Well I am now in my middle 50's and the mountain hunting has gone from 10 - 15 miles in mountain �off trail� terrain to 5 - 7 miles on a good day. Dragging a deer by myself is 1 mile or less so I cut them up in to small pieces and pack.
I hunt a lot of BLM and Forest Service land for Mule deer and Blacktail with a bow. I have hunted this way for over twenty years. Shot some nice bucks and even a few doe when it was legal but nowadays I cannot find anyone to go with me for archery season. Family seems to always be busy, friends are �too old� for archery and back woods hunting, and I am hard to get along with for anyone else.
So I have bought new hunting rifles and a quad to be accepted in more hunting camps but my way of hunting does not sit well with most. I end up by myself again. With no help with downed game or packing.
Don�t care too much for drinking/drugs and hunting which alienates me. I don�t poach. I take at least two weeks hunting at a time and its tough terrain.
I do not know how much longer I have but I am going out this way. I hunt as hard as my body lets me and if I need to lay up a day so be it � I just hang out in whatever camp I have and hit it hard the next day.
I hope and pray nobody including the Lord takes it away from me. I just do not know what I would do without hunting in those mountains. I do like my new rifle and I am having fun hunting with it. It seems like a natural progression.
So when is my last hunt?
