Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game At what age did you begin to feel physically less functional in the bush

I was a super-active hunter through my 50s. Things pretty much went to crap when I had an extensive shoulder surgery in the summer of 2005. My shoulder was a victim of dragging an antelope a seemingly impossible distance over the prairie and it's workable, but weak.

While I was trying to get healed up from the shoulder, the rest of me seemingly kinda fell apart. It just plain HURTS to do stuff and climbing the mountains, like I did only a decade ago, is completely out of the question.

I'm 64 now and life is great. Absolutely no complaints; the amount of hunting I have been able to do in my lifetime is something that most only dream about.

I prolly have a hunt or two left, but they will have to be easy and measured. I'm thinking maybe a really whopper of an antelope and a GREAT bull elk.

Steve

There are things that are good about age. One-you're still here. Also, you hopefully get to a point where you can enjoy the moment, the many little things that the hurriedness and impatience of youth overlook-a cozy mid-day nap after the sun warmed the tent; a great laugh with a great friend; that view from that ridge looking across to the other after a long hike; comfort in your own skin with the pace you set; the comfort of a soft down bag when the temp outside sinks like a cement boot..

Saddlesore's observation of realized mortality is good motivation to enjoy and absorb the moment instead of always looking ahead.

Steve, what is your definition of a GREAT bull?

Gdv

Hack,

At close to 60, I'm not quite willing to do other than say quietly to whatever forces seem to wish to take life and vitality from folks..:

Molon Labe...

as it concerns any issue of life, health.

I am more circumspect and deliberate as I have aged..

Still have good function or eyes, ears, body and mind.

I can do anything I ever wanted to do or did..albeit a bit slower..which isn't bad for the hunter or man in the 'bush'..:)

My wife of many years makes fewer demands on my competencies..:)

....and in spite of what I know, have done, and have learned..not too many younger folks are very attentive..Jim

I played a lot of sports in my youth, but in my late 20s was down to weightlifting, running, and bicycling. I found that I had lost some hand-eye coordination and balance. I did two things to restore them. First thing I did is gonna sound silly, but it worked. When showering, I would stand on one foot and wash the other foot. I got into the habit of doing it every shower no matter what, and the two minutes a day of standing on one foot made a big difference. Needless to say, do what you need to do to avoid a slip-n-fall in the shower. Second thing was to dig my basketball out of storage and shoot hoops. Work the whole court, from under the rim out to 3-point land. Work on dribbling, work on your free throws, work on your jump shot if your knees will take it.

"There are things that are good about age. One-you're still here."

That is the best post yet.

This year. 44 yrs old.

Last February I had brain surgery for the removal of an Acoustic Neuroma tumor on my balance and hearing nerve. I am now profoundly deaf in my right ear (good side for the deer to sneak up on)and my balance is much less than perfect. I am also retired from my law enforcement career due to the above issues.

What sucks is that I finally had a new area I was hunting the past several years figured out. It's too mountainous and rugged for me to hunt now. So I hunt out of my friend's barn. It's all distance like out west. I took a small 5 point at 300yds. But I needed my buddy's help to retrieve the deer. It was still great though. I just have to hunt with someone from now on and keep the terrain easy to manuver.

Dan



Dan

All good on you Dan for keeping in the game.

I hope your balance can improve.

I was 59 end of August. Beats the hell out of the alternative.

I stay fairly active all year and don't "condition", so my hunts are getting slower and lower. Did alright going from 150 feet residence to 9500 Colorado last year on an elk hunt, but don't know how well a second day might have gone. The cow elk tasted just fine, tho.

Noticed at age 35 or so, it was taking me longer on those death marches. Since then, it's gradually become more painful also. Two years ago I tore a miniscus packing 100 lbs of caribou pack down a 45 degree slope, then worsened it with the mile and a half thru Hell's Half Acre of forest/tundra to camp. In the dark. I think my brain must have given out a bit earlier on.... The problem is, as someone earlier said, it still thinks I'm 30, when the body is saying "OH NO YOU'RE NOT!"

Cataract surgery/ lens replacement just one year ago. Plays hell with close vision, but I hardly ever see animals within 3 yards, anyway. Makes the scope issue interesting, too.

I'm hoping for time for one more sheep hunt back into my favorite place, last visited about 30 years ago. 17 miles backpack, then we start hunting. Took my wife there on our honeymoon. She got the sheep. Just gonna be slower and more painful is all.

This thread gave me the all-over willies.

I'm 42. The writing is on the wall. I had to quit with B-ball but I love to hike and I'm a middle-aged ski bum.

Unfortunatly I didn't start hunting till I was 35, and am still learning, big time. On the one hand, I have a level of freshness with hunting some guys might not have at 42- it blows my mind- but on the other hand I have to fit a lot of goals into the next 10, 15 years.

My stepfather Bob is an amazing guy. He's all whipcord and leather. He is, I believe, 76 years old now and is just now, finally, starting to stiffen up. Most spry old guy you'd ever meet; some guys are just built that way!

-jeff

I'm 56 and spend 3-4 days a week in the gym and walk and ride my mountain bike a fair amount.

I've had the new "wave form" lasik surgery twice and have pretty fair close vision and my distance vision is very good for my age but my eyes don't both me a bit. My night vision is degrading though but my eye doctor assures me it's good "for my age"... <sigh>

My strength is (nearly) as good as it ever was.

It's my endurance that suffers. I can still (mostly) keep up with the young guys for a day or so but then I start building up a "rest deficiency" that will eventually overtake me and I need to take a day off and rest.

It hasn't affected my hunting yet but my first mountain hunt in several years is coming up next year and I'm thinking I'll have to pace myself like never before.

In my opinion, if you don't smoke, if you eat well, if you exercise daily, and if you're genetically fortunate, you'll be able to actively hunt with little or no physical problems well into your 70's and if you're REALLY astute and blessed into your 80's. The endurance is about the only thing that will inevitably suffer.

Just one man's opinion....

$bob$

bob - good point about "living right" and longevity. I've been really lucky in that respect because I've never smoked, have always worked out, have stayed active. Except for my college years, haven't drank much either. I also have longevity on both sides of my family. I'm hoping to still be hunting at 80, some of my relatives have.

Several have commentted that they go slower now than in their prime. This hit me ~ 2 years ago. I can still go all out but notice I get stiff with a few more aches and pains the next day or two which requires an "easy" day after 2-3-4 days of going all out. I honestly thought I wasn't in good enough shape. I came to realize my conditioning is fine but my body complains more now than it used to.

Also agree on paying attention to the things that matter more as we get older/wiser. I've grown much more appreciative of the whole time element. At 44, I can see that we each have a finite time on this planet. I've had enough close people leave this life unexpectedly to appreciate the fact that you never know if your best hunting buddy is going to be with you next year. Same goes for Dad's. I've come to appreciate the moments I have in special places, with special people, doing special things. If I couldn't hunt anymore, I have a large supply of memories from the past 30+ years hunting. I've not shot the biggest bucks, bulls, bears, but I have had some fantastic hunts with people closest to me. I've learned to not take those for granted.

Just hanging around camp at night means more now than it used to. I took naps a couple of nice aftenoons last year in Idaho. Mid-afternoon naps in mountain meadows in elk country are fantastic. It doesn't get much better than that - taking a nap in God's country.

Good thread.

LDHunter, sounds like me, but I'm 57.

Hit the wall at 54......then we renovated the house 2 summers ago ( 3 month job) and got out of a work out routine, and it's been tough getting back into it....But, work out you must!

I am close to 54 and have had some pretty serious injury over the years, a heart attack, pulmonary embolism and various sundry joint problems. I still get out albeit I am much slower and careful now than when i WAS 40. I like to stalk hunt so going slow is not a detriment. I did not get out much this year although the shootist and I saw some beautiful country and a bunch of whitetail deer, I did not harvest any. The last day of the season I was going for a walk and discovered the area I was going to hunt was covered in two feet of snow. I pushed in for 100 yds of thigh deep snow and eleced to turn around and call the season closed.

That would not have happened at 50, but as stated earlier you never know if you will hunt again with your hunting buddy, and I don't want to be the hunting buddy that doesn't live another season.

I AM A BIT DISAPPOINTED WITH FAILING BODY BUT AM OH SO PLEASED TO SEE ANOTHER SUNRISE,HEAR ANOTHER BULL MOOSE ANSWER A CALL, SEE A FAWN NUZZLE HER MOTHER'S MILK SAC, AND CUDDLE MY WIFE AT NIGHT WHEN I GO TO BED TIRED.

Randy

JJ

I would have to say that around 30, there was a slight drop-off.Although, for the three/four years prior I had been running(a lot), including 4 marathons.Since then, I've gone "cold turkey" on training, but have an active lifestyle.
The really noticeable drop-off was around 50, and aint gett'n any better.
Who ever said these were "The Golden Years", was a colorblind "s.o.b."!!!!
-memtb

I started to loose my balance, endurance, and agility at about forty five years of age. My problems are genetic and wear and tear on joints.

Scoliosis started causing problems at age 25. I was told then that I�d be looking at severe back problems when I past 40. (I had surgery on the lower back two years ago.) So I decided to do all the hiking and backpacking I could while I was able.

I wore my knees out during martial arts training doing exercises and stunts that we didn�t know were bad for knees at the time. My last backpacking trip was pure pain coming down that mountain.

I lost my ability to draw a bow when I had to have rotator cuff surgery to remove an impingement that was cutting into the tendon. I�m just happy I can cast a fishing rod again. I couldn�t before the surgery.

Through all that I took several falls due to loss of mobility and balance. Too much Vicodan and too little flexibility. I busted my right hand this past May falling off a bicycle. It�s still giving me problems. I fell off the sea wall while fishing at the coast summer before last. Knocked out my top front teeth and required several stitches to put my lip back together.

I was lucky to have been warned that this was coming when I was 25. I made up my mind then that I would not wait until I retired to have fun. I did as much as I could while I could and I have no regrets about it.

Now days I just try to remind myself that I can�t do things I once could. I have to use my head instead of my back and make things easy on myself.

I am 61.5 and was told when I was almost 14 that I probably would never walk again, due to being run over by a drunk driver. I joined the BC Forest Service at 18 and could and did do well enough that I was a supervisor by 23.

I backpack hunt, hike, can ride mountain horses a bit and snowshoe. I go solo into remote BC wilderness, always have and enjoy it. No, I cannot do what I used to do, but, in moderate country I can and do carry 100 lb. loads and it is not too bad.

The "secret"it seems to me, is to do what YOU enjoy and phuque any loudmouth young punk who wants to play "longdicking"; this is about FUN, not about silly competition.

I am, as my earlier thread on the BPing forum indicates, going into the most intense, specialized work-out programme of my life in order to continue to do what I like until I am "old", maybe 90 or so. I STILL have a LOT of BC mountaintops to climb to and I WILL do it.....WILL is what really makes it happen for we well-aged gents! A pass on the beer helps too, the WORST part of getting old....well, maybe the second worst........

Friend George,

Indeed, age gives on perspective. I'm convinced that you enjoy stuff more. On top of that, by the time you are a bit "long of tooth" you are an excellent shot, so you're going to BANG-FLOP critters most rickey-tick. You also are unlikely to run all over the mountains and find lots to kill in decent country. There are advantages.

GREAT bull???? I'm thinking 350-375.

Merry Christmas, old friend,

Steve

JJHACK,

I am 63. This is the first year I noticed any difference. The folks I hunt with are twenty to thirty years younger than me. The reason I noticed was the guy I was hunting elk with said, "I am tired of seeing the same thing." I responded, "Then, let's go up and over this hill." The further we went the behinder I got.

I started an exercise program. There is a book I whole heartedly recommend, which I just finished and am starting to re-read. One fellow who used to have knee problems now can run 17 plus miles at a six minute mile. His heart rate is 115 and his breathing rate is 10. He said when he started the program his performance was cut in half. He stuck with it and by the end of three month, he was pain free and exceeding anything he had done previously. The book is Body, Mind and Sport. The author, Dr. John Douillard, is/was a professional iron man contestant.

Remember Daniel Boone was hunting until well over 80.

Gents, Not anyones idea of a hunter (yet, but I aspire to learn), certainly not to your standards, but have spent a good deal of time in the woods in my younger years. I'm currently 49.
My question is do you accept the "Go ye not softly into the night...", or do you "Go gracefully"?
I recognize that I'm not 18 anymore, but aspire to still go, all be it slower, and will continue to go so long as my body will allow it. If the inevitable were to happen out there, it would be because of my ignorance or because my body failed me and I'm OK with that. I'd be doing what I love to do where I love to be.
Regards, Jim