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

I like Filson outdoor wear. I've had it with synthetics. I like the moisture control I get from natural materials. It is heavier.

Only Euro Optics for my hunting: spotters are Leica, scopes S&B, Zeiss etc, bins are Zeiss F Ls.

Better rifles too. Blaser & Steyr my main big game guns. Anschutz for rimfire.

Luckily life has been good to be able to afford all this.:-)

In general, I feel we all should be getting smarter in how we hunt and what we use. At 60, I have gotten to the point where each hunt is to be appreciated for the totality of the experience. Punching the tag isn't the only goal.

As for equipment, I have a philosophy that if you find something that works for you, consider buying a replacement.
By the time you need another, they've either discontinued it, changed its design or some other factor.

The older I get, the more intolerant I am of stuff that doesn't work or live up to the manufacturers claim.

Two new things for me to look forward to next season are:
the Forbes 24B and the 7x42 Leica HD Ultra's.

I forgot one thing. I find it more important to continue my daily workout. Its easier to stay in shape than fighting to get it back.

Nap on the ground, hell even sitting there in temps above 35 or so in Pa and you will have a good chance of getting more than a rest. I've got back up and taken off 10 plus ticks and found more when I crawled into bed. You can feel them moving on you or wake up and one is partially engorged.

Had Lymes once and it flairs backup at least once a year. Spring Turkey is the worst, followed by October Grouse.

I noticed my truck is stuffed with little extras now days like a bigger cot, bulky but soft pad and a heater for cold nights. Also added a game cart to my list of needed items.

I traded off my 300 WSM and 338 Win Mag. now using my Tikka 30-06 "super" lite and VX-2 2-7x33 CDS weights in a 6 lb 14 oz. Still using my old Zeiss ClassiC's 10x40 but am looking for a set of Swarovski el 8x32's or 8x42's.

Amen to that brother!

Getting older makes me appreciate the hunting that keeps me younger. As long as I'm doing that, the eqipment I'm using doesn't matter that much. I've always liked good boots, clothing, optics, rifles, bows, etc.

Oh wait.. about 10 years ago, I discovered wet naps. Those were a game changer for sure.

is that like a wet dream?

Compared to TP, snow, or leaves .. Yes! You can also takes a great whores bath with a wet nap.

As I've got older, without a doubt the best thing I've added to hunting is my gang of four.

Boots too my knees are feeling the effects of my age hardscrabble are my choice. My sons and their friends makes it much easier to get a elk back to truck these days does that count:) and ADVIL. Honestly I think I enjoy the sunrise more these days. I enjoy the jokes and banter more I am less serious about getting my animal serious for my son or nephews or hunting partners kids. Still bowhunting for elk we just start our hunt earlier before the whippet snappers get up. What the hay i can just about take a nap standing up now

I think the biggest adjustment I've made is attitude, and by that I mean knowing when to say when. After wrestling with the facts for a month last friday I pulled the plug on an elk hunt I had been thinking non stop about with a good friend for a long time now. I just know my messed up lungs (pulmonary hypertension) won't make a 10,000 ft elevation hunt anymore. I'll still have a full fall season but for about 10 days my mind will be elsewhere.
Other than that it's all been covered here. Lighter gear, slower pace, hunting smarter etc etc. The one thing I will add is I stash stuff in the woods preseason.Foam Seats...a piece of tarp....I've even stashed raingear and water in a mostly buried tote. Pick it up at the end of season when I'm done.

Great thread Mark.....

Well, my hunting techniques have definitely changed over the years. I think I hunt much "smarter" now and I get an elk or deer most every trip to the woods. Better equipment has certianly been a huge help. I can remember many back pack bow hunts in the Gila during the early 80's. No water proof gear and it would rain for days at a time. Now staying dry is not too difficult.

Get some good comfortable sleep so that I can hunt till the last day of 8-10 day hunts.

Since I play the draw in several states I find myself hunting new country from time to time. For this, a GPS makes those mile or two trips back to camp after dark easier.

As I've gotten older I find that I enjoy the trip and good friends much more. Have gotten more enjoyment from watching my son take deer and elk than all of my own.
John

I've learned what the gimmicks are and aren't. I use more synthetic and wool for clothing and can afford to do so now. I couldn't care less if it's camo or not.

30-06 size cases can handle anything I'm going to hunt and the .243 is sufficent for more than 95% of it.

Scouting has become fun. As much as the shooting itself.

I'm 68 and hunt deer exclusively from a ladder stand over hay, or green fields, cut overs or in oak bottoms. I wouldn't hunt without a thick foam pad to sit on and a Primos trigger stick. Took me years to figur out that I see many more critters with binocs.

1. Always have T10 and T15 Torx screwdrivers handy.

2. Record keeping is important for the handloader.

3. Hand Warners are my best buddy when hunting along with two pair of lite wool socks.

4. Get your wife involved with shooting, hunting and reloading. (Makes it easier to get the money)

5. Get your kids involved and then grand kids will follow.

6. A down vest is great.

I am 64. I don't hunt as far from a road as I did when I was young. I try to find the places other hunters pass by. I still like to track elk but can't track all day. I don't shoot deer and elk every year like I did when I was young. I just enjoy being out hunting and putting the crosshairs on an animal and then not pulling the trigger. I have not shot a deer in 8 years, just enjoy hunting them and knowing that I could have taken one. I also like my light weight rifle and my 8x32 leica binoculars. When I was young, packing a 9 pound rifle did not bother me.

Moose hunting is my main game. Having a strapping son-in-law and another good friend (younger) to do the bull work when one is down. Not so worried anymore about sleeping in when there is rain on the roof early in the morning.

Used to be eager to fish during mid-day. Now the younger ones are gung ho to go and don't mind preparing the fish for the table. Last Fall I didn't fish at all and only went out once the year before. On a mild afternoon I can take a book and a canvas arm chair out into the sun where I can read, doze and glass the far shorelines of the lake.

Jim

I think another thing that I have changed is my attidude. I am very comfortable in my hunting skin and don't or rarely care what others think or say. I have my gear that I use and my guns or bows of choice. I don't need to brag or even care to hear others brag, I prefer a good humorus article to that of another how to elk hunt 101 for the 100 hundreth time. I am more opnionated so I offer less free advice unless its someone I know. I guess I feel kind of liberated regarding hunting I am going to do it my way and enjoy it right or wrong Maybe getting cantankourusis is alright....

Ya, that too.

The last few years I've begun using satellite maps to select places for possible placement of ladder stands. I've also begun charting deer seen from each stand by day and time and weather conditions. I've also found that some areas are totally unproductive during daylight and the stands must be removed and placed at other fields.

Seems like at 69 I'm different. I still find immense satisfaction when my world condenses down to being nothing more than the cross-hairs settling on the spot or having a perfect move with a shotgun to the point of being able to pick out individual feathers on a game bird right before the trigger is hit. When it all seems to happen in slow motion.

However, I find little time for those lacking respect for the life they have taken. How some can stuff a game bird in their coat with the same attitude as if they picked up a penny is incomprehensible. Same as with those who pull a Deer out of the back of a truck and let it slam onto the ground with no more thought than if it was a broken piece of wood.

In the course of a day it's not necessary to shoot a lot, but shooting still is part of why I go.