Just back from eight days of archery hunting. I didn't punch the tag but had a great trip and saw a ton of elk. As one who put 50-60 miles on his boots should expect. It was quite warm, the bugles quit early every day but I had my chances.

While hunting I saw a few hunters, almost all of whom were older than me. By quite a bit. Some were punchy about it. One guy cruising around in his brand new General got chippy with me for getting out there on foot and "running all the elk out." I asked him if he was expecting one to just run out and stand alongside the road and wait for him to drive up.

Another guy sitting in his pickup asked me about sitting waterholes as he took a drag on his vape. I said I didn't know how to pick one, there's water all over. He told me the steel plates in both his feet didn't allow much hiking anymore but he'd been putting in for over 20 years for this tag. I'll give him credit, he at least had a driver his same age who took him to the waterholes and he did sit quite a bit.

A big fat septuagenarian had a new General as well, and his side kick was sporting a new perm and color, and wearing a sweatshirt. "GRANDMA" was embroidered on it. I didn't ask if she was going to help pack quarters down to the SxS for him. Maybe she needed to give him his meds every day. He was quite concerned that I'd go hiking in after "his" elk as well.

Point creep is a bigger problem than I had thought. The CO for the area told me that if I thought these guys were old, I should see who gets Park tags. They have mostly been going to guys with more than 30 years as of late.

I did see two younger hunters than me. One had a nice 6x6, and the other didn't get it done. He had his mom with him, which was kinda cool. She was camo'd up and keeping up with him as best she could.

Turning 65 next week and I’ll be out there until my kids take me to our veterinarian’s office to have me put to sleep.

Oldest hunter I personally know going after elk was a gentleman I saw just last year. He was 86 and shuffling his feet, but dangit, he was putting one foot in front of the other so good for him!

Turn 79 this year. First season I have missed in 45+years. I had stroke in late July and the doc said not to go, so I turned my tag in. In hind sight, I should have said screw it and went as I am feeling pretty decent now.

I could still go 2nd season, but my old pack mule went lame and now I have no way to pack meat out. If it snowed any great amount, I would be SOL. I have deer tag in eastern CO the end of October, so hope fully that will suffice. I will turn 80 before next fall but I plan on elk hunting next year, if I am still upright.

My original goal was to be able to hunt until I was 75. I got that done and set a goal of 80.

My Grandad bought his last tag at age 87, killed his last elk when he was 77. He hiked a mile or so up to his sitting spot every day of the season when he was 87 but never got a shot. He’s 90 now and in great shape but he’s hung up his rifle for good. He is still planning to go with us and be the camp superintendent this year.

Of course I generally run across a bunch of the folks you described every year. Fat asses cruising the trail on wheelers or in trucks, drinking beer and looking for “elk close to the road”.

Good for you guys. I hope to join you in hunting hard well into my old age. You should be proud, rightly so.

I suspect those of you who replied are hunting on general tags available OTC or close thereto. Our South Dakota tags are resident only and coveted and extremely hard to come by. I had 8 years in for mine, the vape guy had 22 years in to get his. I cannot reapply for 9 years now and thus it will be 20 or more years before I would draw again. Lots of competition for the tags. Point creep is keeping younger guys from getting these tags. By and large its older guys then who are getting South Dakota elk tags but who are not developing/maintaining skills and conditioning required to go out and do what is necessary to be successful.

I hunt public land every year in CO don’t depend on points to hunt. I’m 62 & hauled out our rookie’s elk hindquarter 4 miles away up & down to the truck well after dark & after he ran out of gas & hit the wall. I hauled out my own cow, another hunting partners & 2 deer nothing closer than 1.5 miles from the truck.

Old guys in general are tougher that the young pups sprinting up the hills. I miss my 25 year old legs & wind but feel blessed to have the health & desire to hunt elk on foot & bring them out on my back.

I’m hoping for another 10 years before I have to hunt the base of the hills or God forbid out of the truck - both options are better than not hunting.

I hope you are still as cheeky when you're 75. I have a nephew that is always pissing and moaning about the"old guys" that can't walk putting in for tags and ruining his chances at the draw. Screw him!

Saddlesore,

I'm sorry to hear of the stroke and that you had to miss this season. I've followed your posts for years and appreciate them. Keep 'em coming. I'm hoping you and the mule will haul one more elk out of the hills next year.

Hahahahaha! I was more bitching about them bitching at me for going out and hunting on foot and ruining their road hunting opportunities

54 here, but with a lot of miles on me. Heart attack last year left me with 2 stints in the heart. I did manage to plug a cow with my bow and haul it out by myself. About a mile and a half one way. Still kicking and thinking about next year.

I applaud your effort. That is the way my elk hunting partner and I hunt. He's older than me, but he still gets around pretty well. Him and I have our tactics to get out there, find them and ambush them if we can. Generally he will drop me off at a point and he will circle around and we will meet in the middle. That has produced elk, but it requires a lot of walking and planning. We see a lot of guys just driving around, or sitting in their pickups near a clearing. Probably hoping guys like us are going to push the elk to them. I'm sure we have a time or 2, so guys shouldn't get mad because if nothing else we are out there moving them around. Otherwise the elk could be holed up somewhere and no one would see them. Keep doing what you are doing BKIN. We hunt in a very low hunters success rate area (approx 5% most years), but we tend to get our elk every other year. The way I see it, is you have better chances if you get out there where the elk are vs. waiting for the elk to get to where you are..

Your post is inspiring. I’m hoping for the same. My family wonders why I keep up the strenuous efforts throughout the year & I say it’s to offset age. I’m
A little crusty these days & do things I shouldn’t but still can.
Cheers.

I will be 60 on my next birthday. Grew up in CO hunting the high country and still try to get back every year. I have taken 25 elk and have packed them all out on my back. Took a mountain goat at 13,800 ft more than 5 miles from the trailhead and packed it out on my back. Took a bighorn ram at over 11,000 feet and brought it out on my back. Last year I took a big black bear. In less than a week I will be hunting a pronghorn buck on foot on the Comanche Natl Grasslands.

Don't knock old guys. Most of them have been around the block a few times and if I ever get my Unit 2 tag I'll be hunting on foot in the canyons of northwest CO trying to pull a monster bull into the open. I'm sitting on 26 points right now.

What is a "Park tag"?.....

I love the guys driving around (as long as they stay on designated roads) then I know where the lazy azzes are and can hunt accordingly.

Saddle-, you’ve done very well. There’s just no denying the effects of getting older. My last of about eleven bulls and a couple cows was taken in ‘18 when I was 69 and seven months after a total hip replacement. It was a bit too early. I was still a bit gimpy on wet snow slopes even with walking sticks, and horses are not my favorite mode of transportation any more (give me a mule). But thankfully, I got a great shot at a young 6x6 at about a 100 yards. My shooting ability is about the only thing that hasn’t changed. Yet.

Being from Iowa, that, realistically was my last elk as I have no further plans to go again. I’m just thankful I had the opportunities I did. However, I still love pheasant hunting with friends and also still hunting alone In the snow for our whitetails.

Cheers and the best.

i'm 70, be there for first rifle, been walking my butt off to get in shape.

I'm feeling like an old elk hunter this year......

Beware us old guys. Stealth and treachery.....

77 here and headed for Wyoming next week, looking forward to my 60 th elk season. I hike pretty much every day, (over 800 miles this year) and stay in shape. I can still get back "in" but it takes me a little longer. I don't know how many more elk seasons I have left but I treasure every day that I see the sun come up over elk country. I have been very successful over the years and hope to continue getting back in, there and getting it done.

I turned 77 this year. Filled my CA bull elk tag three weeks ago.
Filled a AZ archery tag with a 6x6 two years ago at 75.
I have a Utah cow tag in my pocket for later this year. I'm slow but I'm not ready to quit yet.

A 'park tag' is a tag to shoot an elk within the "confines" of Custer State Park, all 71,000 acres of it. I have 25 years or so in for that tag, with a realistic shot at one. I think the highest point total for that one is 36 presently. As expected, nobody youthful has a realistic shot at getting one.

My Daddy hunted the back country (8-10 miles in) until he was almost 82, killed his last bull at 81. He had two things going for him in addition to good genetics. He had my pack llamas and a willing slave. He just died last month at almost 97 years.

Hopefully I have his good genetics but could really use the willing slave, most young guys are useless as tits on a boar except for blowing their own horn, and a bugle off their atv...

I will say this the mountains get steeper each birthday but the knowledge from the previous 40-50 elk more than makes up for it. Biggest frustration is the crowding that is endemic to the sport these days, that is what makes it more difficult.

Dont squawk too much about geezers kid, believe me in what seems like a couple weeks you will be one. My Dad claimed that if he slept in on New Years day he missed the 4th of July.

I need more llamas...

76 YO this season- both my oldest son and I have elk tags for December here in CO. Filled my pronghorn tag on Saturday, DIY of course- takes a little longer to get a critter loaded, then cut up and in the freezer, but looking forward to the rest of the season, and hoping there will be a few more. I see it's been over 21 years since I first joined the 24CF- a lot of great hunts and memories in that span of time!

LMAO "don't squawk too much about geezers kid"

I have seen plenty of “old” guys, whatever that is, bitching about not seeing elk as they sit in their UTV. Same with a fair number of younger guys. They always have more excuses…You name it I have likely heard someone bitching about it. Too many tags given out. Not enough tags given out. Roads being closed. Roads not being closed. Too many predators. Too rough a winter. Not rough enough of a winter (to kill ticks and fleas, is the theory). Etc., etc.

I have seen no difference in the ages of hunters as it pertains to the number and type of complaints they have. It is fair to say older guys generally can’t get into the backcountry as well as they used to, however I see plenty of younger guys in absolutely horrid shape complaining about not seeing elk. There are also plenty of older guys who obviously didn’t take care of themselves complaining about the same things. The world continues to turn…

The one thing I get riled up about is folks (of any age or point status) applying for tags with little intention of hunting them. It is their right to do so, but frustrating. Doubly so with rare tags like sheep and the like. Why bother putting in and diluting draw odds? Plenty of tags are drawn in AK and only half those who draw even attempt to hunt it. Some of them may fill harvest tickets before that rare draw opened up, but many don’t bother to even try.

Getting into the backcountry ain't so bad, it's getting an elk out that's the hard part. Especially in places with a lot of blowdown, that's hard on an old man.

Bk,
To start with, you were exceptionally lucky to draw a Black Hills Archery “Any” Elk Tag with only 8 preference points.
I have 18 preference points going into the 2023 draw for my second time around. I killed a bull in 1995, eligible to apply again in 2005 and have not drawn one since.

I killed a 350” 6 x 6 in 1998 with a Sharps Rifle above Rod and Gun Campground in Spearfish Canyon. I have killed two cows in the Hills with a rifle since that hunt.
2009 and 2019. It comes down to “Do you want to hunt/eat Elk Venison or count preference points”!
I will turn 65 in February and believe me you will slow down when/if you get here.
I cannot fathom waiting 8 to 22 years to draw a tag and only hunt 8 days.
I have 30 preference points for Custer State Park,
But with only 2 tags drawn for the 2022 Season,
I may be 70-75 when/if I ever draw.
Anyways, not sure what the brag is all about, maybe them 2 fat boys were skinning bulls last Saturday?!!

Took 9 years of preference pts to draw my park any elk tag. Took 11 years of pref.pts to draw my park antlerless tag. Took 17 years to draw my hills any elk tag.took 14 years to my prairie any elk tag. Took 17.years to draw my hills archery elk tag. Took 9 years of preference to draw 1 of 4 mtn goat tags with 3883 applicants. The GFP don't give a fug if you draw or not they make more money on the sale of app fees and preference points than the actual licenses....mb

South Dakota allows you all to apply for several different hunts for a given species in a single year? Are all those different points specific to a hunt (i.e. prairie any elk, park any elk, etc.).

Most states allow you to put in for one hunt per species. AK and NM have a bit different system but it doesn’t seem as complicated as what you’re making South Dakota out to be. I have only bird hunted SD so please excuse my ignorance.

I just checked the applicants and preference point breakdown for CSP any elk.
There were 349 applicants with 30 to 41 years preference points.
Below 30 years preference the applicant numbers are astronomical in your chance of drawing a tag.

I need MB to do my applying for me!

I didn't realize there were people in the 40's for park tags...wow. That's insane.

SD allows you to put in for all the elk tags but then draws in order instead of simultaneously. if you get drawn for an elk tag, then you're pulled out of the remaining drawings. One elk tag per person per year. So I have 25 park years, 18 prairie elk years, i can start applying again for BH rifle season next year, and I can start again in 9 years for the archery tag. If I'm drawn for a park tag, my name comes out of the rest of the drawings for that year.

11 rifle tags and 4 archery tags for CSP this fall according to the application

Glad to hear you're doing so well. If you're up to it, come say hello at our friends place during third season. She lets me put up a tent there and I walk into the National Forrest. Know she would love to see you as well. Bring a rifle and I know we could get the elk out.

Stay healthy.

I don't understand the premise of paying for a trophy, but I'm not judging. Takes all types to make the world go around. If a giant elk with rifle, and zero points was the goal, I'd be looking at private ranches in NM. I have a guide friend in western ID that swears he can put me on 350's, but it's bow only and a ton of work to get to them.

Well usually the CSP uses the GFP and it's drawing system for tags. I can say for a fact that in the BH's units that 50 % of the tags up frt availible to landowners and they get them.. only in Unit H3 that is no guarantee. A bona-fide landowner is one that owns 320 acres in the unit he applies for. Of the remaining 50% 5 % of the tags go to people with up to 2 years preference, 15% go to those who have 3 to 9 years preference and the remaining 30 % are allocated to those who have 10 years or more. 41 yrs of preference is no guarantee that you'll get a tag just 41 chances in the draw same as the guy with 10 years of preference gets 10 chances in the draw. You only saw old guys because kids, younger women and men gotta go to school or are working. I don't support your complaint. Way back in the early 90's one year saw 27 individuals with multiple elk tags for the same season. Yeah 2-3 different elk tags for the same year. I didn't think that was fair either and called the local gfp commissioner and discussed it with him. More than a few other active hunters also called their commissioners about that which resulted in the current system where you draw one your ineligible that season for the others. More equitable distribution of the tags. The preference pt system gives the long time applicant an increasing chance of drawing but why should it not work that way, you the applicant have paid your dues. Sorry bk you pay your money for a chance in the draw not for a tag you think your owed. Us old guys don't get around as good as younger people and all of us who have got lucky and drew paid many years to do so. ..mb

Why were you on foot where there were road hunters?

I stopped putting in for those hard/impossible draw hunts years ago, particularly the out of state ones. I’ll time-out before I draw. No sense funding rogue agencies.

The area where we've drawn cow tags for the last 20 years has twisted itself so the flat lands we used to hike are now vertical. A couple years ago, we about fell off the trail when the ground took a serious upturn and tried to buck us off. So, we were forced to abandon that area and let the youngsters have it. We've found a wintering area with a late cow hunt where even this Grandpa with his cane can stay upright. 3 of us have taken 4 cows over the last 2 years and I doubt we'll hunt anywhere else for a while unless the IDFG changes the regs again.

I hope I’m still going like some of these hard old sons’a bitches I’ve been with before. Awe inspiring effort, bottomless knowledge and endless wit.

Turned 77 last month and just returned from a disappointing Wyoming elk hunt. Warm, dry and a hunter behind every tree and rock made it very difficult. We were camped 4 miles off of the highway and at one time had 24 camps along that same road, easily 100 hunters. I drew this tag as a second chance application and will never go back there again. I was there a total of 6 days, and I never found one fresh elk track or shiit pile. I had a fleeting glimpse of one elk and heard one bull squeal. I hunted at and above 8,000 several days, and after 6 days of dodging ATV's and trying to get back where they could not go I called it and came home. I am now preparing for a spike only hunt in Oregon. I have done well there over the years and hope to see some elk.

Elk hunting seems to get tougher every year. It seems every vehicle I see has a 4 wheeler, or side by side on it. Some of the side by sides, are bigger than the vehicle towing them..I guess it is the way of the world. Like I told the game and fish people at a check station, I am glad I am on this end of my hunting career.
I will probably go as long as I am able, but I don't see alot of elk years ahead, but I have had some dandies.

I just wrapped up a successful elk hunt and danged if those grades aren’t getting steeper and longer. It seems like it’s takes me twice as long to do anything. I don’t think I’m at the end of my elk hunting , but I can see it from here!

It is darn tough to make that decision WAM. I had to this year. What is even worse is to sit home and want to be up on the mountain, knowing you will never be able to do it again.

Ouch…

I am truly sorry saddlesore…I know how much you must have enjoyed it.

I find inspiration from his thread. I turn 60 in May and just got back from a successful CO cow hunt. She was only shade less than 2 miles from the trailhead and its not getting any easier. My first load was all my day hunt stuff, 2 jackets, and a rifle. I thought I would be a good idea to add a hind quarter to that mix. The last 1.25 miles was on the trail and a downhill hike. All told it wasn't horrible and made a second trip before dark for a front quarter.

I did spend the first couple days 3-5 miles from the truck up some steep slopes. I came to the realization that it would be very difficult for me to get an elk out of there on my back by myself. I feel old coming to that realization.

As to guys "hunting" off trucks/4 wheelrs, have grown to really dislike the things. I pick areas they aren't allowed but damned if I still don't see them behind closed gates. If I can get enough info, I turn everyone of them in. Get your fat ass off the 4 wheeler.

I had a neighbor who was a phenomenal elk hunter.

One of the most successful archer I ever met.

If he found motorized vehicles where they didn’t belong.

They were disabled/ vandalized if you will.

The fire he would get in his eyes……when talked about it….I bet who ever owned them vehicles were glad they weren’t present when it occurred.

I'm 69 and was really looking forward to this year's elk hunt. Went up last Friday and couldn't get into the unit due to the amount and type of snow on the roads. Even where we could follow the two tracks in a very few places, you couldn't get off the road to set up camp without getting stuck. We spent over 2 hours digging out and getting unstuck on a road trying to get in in the morning and spent the rest of the day trying to find a camp spot with no luck. First time this has ever happened to us and I've hunted in snow almost every year for 40 years now.... so we were back home Saturday morning early after giving up as the weather was forecast to get worse over the next few days.

All this to say I intend to keep elk hunting as long as I can but realistically I see that being about 4-5 more years if all goes well... losing even one year now really bums me out at this stage... especially as hard as it is to draw tags these days.

After I turned 60 (I'm 74 now), I figured that I needed some kind of pack animals if I intended to keep elk hunting for much longer. I can hike 5 miles but not with a load heavier than a day pack and rifle. I ended up with some of these guys. They've made a world of difference and kept me going well beyond where I'd probably have had to hang it up. I'll bet they added 10 years to my hunting time.
For someone wanting to get into low cost pack animals, I suggest reading up on goats. Llamas are great but they've become very hard to find and they're expensive.

This photo is packing out a buddy's deer a few years ago. It was 3 miles back.

That's pretty awesome Rock Chuck!

yes super cool pics thanks

Goats are very tasty table fare also.

But you better get handy at fencing them in.

What does a Llama sell 4 these days?

I got several older friends that talk how handy their lightweight kind of wheel barrow deals.

I saw one in action this year…..he got my cow out before my mule showed up.

But it was really near a hayfield with a good road.

I have told quite a few younger hunters this, but it doesn't seem to soak in

When you are 35-40 years old, count the number of elk hunts you can do before you are too old.

30-35 is a reasonable number, if you can go every year, like I did. They go by pretty fast. Hunts all blend together and before long you are looking at 3-4 left. It is pretty sobering. If you are 60 or so, it's darn scary if you are really addicted to elk hunting.

Guys on here that think they are7 ft tall and bullet proof do not think it will happen to them and us old boomers don't know what we are talking about., but those steep mountains will win in the end.

I stretched mine out another 7-8 years when I bought two smaller mules ( the taller ones where too tall to throw a saddle on and way to tall to throw an elk quarter on). I counted my saved punched elk tags a few years ago and there were over 50 of them. I thought I could make it 60,but not any more.

There are very few good llamas on Craigslist. The cheapest I saw was $1500 and they went up to $5000. One guy in MT has 2 males that would be good. 2 llamas with all the pack gear for $8500.
That's absurd.

Do you prefer males over females.?

Why?

Mine are all geldings. Females work fine, too, but just can't carry quite as much weight. Intact males can get entertaining. They love to fight and they have some very sharp fighting teeth that need to be removed. They'll cut each other up. On that photo I posted, look at the ears on the black in the back. You can just barely see a notch in the ear on the left. He got it ripped to pieces in a fight. They'll try to castrate each other with those teeth, too. I have a video of 2 young males fighting but I don't know how to post it here. I've never been able to get it work with Imgur.

Females don't have heat periods. If they're not pregnant, they'll breed any time. Open females and intact males in a pack string are something I'd rather avoid. A gelding that was castrated when older might try to breed, too.

I once floated a champion llamas teeth!

Captain Startrek!

LOL. All I know about llamas is what I saw when a loose one came out of the timber and I was able to look back as my mule, with me aboard, left the country.

Different mule now.There are three down the road a ways a few miles. This mule will stop and look at them as long as he is on the far side of the road, but it doesn't take long for him to look.

I turned 77 this year and I'm still chasing them.
Cashed in my points on a CA bull elk tag and filled with a 5X5 Roosevelt in Sept.
Headed out to Utah at the end of the week with a cow tag in my pocket and its supposed to snow before I get there.
Have a late season CA archery deer tag that will keep me in the woods in Dec.
And next year I'll try to burn my points in NV and Utah.

For me its not so much about punching the tag but not giving up and getting out in the wilderness.

^^^^^^^

WOW!

Sounds like fun!,!

BTW do you have gaited horses.

BK,
Late to this thread. Glad you had a good hunt, sorry for geriatric incursions though.

I have been fortunate. Drew my first BH archery tag in 94 on my first try. 2nd one came in 2015 with 11 pp. Will put in for archery cow as soon as I am able.

First rifle tag was 2006, and just put in for a cow tag this year. Only expect to get leftover cow tags anymore.
Have drawn CSP late season archery once, and cow tag once. Currently have 28 years pp for both early season any elk.

Have 16 years pp for prairie and seriously thinking about putting in for a cow tag.

I am done chasing antlers, cows eat waaay better.

Problem with those PP's is you will most likely age out before you will draw a tag. ( I did on my sheep and goat draws) Then as aging continues,you can't count on hunting the next year, so you want the capability of getting a tag every year. BTDT.

I agree that cows eat better….way better.

But the problem with cows is ….it’s hard to toot on a call and get them to come in blowing snot and screaming!

I value bulls during rut archery type deal. But if with a gun a bull compared to a cow isn’t that different.


Unless the bull is HUGE!

Which was the original point of the entire thread...we have tremendous point creep here in SD causing frustrated people to be driving around road hunting because they can't physically do it on foot.

Congrats Skinny, we have locked on to a place in a neighboring state with annual access to cow tags. Allows the group to go each year, and we pull 2-3 any elk tags in addition to the OTC cow tags. Its a great setup and good to be able to get out as we do. Hope alls good out there. My WR deer hunting is getting some schedule foul ups

Strange times, hunters getting upset because one is NOT road hunting. Elk of all things!

The GFP knew point creep was going to be an issue when they implemented the weighted system. Sat through a few of those commission meetings.

This is not a popular idea. But why can we only apply for two deer tags, our most abundant big game animal. Yet allow us to apply for five elk tags?

One idea is to only allow one to apply for one tag and only have "elk" preference points, not each season. It would certainly get rid of bunch of accumulated pp's, and just maybe make it easier to draw the tag one really wants. I for one, would forego all the rifle seasons for archery. Makes sense to me when dealing with such a limited resource.

Careful there. That has happened in Colorado and now archery seasons are about as crowded as rifle season and archers are crying for CPW to make more of their OTC tag units, draw only.

Just like big game units have a a carrying capacity for wildlife, Colorado has a carrying capacity for hunters and we reached that several years ago.I suspect most other states have too. We need to either reduce the number of hunters, or we will reduce the number of elk,deer, pronghorn, and just about every other species of wildlife.

In fact IMHO,the United states has reached it's carrying capacity for people.

The problem with Idaho Archery seasons…..

They have them in September around me 4 elk….

September has had July weather 4 years now…

It’s too hot 2 make meat with archery tactics….


I like the Midwest archery lasts months…

Idaho puts the archery season during the elk rut. That allows calling them in which is a lot more fun than just wandering around hoping to find one. That fact that they rut in Sept when it's hot can't be helped.

Do not think that would be an issue. SD is resident only and you have every elk hunter putting in for five different season's. Would immediately cut down applications by 80% if my math is right.

But there is the rub....cut down application fees by 80% too. Draw an elk tag and you sit out 9 years. Would probably be drawing some tags pretty quickly. There are some fixes to implement the issue, but they will not happen because of the financial ramifcations.

They will just keep introducing more wolves !

I am 75 and was diagnosed with lung cancer 2 years ago. My son took my grandson and I elk hunting last year in NM. We took wall tents and stayed for 5 days and had a blast. I have elk hunted since 1973 and was grandsons first elk hunt. Son was our “guide”. He hunts with his wife archery every year. Grandson and I were both able to harvest good bulls. Son set up a ground blind for me and would drop me off. I have to use a cane, so he would take me to the blind in our ranger and drop me off. Grandson would take off from there and hike about 1/2 way up the mountain to a nice lookout point. We both took our bulls about and hour apart on the second day. I enjoyed just being able to get out with family in God’s wonderful mountain country. If I’m still upright I hope to experience it again next year with another grandson.

Hope you make it, that's a great story!

+1 bubba!




"Old elk hunters never die. They just smell that way."

The road hunters dream, is young guys busting brush for them! You met the retarded ones!

I'm 76 and still hunt elk. The only thing that has changed over the years is I have shortened the distance I hunt from a road or trail. I hunt alone most of the time and I'm careful I don't shoot something I can't get out in a reasonable amount of time. The last elk I shot was only about a 100 yard pack to an atv trail. 5 trips back and forth for an old geezer was plenty.

I'm 74. I hunt for the best meat which is a younger cow. I'll take a yearling every time if I have a choice. Besides being more tender, they're also smaller and easier to handle.
I have pack llamas but haven't needed them for the last 3 seasons because each time I was able to get a 4 wheeler up close. This year's elk was only 100 yds from an atv road but I wouldn't have been able to use the llamas at all. The road was so bad that I couldn't have got my llama trailer within 7 miles. It would have been a long hike in and out with them.

I haven't really changed how I hunt, except I would like to have another slightly younger guy with me. I am still getting "back in there" ,but it just takes a little longer. Did not do well this year for various reasons, none associated with my age. I still can hunt the tough spots, but stay out of the deep dark. Apparently I have great genes and keep in great shape for a 77 year old. I am already looking forward to next season and hoping that things go better, and as posted previously got my first elk in the early 60's.

Just one of those years I think! Glad you're still out there kicking around..

just had my 69th birthday ,ya i have few health problems but never drew a elk tag this year ,my favorite way to hunt elk is with a bow but after being a REA lineman /pole climber for 35 years and a bowhunter for over 55 years my left shoulder even after shoulder surgery and neck surgery i just can not hold a bow up anymore under pulled weight pressure anymore. i have a great area on public land in Montana that son and i have killed plenty elk but Montana does not allow x-bows during the archery season so i am done . when your a non-resident finding a good elk area takes time ,money and at 69 with health issues it is just not with it, besides these western states charge to much for a non-resident hunting license on Federal land that all legal American`s own .

Idaho has a disability waver that allows hunters with injuries like yours to use a x-bow in an archery hunt. I haven't done it but I think it's just a matter of getting your doctor to sign a form.

A rifle carried with a standard sling can also put a lot of pressure on an injured shoulder or neck. A couple years ago I switched to a Boonie Packer Safari sling. It spreads the weight and makes it a lot easier on the shoulders.

Well said.

Best post of 2022.

Congrats.

I hunt with my father in law, he is mid 70’s. Great times