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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,712
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,712 |
I'm within 3 months of 86. Had to quit hunting about 4years ago. We lost our deer hunting ground which was near my s-i-l and youngest daughters cottage. Prior to that had to quit moose hunting because my s-i-l, who had done the heavy lifting for me for several years decided he wanted to go back to deer hunting. Of the other members of our party the youngest was 70. Last Dec. I decided to drop my membership in my gun club. Hadn't been out for 2 years prior due to Covid 19 and now arthritis in a hip is making walking difficult. A few hundred yards to the mail box is about it.
As an old saying goes "time waits for no man". Fortunately I have tons of memories to fall back on.
Jim
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 10,775
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 10,775 |
Time for some fall fishing trips.
A true sportsman counts his achievements in proportion to the effort involved and fairness of the sport. - S. Pope
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Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 5,191 Likes: 4
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 5,191 Likes: 4 |
I'd try to get him out for something, even called coyotes, Maybe some range time? I kept taking my dad out, shot his last deer at 77, just kept at it half days in good weather. Last hunt he was 83, drove him deep into the woods, put him on a stand with his Browning auto 5, his oxygen,a thermos of coffee , and a bag of ring dings and twinkys and pushed around a bit. He lasted about 3 hours, then we went home, had a great time and planned the next hunt on the way home. The rest of the week was cold and damp, a week later he went into the hospital, three weeks later he was gone. That was 2006, and every year I make it a point to go back there and sit a while.
Now I just turned 70, last falls Maine hunt had two guys 80, three of us late 60's, and two "kids" mid 30;s. everyone hunts at their own pace, and buddy Ron, at 80 killed a 187 pound 10 point. I'm going elk hunting in Co. this Oct. I realize everyone, and every area is different , but I plan to keep at it as long as I can, and will help my buddies keep at it too. Getting old sucks. Good luck on your elk hunt. My Dad went on a 10 day pack in elk hunt with us when he was 70. It was also the first time he was ever on a horse's back. Maybe I'll be able to do the same in 6 years.
Life is good live it while you can.
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,631
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,631 |
Great thread. I fit right in the middle of it myself. Ill be 76 this season and Ill be out there. Hunt mostly alone. Most of those I hunted with have dropped off along the way. I am lucky enough to own 40 acres in the middle of good elk and deer country. I am still in good shape and hope to hunt for a long time yet. We will see how that goes. Nice to hear how the others are handling it. Just do the best you can for as long as you can.
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 2,165 Likes: 2
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 2,165 Likes: 2 |
I'm turning 60 in April, but have already had a taste of things to come. In the last four years I've survived stage 4 cancer and recovered from that. Surprisingly, the battle with gall bladder, liver and pancreas infection was worse and has been a battle of almost two years. I lost so much weight, muscle mass and strength that I had to use a walker to move around in the house.
Thankfully late last fall I started gaining strength and was able to walk to the box blind at the back of my property. I took the best deer I've ever taken in Mass. and the first one on my own property. I couldn't get him out of the creek bottom by myself, but I've got two strong SILs that helped. In Miss. I was hunting from box blinds and feeling good, so I decided to try climbing a ladder stand. Climbed it even if it did tucker me out a bit, damn near got emotional over it.
All this has made me realize how quickly our health can be taken from us and has made me determined to get back to as good of condition as I can. It also makes me determined to help my 76 year old uncle get out for as long as he can.
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 4,858
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 4,858 |
Teaching a youngster how to hunt could fill the need to hunt too.
For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
2 Thessalonians 3:10
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Joined: Dec 2021
Posts: 3,569 Likes: 6
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Dec 2021
Posts: 3,569 Likes: 6 |
I would NEVER make my buddy the camp cook. He has some really strange eating habits. I don't know how his wife puts up with him. I learned over 30 years ago that when we go, we do our own cooking. He might make a pot of pasty white rice and toss in a hot dog. That's supper. He doesn't like stuff mixed together - like stews or soups. Each ingredient is eaten separately. I could go on. Yeah, one of my elk hunting buddies thinks a jar of Ragu or a can of cream of mushroom soup over some mystery meat is camp gourmet…. Two wives come along with husbands these days to keep them out of trouble or make sure they get cross-country safely. None of us are getting any younger. Works for me since we eat really well these days. I used to lose 10 pounds on an elk hunt. Now I hope to come home even! 🤣 If I could just get my appetite to decrease to the same level as my activity level......! I grew up in a camp where prepackaged meals meant fried Spam and a can of heated pork & beans. We ate a LOT of fried venison, baked ducks, fried fish and fried potatoes! Breakfast was ALWAYS bacon, eggs and canned biscuits with coffee. That camp stayed together for right at 30 years.
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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 1,867
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Mar 2011
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I just turned 85 and can appreciate the years of great hunting with my partner who is 87. We still hunt but not at the pace of our younger years. Mostly hunt Turkeys now with my Daughter and Granddaughters. It just seems the last six months the desire is still there but the body is not as willing as it was last year. What has kept both of us going is some years back we hunted with a fellow by the name of Johnson who was 94 at the time. Little slow getting up in the morning but by golly he got a pretty good buck. We are going to keep doing it until we die if possible. Wife won't let me turkey hunt alone anymore as she knows I think the next canyon could be a better spot. Did have to pass on a pretty good buck this year as the friend I was with is 86 and we figured we would have a hard time getting it out of the canyon it was in. I guess its time but I just can't face it.
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 23,064 Likes: 7
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 23,064 Likes: 7 |
Rock Chuck: Tough one there!
I do NOT have a good solution/suggestion for you other than maybe offering him a place in your Hunting Camp as a non-Hunter cook, photographer and friend/helper?
Best of luck in this touchy situation.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
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Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 24
New Member
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New Member
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 24 |
That's when my ex father in law became "cheif camp cook and bottle washer"........
I thank God that he came to that conclusion on his own, though.
I wouldn't have had the heart to tell him.
He served in that role till he died at 91.
He loved the mountain........
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 300
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 300 |
This year was the first without my dad in camp. He’d been camp cook for the last 5 or so. Fugkin stroke made the decision for him.
I truly hope I have the balls to walk off into the mountains and enjoy a few hours of dead silence and retrospect of my life before I end things on my own terms when that time comes. There truly are fates worse than death. THIS is the way! Ive told my wife for a few years now that when the time comes, give me an old buffalo robe and let me wander off into the snow. Find me by the buzzards in the spring, or not, doesn't matter much to me.
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,494
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,494 |
I would NEVER make my buddy the camp cook. He has some really strange eating habits. I don't know how his wife puts up with him. I learned over 30 years ago that when we go, we do our own cooking. He might make a pot of pasty white rice and toss in a hot dog. That's supper. He doesn't like stuff mixed together - like stews or soups. Each ingredient is eaten separately. I could go on. Yeah, one of my elk hunting buddies thinks a jar of Ragu or a can of cream of mushroom soup over some mystery meat is camp gourmet…. Two wives come along with husbands these days to keep them out of trouble or make sure they get cross-country safely. None of us are getting any younger. Works for me since we eat really well these days. I used to lose 10 pounds on an elk hunt. Now I hope to come home even! 🤣 Food snobs is not the right term, but I'm the one you don't want. Eat to live, not live to eat. I've got hunting to do when its that time. Eat anything enough to keep going. Have the rest of the year to cook and eat. Though we don't do much different at home lol. Wanted to toss together some sweet rice in AK between hunters... had rice. Had cinnamon. Could not find milk at that camp. Found hot chocolate mix. Worked just fine. All of us guides finished it off ASAP.
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 9,406 Likes: 1
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 9,406 Likes: 1 |
I am now 75 and have had to adjust my expectations and techniques. No more backpack hunts or packing out big game. But I still enjoy hunting and will kill coyotes and hopefully a wolf. I will look for big game and stalk as close as possible which is the fun part, You don't need a tag or a strong back to do this just binos and a rangefinder. I can hike/snowshoe and spot and stalk from dawn to dark, but under 10k feet and a lot slower, and return to a warm motel room and a good meal.
It is not the same and I miss the meat but still get to spend about 100 days a year in the hills which is OK.
Improvise, adapt, overcome.
mike r
Don't wish it were easier
Wish you were better
Stab them in the taint, you can't put a tourniquet on that.
Craig Douglas ECQC
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,494
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,494 |
I just turned 85 and can appreciate the years of great hunting with my partner who is 87. We still hunt but not at the pace of our younger years. Mostly hunt Turkeys now with my Daughter and Granddaughters. It just seems the last six months the desire is still there but the body is not as willing as it was last year. What has kept both of us going is some years back we hunted with a fellow by the name of Johnson who was 94 at the time. Little slow getting up in the morning but by golly he got a pretty good buck. We are going to keep doing it until we die if possible. Wife won't let me turkey hunt alone anymore as she knows I think the next canyon could be a better spot. Did have to pass on a pretty good buck this year as the friend I was with is 86 and we figured we would have a hard time getting it out of the canyon it was in. I guess its time but I just can't face it. Yup, you do have to have the sense and decency not to put yourselves into a spot where someone else has to risk themselves to get you out. And I respect that. I"ve been the ones getting people out before thinking... WTF, no respect to the rest of the world to go there and do that kind of thing.
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 17,737 Likes: 1
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 17,737 Likes: 1 |
I'm in my 70's as well and the diabetic neuropathy makes it difficult to get around on uneven ground. Seems the older I get the more I struggle with my balance, even on the floor in the house. Drives me nuts, I know it's tough to even walk around in the yard with my balance and I don't need to be a burden on the guys I've hunted with. If by chance I got way back in the woods, if I fell it would be a terrible job for them to try to get me out. I can't burden my friends with that kind of stuff. I've still got my memories.
NRA LIFE MEMBER
GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS
ESPECIALLY THE SNIPERS!
"Suppose you were an idiot And suppose you were a member of Congress... But I repeat myself."
-Mark Twain
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 32,181 Likes: 4
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 32,181 Likes: 4 |
I'm 73. Two years ago I quit putting in for drawing permits. I no longer have the bust-ass fire in my belly. I'm still pissed that in 40 years of trying, I never drew a bison permit, tho! You hear that Leighton?  Well, not as much, anyway. Bust -ass has ceased to be all that much "fun". Time moves on, and aging is relentless. As long as I can get reasonably easy access, tho, I'll go hunting. Finding my way back is not that important. My long-time hunting partner - about 5 years ago, now - came down with RC's 78 yo symptoms. He's a year younger than I am, I think.
The only true cost of having a dog is its death.
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