjoy life if you maintain the right attitude. To be honest I am enjoying this new experience and don't "yet" miss hunting.

 

[DrMike]

As the old saying goes, if I'd known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of my body. A broken back served to get me a discharge (Naval surgeon told me I was listing 40 degrees starboard and that if I was a ship, they'd sink me). Several other wrecks served to mess with my head and left shoulder. Still, I was supposed to be wheelchair bound by age thirty. I am so grateful for what I have been able to do and to see. And I am planning on seeing more, just taking time to enjoy the scenery as I move through the landscape.

 

[Thankful Otter]

longrangehunter, thank you!

Dr Mike, you have beat the odds or prediction ( wheelchair by 30 ) and I think I speak for everyone here that your fighting to beat the odds or that prediction is not a surprise.

April I can not help thinking--wait, your sailing the Mediterranean, as a consolation prize because your unable to do anything else--I am sure some of us would not mind doing that now (-:

To all the other gentlemen who have posted and are still doing it, maybe slower, but your still doing it--hats off to you all

 

[Blkram]

As the good Dr likes to say, "getting old isn't all that bad, but it sure is inconvenient!"

and yes, he requires a little more supervision to keep him upright, then he used to; but his heart and his will is still game!

Just don't slam on the brakes and yell "Bear!" while he's busy performing navel inspections while travelling from one hunting area to another!!! LOL

My Dad still wants to go to the mountains to guide elk hunters at 68, his father was still guiding at 70, and his father was still hauling water, splitting firewood and running his trapline upto 2 weeks before passing at somehere between 108 and 112 years old! (We have his christening records from 1888, but there were no birth certificates back then, and he recalled the christening as a young boy somewhere between his 5th and 8th winter)

I can only hope that this bodes well for me as I approach closing in on my 50th winter!

 

[35 Whelen]

When I was 56 a few falls ago, I posted a Goat Hunt I took in Petersburg , Ak with an older guide friend of mine he is my senior by 11 years,but he is as tough as shoe leather. While we were getting ready to go I simply asked him, how he felt about climbing with a heavy pack up into the tops above treeline, his answer was interesting to say the least! He said Earle, I am not as tough as a goat, but I am probably as tough as you are. We both laughed and kept packin.
It takes 6hrs non stop to climb up threw that country , it is so steep in lots of places as your climbing you could almost reach over and touch the top tassle of 150ft trees as you were passing them. I have good wind and strong legs, but that country is brutal, wet under the canopy on a clear day, the topsoil will break free when you put your weight on it, exposing black mud slippery as snot.......... but try as I could, I could NOT get away from him...........
After we finally broke out on top , it was obviously the climb from hell, it then rained and blew like I have never seen it storm in my life, we rode it out for two days , and decided we needed to return to the valley floor to save the airplane, as the river was certainly going to flood the airstrip! The packs were sonewhat lighter going down, but the ground was compleately unstable now, and I have never been in such an incredible mess in my life, trying to get down, we both fell numerous times, and either of us could have broken a leg......we did make it down but were basically fighting for our lives to get off that
Mountain. Worst mess I ever got into hunting, the river had flooded the airstrip and water was half way up the tires, our base camp tent had 6"of water in it and everything was floating inside or submerged.
We left everything behind, got in the plane and tryed to take off, we made it just barely ............ and I mean just....... a Navy Seal probably would have done better, but not sure by how much?
My assessment of him after that trip was , he is way tougher than me ,and most goats!