Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting I might be running out of hunting partners

I tried a few times taking younger f fellows with me. They don't wan tto work that hard and I found myself still doing the camp chores

What's your definition of young? I think one nail you hit squarely is the word chores. I wonder how many kids have chores these days. I think rural kids probably do better in that regard. I was raised in both urban and rural myself. Had chores to do regardless.

Funny side note (or perhaps not so funny). I recall some years back the local news reported of a case of child abuse. It appears that some overbearing father had his boys out digging a ditch in the cold past sunset without any coats or sweaters on ... My interpretation. Temps were mid-50's to maybe low 60's that evening. Anyone who has ever done any digging knows they'd be sweating like a hog at those temps with a coat on, or even at temps a great deal colder than that. Heaven forbid a father try to instill a work ethic in his kids or the meaning of a deadline by having them do anything past sunset.

Draw tags don't help things. Those that might hunt with you don't have same points, etc. Looking to burn elk points in several states the next few years. After that, who knows?

Truth. If all young men (and boys) had to do manual labor at that age we'd all be better off for it.

Retired now, but in my working years we had a group of about 5 or 6 that were good for any hunting/fishing trip that was suggested. We dreamed of the freedom offered by retirement. With no deaths yet in the group, it's gotten to where one can't round up a partner for a premium hunt. Did my long overdue pronghorn outing last fall, and never spoke to another person for 7 days.

We don't have that problem as Idaho doesn't have a point system. Each year every applicant has an equal chance to draw. We can apply for a hunt alone or with as many as 3 other hunters. If 1 draws, we all draw.

Some states will also average points between applicants, so those points are still useful in some states.

Draws are often in "easier" areas as well in regards to terrain, hunter numbers (pressure) and animal density, which can make the physical aspect of the hunt easier for older folks.

My oldest partner has some good news. He had arthritis in a big toe and could hardly walk. The plan was that the doc was going to lay open the big toe and scrape the deposits off the bone. The healing period would be several months and that would get us very close to hunting season. It got down to the final check before the surgery a couple weeks ago. Seems that he and the doc didn't have their stuff together. It was the 2d toe that hurt, not the big toe with the calcium buildup. The sharp points in the big toe were rubbing against the second toe and causing lots of pain. Simple solution: the doc cut off the 2d toe at the 1st joint. Recovery time was 2 weeks. Now he's ready to go hunting...and we just drew cow elk tags in our favorite spot.

Our elk camp is fizzling out with some younger middle aged guys changing priorities and old guys hanging up elk hunting. I'll be 68 come elk season and I won't let poor knees stop this old paratrooper. Only ones left from our original bunch is me and my main partner who is 61. One other buddy that hunts most seasons, but not every year is 55 and is not in much better condition than I am. I reckon I'll keep going until I can't.... Long drives hurt me more than anything else. Happy Trails