PeaEye,

You don't have to quit elk hunting after a total hip replacement. I had both replaced last year - one in April, the other in late June, and was out hunting elk the 3rd week of September. I was pretty careful at first, and had to avoid getting into much blowdown. By mid-November I was getting around pretty well, though was still not in great shape due to so much debility beforehand, and nearly 6 months of downtime during healing and recovery.

I would certainly recommend the anterior hip replacement. Less downtime, faster recovery, virtually no chance of dislocation. The only thing is that they do cut through the hip flexor to get the job done, and the Doc did caution me to use care to not overwork the hip flexor with leg lifting while it was healing so I would not build extra scar tissue. High-stepping over tall blowdown, and other things that really work the hip flexor can make it sore after a hard day. I started some relatively tame xc skiing at 6 months out on the second one.

You do have to remember that the bone will be healing to the implants for quite a while after the incisions have healed. My Doc said it would take about a year to reach “normal”.

By 8 months out you can do most stuff you want to, but you will still probably want to be a bit more careful than you used to be. Hard falls would probably not be good. I didn't get an elk, so can't speak directly to packing meat. I do know I would not have tried a whole hind quarter a time (or more) as I used to do. My strength was not up to that yet, and common sense said don' t push it.

I did use a walking stick for help in balancing, and also aid on getting up slick hillsides. But then, with the amount of disability I had for the couple years beforehand, I had been using some kind of stick for aid anyway.

Deer hunting was actually fun again, and successful.

Don't wait so long you are really in bad condition and too stove up. Recovery is easier if you have not been a long-term couch potato because walking hurt too much.

Oh, and as mentioned - like Mule Deer said - make sure you do the PT. There is less for anterior hip replacement, but the surgery alone does not make it all better you have to work on range of motion and rebuilding strength. Mine did not make me 20 years old again, but it made me feel about 20 years younger than I had been feeling. You need realistic expectations, and you do have to do some work after the surgeon does his part.

You can PM to discuss further if you wish.