Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game As you've matured (ok gotten older)...

Good stuff here guys.

More comfortable/lighter pack.
Easier kicking & lighter rifle.
Good optics.
Comfy boots.

Really, my gear hasn't changed a lot.

Decided that sitting somewhere and watching for game was a pretty good idea. Used to be I had to go out and walk all day to feel like I'd been hunting.

I do like a warm campfire at night and it doesn't have to be a big fire either. But that hasn't changed over the years.

Guy

When I was young I could climb up and down the 'hills' near the camp with ease. I knew many others could not do that. There was game there then and I got some.

Now that I am old I can't climb those hills with ease. I could do it some. I never had 4WD back then. Didn't need it.

Now it helps a lot. We just got 11" more snow last night on top of the 33" or so that had not melted.

I wanted to go hunting today. I did get out earlier this week.

About all I am going to do 'outdoors' today with gear is run the snowblower!

Still using the 9x35 Nikon Binos I bought in 95,haven't found anything bette. Two rifles I hunt with besides a ML is the.06 FWT and 6.5 Swede.
I carry one of those Hot Seats now to sit on and wear rain gear pants in the snow. Sure keeps me dry now.

Most appreciated now are the two mules down in the corral. With rods, screws, cages in my back and COPD,I'd have to quit hunting if I didn't have them.

A Ford long box Crew Cab. I get more and more gear in camp each season.

I guess getting to this point has been a constant state of evolution, so it is hard to pin point when I got "old" .

I've been adjusting my gear constantly for a lot of years but I still use what has worked for me for a long time, just kind of stubborn that way, I guess.

Still shoot the Model 70 classic .338 WM for Elk, .270 for deer, though the .270 is on a mountain rifle light contour stock built around a commercial FN action. Light, fast, and carries and points extremely well.
The .338 was always in a tupperware stock since I bought it, but finally this week bedded it into a McMillan McSwirly. Kind of like buying new clothes for an old friend. Recoil never has bothered me too much and I like the results I've gotten with the .338 and .270 over the years so they will probably be with me till the end.

Still carry my Leupold 10x40 Porro's as they have worked fine for me since my wife gifted them to me for my birthday many years ago. Great glass and comfortable in my big hands.

Where I have made adjustments out of need is we finally bought a really nice tent- 2 actually. Replaced the old 10 x 12 with a 14 x 16 tent and great stove. Bought a 10x12 cook tent to go along with the larger group of family that hunts with us now.
Along with the tents we bought new cots and sleeping pads. Also put a nice carpet floor in the tent.
Getting a good night's sleep and a comfortable camp has made a world of difference in my hunting day.

I've always watched out for great deals on good hunting clothes and I've accumulated a good collection of light, warm clothes for my different hunting situations. Wool has been my go-to clothes for a very long time and that isn't going to change any time soon. I supplement some of that with Fleece in different weights for varying weather conditions, and several different weights of long johns and socks.

I guess I've been extremely lucky in my 60 years. I've never had any real problems with my knees or back and I can still pack out elk quarters, especially since I bought a good Molle pack for packing. I still like to hike the hills, but at a slower pace than when I was younger.

Most of these changes didn't really happen due to age as much as natural progression of adjustments as I could afford to buy better gear and as my son got older and could help out with the expense and set up chores and packing.

I think the one biggest addition I've realized is getting my (now 34 year old) son interested and keeping him interested in hunting. Now, if I seem even a little disinterested he gives me hell and pushes me to do things I may not accomplish without him around. Doggone former Marines......

Bob

Lots of great comments and wisdom, here.

I don't have any grandkids yet, so I'm not sure if I'm allowed to comment, but I've noticed a few things which I really have come to appreciated as I've "matured."

Lots of stuff already mentioned, plus:

Good socks.

4 Wheel Drive.

Gentler horses.

Less recoil.

Good digital cameras & pictures.

Rangefinder.

Getting up earlier and hurrying less.

Good glass and good triggers are things I've always prized, and now more than ever.

Hunting with my children. Seasons now focus some on whose turn it is to try for a good buck, but hunting time is spread among the meat hunters and horn hunters alike.

Just about every rifle I've got "belongs" to one of them, and will go with them when they leave with just a handful of exceptions, for which they'll have to wait a little longer...grin.

Every new one (or new to me) has a big element of which child it will go to when they leave/get married, and how it will round out what I already have for them.

DJ

I appreciate being able to take my 77 Chev pick-up with my 10-22, my Leica 8x42s and a couple of boxes of WW Power Points and hunt Gophers for a few hours just a few miles from home -- just me. No longer worried about having to be somewhere else.

I appreciate being able to take the Honda (Rancher) and take a ride in places where no one else (hardly) ever goes. With luck, I'll see Deer, Antelope (for sure) Coyotes and GOPHERS (if its Summer)!! I'll have a 44 Special along --- or maybe a bolt action 223 or a S&W 22 revolver.

I appreciate being on a good horse during round-up -- usually with a S&W Model 66 or such on my hip. I love going into the coulees and creek bottoms --- looking for strays. I have an old Resistol and a pair of scuffed-up Ariats that feel just right.

I like going out on country two-tracks in the early AM after a few inches of Snow have fallen -- looking for tracks -- just tracks; nothing in particular.

On an Elk hunt; I can sit in one place for an hour; glassing and listening --- This is pleasing to me. In the old days, I couldn't sit still for 5 minutes.

Not really an 'addition' but I'm making a bigger effort to hunt more with the older guys that brought me into the sport a long time ago - especially my Dad and uncle. Dad and I were talking last week. He has a 10 year hunting plan till he's out of gas. I need to make the best of that while we both still can.

Same with my uncle. He's only 12 years older than me but has had bi-pass surgery and is aging. I've spent many a day hunting with him and have some great memories.

This is a really cool thread.

Thanks Dober!

Some of these have probably been mentioned, but for me:

Lightweight, low recoiling rifle (7-08)

Aleve

Shooting sticks that double as a walking stick.

Polaris Ranger-Alright, I'll admit it. After 4 knee surgeries and just biding my time for a double replacement, I love the thing for retrieving game. Our mule deer place has 8-10 section pastures full of mesquite choked sandhills and zero roads. Impossible to get a deer out without quartering, which I've done plenty of, but the Ranger is a very welcome thing.

High power premium spotter- let the glass do the walking.

Back to a 270, wool clothes, pedialyte, and a knee brace. My buddies in the Bitteroot Valley always laughed at my 300 WM, typical eastener. LOL.

A lot of the stuff I would mention has already been said.

I still like 30-06, but I'm going to lighter bullets and medium powders. Over time, my taste is moving away from heavy recoil. One of these days, I may take a deer with a 223 REM.

I toss bulky outer layers in a duffel bag with pack straps and haul them out to the stand, and climb into the stand before putting them on. No more sweat. I stay a lot warmer.

I also figured out that those handwarmers work great, but not the way they are usually intended. I break one open and stuff it in a breast pocket. It warms the blood coming into my chest and that keeps my hands and feet warm. I use the chemical ones for deer season and use a Jon-E for turkey season. I can wear a lot less clothing.

Any time I can, I carry an extra pair socks with me. It really keeps my long hikes happier.

I will not go afield without a two compasses and a good whistle and matches.

Drier lint-- That one needed a paragraph of its own. I had to date a Girl Scout to find out that secret of the Universe. I have baggies of drier lint in every pack and jacket I own.

Extra shoelaces!!!

A garbage bag. I learned as a caver to always carry a nice sturdy leaf bag in my kit as a last resort shelter. Years later I heard about using it next to your skin, worn as a vest as a last ditch way to stave off hypothermia. I've had to use the bag twice over the years-- an absolute lifesaver.

I almost always carry a hiking staff. I got in the habit when I broke my foot 30 years ago. Once in a while I go without, but I always carry the means to make one in a hurry. Once I had a leg go bad on me on a backpacking trip and had to come out on one leg and the staff. Another time I injured myself in the Big South Fork and had to cut a staff with my Swiss Army Knife to get out. My staff has probably also saved me a lot of grief over the years. A guy my size (think John Wayne gone to seed) with a big stick has made a lot of folks, the occasional dog, and more than one snake get cooperative in a hurry. That stick does a lot of talking, and all I'm doing is using it to haul my carcass around.

Make sure you try this stuff to see how well it burns. I know a guy who carried it around for years only to find out it wouldn't burn. Some fabrics and fabric softeners have pretty good fire retardants, it turns out.

Vaseline on cotton balls is a safe bet.

Red wing boots,Filson double mac cruiser. My old 270,and my newer remington 7600 308.

My digital watch with alarm.

So I can set it to wake up an hour before sunset and avoid the walk back to the truck in the dark.

Ditto.

I also wish I would have realized how cool and capable my .280 Remington Mountain rifle is/was. I let it get away from me for TWENTY years when I convinced myself I "needed" a big magnum to take elk...in spite of the fact that I killed my biggest elk with it in about 1991. Sooooo fortunate to have gotten it back.

Damn I was ignorant.

Dave

Shooting them close to home.

I shot my last 3 elk on the hill above my house, on my own land, and within 1/4 mile of my house. No, I didn't shoot them from my house. I actually stalked 200 yds or so up the hill before taking the shot on each of them. And they were all a downhill drag.

Learned a longtime ago better to save a bit longer for quality gear then be let down in the field. My best buy has been my sleeping bag, thought it cost a fortune when I bought it years ago, now realize it was a great investment, sleep like a baby no matter the weather.
Love my leica 8x32's; scarpa boots, quality socks and plenty of them, light weight rifles carrying my 308 montana or 3006 NULA is a joy, as is pulling up with the kahles and swaro scopes they wear.
And of course wouldn't go anywhere without a custom knife or two, generally an Ingram or May

Buffy wins, I could only dream of living that life.

I fixed it Guy

Lighter, better balanced rifles in sub .30 calibers.

Really good boots. A few different brands and weights.

Lighter weight, higher tech clothing.

I will always own Leupold Yosemite bins.