Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Nakohe on July 12, 2010, 04:42:00 PM
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Well, I will be 60 come November, and I have been having some health problems lately that have not let me shoot my bows as much as I want. However, no matter how old or sickly I feel, when I pick up one of those beauties off the rack, string it up and go outside to shoot, I always feel better. There is something about the flight of the arrow that just perks a person up. I hope I never get too old or sickly to shoot and enjoy my bows. I have enjoyed this trad archery for going on to 50 years and hope to enjoy it a whole lot more. This site has truly made it special also. Lots of great friends I have met and many more I hope to meet. So if you get to feeling poorly, just pick a friend up off the rack and go outside a play awhile.
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I know what you mean. I'm 66 and have had two operations in the last two years. Each time I bounce back but try to avoid injuries that affect shooting a bow. I always keep a 30# bow in the rack and light arrows for when I am recuperating.
Shooting is a great stress reliever.
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Just turned 58, got some health issues myself....but you just gotta suck it up and keep active.Do the things you like to do and keep shoot'n. If you have to drop down in poundage ,so be it .Keep at it and enjoy every moment...
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Well, I'm 61 and, yep, I don't recover nearly as quickly as I used to. My feet hurt sometimes. Can't eat onions anymore. My shoulders hurt after 40-50 arrows but I will perserveer.
5 years and 3 weeks ago this coming Thursday I had a triple by-pass operation. Talk about putting your life into perspective!! I keep telling people that it was the best thing that ever happened to me - it kept me alive.
Since that time I have kept up Scuba diving (6 dives in one day in March), shot my 3rd bull elk with a wheel bow, taken up the longbow (57 lbs.)in December, just finishing my 3rd homemade boat, can't wait for my 15th or 16th elk season, have plans for a DIY moose hunt next year, AND have a first date with a new lady tonight.
Don't stop the merry-go-round, I DON'T WANT TO GET OFF!!
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Don Listen to me. I'll be 56 years old come November. I'm a Union Sheetmetal Mechanic. Worked steady for over 25 years. At this time we have half the Local out. That's 450 members. The wife asks me almost every day "why do you get up every morning at 4:30? Because I work out for at least a half hour before I leave the house. Make breakfast ,shower, pack my lunch. BECAUSE >>>>----> ; there are almost 450 tinknockers out of work younger than me that are looking to take my job away! Push to the Limits! I'm 5'9" and weigh 170 lbs. :readit: :archer: :goldtooth:
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Time to step down and let us young bucks have a JOB! I'm dealing with the older crowd not retiring at my job and it's getting pretty annoying. I understand things are tough out there, but if you are financially stable then it is time to retire. Why would you not want to retire you can hunt and fish all day! Just my opinion about retirement sorry about the rant.
Mike
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I'm 72... bad shoulder and elbow and a general muscle deterioration due to a drug reaction (watch those statins!), but still shooting. I took up bow making primarily to make light weight bows I could shoot. Was out to the range today and did a round in the light rain with my 22# take down longbow. Had a ball! Got a lot of interest in the take down from the local wheelie guys.
Don't let age get you down and don't be bashful about shooting light. I've shot 3D with 17# when I was at low ebb and still did quite well and had fun. As the average age of the shooters on the course keeps going up, I find it not uncommon to be asked for the loan of one of my light weights to try a round.
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It's important to have something in your life that you're passionate about. I'm 66, and for many years, my passion was mountain climbing. During those years, I raised my kids, and about 25 years ago, I thought it would be fun if we got some bows and learned how to shoot arrows together. After the kids grew up and went their own ways, I would plink around in the backyard with the bow from time to time, but my passion was always mountain climbing.
Then about 10 years ago, I had a few medical problems, and continued to get older, of course, and found that I couldn't climb the high mountains anymore. So I began to look at the bow in a new way, wanted to learn how to shoot it better and found that my brother-in-law had been a bowhunter for years, and I hadn't even known about it. So trad archery and bowhunting became my new passion.
It's possible that if I live long enough, the day may come that I won't be able to shoot the bow anymore. I hope that if that day comes, I will find something to be as passionate about as archery. Maybe raising tomatoes, I don't know. If the time comes that all I'm good for is raising tomatoes, at least I hope I can do it passionately.
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Just turned 57 'bout a month ago. Little slower, but found out a while back that by movin' slower, I got to see and experience a lot of things that I had missed when I was younger. I don't climb trees any more cause I found out how much fun it is to hunt off of the ground. Still go to Texas to chase javelina and down south to chase hogs. Work every day for a huge health care network and have some "interesting" days. But I come home, have supper with the wife of 38 years, then go out back and shoot. Picking up the recurve seems to settle my nerves and takes to place of peace and harmony. Not sure thate I enjoyed it as much when I was younger. Afer 49 years of shooting a stick bow, gettin' old is kind of a pleasure.
Jerry
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I just celebrated 64 years with a shoot on the mountain. 60 targets at 8,000 ft. up and down, up and down. I think I'm on better shape now than I was 5 years ago. Less stress, more walking. and Gods grace.
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Mr. Miller: I am 66, have had my share of bad luck, put it in the past and eat healthy, go to the gym 4 days/week, work with a personal trainer, am married to a woman 13 years my junior, and life just keeps getting better. I like your attitude and my hat is off to you. Hope your date goes well and that you find a woman as special as the one I found.
As soon as you think life is going down hill and you have to accept it, you might as well just stop everything. Every "crisis" is an opportunity in disguise. I'll leave it at that.
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I can't imagine my life with out God, family, and 3rdly, archery. Six years ago when I turned 50, I quit church softball ( I was the manager, 2nd baseman and batting average usually 750-800--no power but OBP good enough for #2 in the line-up). I quit because I looked around and realized I was the oldest person out there -- by a lot! My wife and doctor (routine stuff) said I should quit before I got hurt. I've decided to take it up again next season (God willing). The pasture (from a softball perspective) is a crummy place to be put out in.
My point is this, as the cliche goes, age is just a number. I prefer to act the age I feel rather than what the "calendar" says. My bow makes me feel timeless. I sure would like to drop 15-20 pounds of potato chips and ice cream by October though!
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Donald I recently turned 41 and I get that same feeling when I shoot. I don't think it has to be when you get older only when you get a lull in you.
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I'm 52 and battling some aches and pains( just got home from physical therapy) but all in all not bad. It is nice to come home from a day of stress and string up the longbow and go shoot that stress away. Hope I can shoot 'til I drop.
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Wow you guy's make me feel like a kid again, I'll be 51 in Nov. :thumbsup: I just love to go out and shoot in the yard or chase woodchucks around with my Hill in the off season. It makes me feel like a kid just walking around with no worries at all.
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Nakohe, good message. I'll keep that in mind. I was in the Air Force too. For 40+ years!!
:archer: ...Van
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Just turning 57,being doing this Archery thing for close to 50 years.When I was a younger man I was in Olympic condition ,competitive Fighting then teaching Judo for years.I weighed 160 and could pull 90 lb. bows all day.as i got older I still thought I could work like that,WRONG,two spinal operations and maybe another coming.I have constant chronic pain in my left arm,but still shoot almost daily.I honestly don't know what I would do if I couldn't shoot my bows.Trad archery has taken over as my therapy and is my major factor copping with my condition.For most of us here this is our life and Saviour.
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I'm fixin to be 49 and am rehabing a partial shoulder replacement at the moment. Can't shoot yet but that is my goal. Getting old isn't fun physically!
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"Getting old isn't fun physically" yeah but it sure bets the heck outa the alternative,lol. I'm only 56 but have had alot of health problems the last 5 years or so. I've had to drop down 15lbs in bow weight but I'm still pluggin at it for now. Shooting and hunting with the same type bows, arrows, and broadheads I did as a teen I can be 13 again for a while at least till some ache brings back reality. ;)
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Thank you guys. I was thinking it just must be me with all the aches and pains going on of late,this topic has me feeling a little better about it all.
I turned 52 this past Friday and I really can not remember the last day when something did not "hurt".Self inflicted to a point,I can not be totally surprised. When you work hard and play hard and rest little, it takes it's toll eventually.33 years and going at UPS along with working out and everything else in life has you feeling it after a while.
Archery has become my "therapy". People laugh when I tell them it keeps me away from counselors,
but I am dead serious.I shoot all year and just recently have decided to shoot lighter weight in the 3-d season and after hunting season. Hopefully that will keep me in the game a little longer. We'll see. Best of luck to all you guys
and as always....... Good shooting,
Craig
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I turned 68 in June of this year. I am retired but never seem to have time to shoot my bows. To me that is an important part of life to enjoy shooting and bowhunting and fishing. I worked since I was 14 years old and I intend to enjoy as many more years as the Good Lord makes available to me. I hope all of us get to do the same!
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It's not the age it's the mileage. ;)
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You're never too old, the bow keeps you young.
"A boy's dream, A man's life"
The bow and arrow spoke to me when I was five years old
It said, come play with me young lad if you should be so bold
The singing string and whispering shaft was music to my soul
I knew it was a part of me when I was twelve years old
The bow was small for a lad so tall as I grew so long and lean
A new bow I sought, and finely bought, when I turned sixteen
The years they flew and at twenty two, a bow for the bride I took
Together we hunted for whitetail deer from our camp by a babbling brook
Soon a little bow hung along side the bows of mom and dad
Then another,.. and still another,.. three little bowmen we finely had
As time went by the children grew, then Grand children came along
Once again, the longbow sang, it's captivating song
This new generation was soon to learn the wonders of stick and string
They watched as Grandpa showed them, the joys the bow could bring
No one can count the arrows that this old man has sent to flight
Someday I'll shoot my very last shaft into the murky night
But for now there's a great grand child who must learn of the bow and more
This old man, still loves his bow, at the age of SEVENTY FOUR.
TO BE CONTINUED
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You're never too old, the bow keeps you young.
"A boy's dream, A man's life"
The bow and arrow spoke to me when I was five years old
It said, come play with me young lad if you should be so bold
The singing string and whispering shaft was music to my soul
I knew it was a part of me when I was twelve years old
The bow was small for a lad so tall as I grew so long and lean
A new bow I sought, and finely bought, when I turned sixteen
The years they flew and at twenty two, a bow for the bride I took
Together we hunted for whitetail deer from our camp by a babbling brook
Soon a little bow hung along side the bows of mom and dad
Then another,.. and still another,.. three little bowmen we finely had
As time went by the children grew, then Grand children came along
Once again, the longbow sang, it's captivating song
This new generation was soon to learn the wonders of stick and string
They watched as Grandpa showed them, the joys the bow could bring
No one can count the arrows that this old man has sent to flight
Someday I'll shoot my very last shaft into the murky night
But for now there's a great grand child who must learn of the bow and more
This old man, still loves his bow, at the age of SEVENTY FOUR.
TO BE CONTINUED
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I have noticed some serious advantages to getting older - more time to hunt, easier to still hunt, young guys will drag your game for you. Counting down to SS and hunting even more.
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I'm well less than half the age of most the guys who have posted. I don't think it's an age thing...it calms me. I think that's why I have my latest obsession with really heavy arrow gpp. "Calm" would be a really good way to describe what it does to the shot even on a well behaved bow.
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Ron, I like the poem. I know a lot of non-archers would not understand, but it hit home with me. Thanks, Gary
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Since I am 67 years young and getting younger everyday I consider the health problems that I have had to be challenges along the way. Like Dick in Seattle I have muscle deterioration from medications taken as a result of a heart attack. That alone dropped my draw weight down 5# and my draw length down by 2". Like you guys I intend to stay in the game as long as I can. I refuse to let doctors sit me in a corner and wait for death to come. If death wants me it is going to have to come and find me in the woods where I want to be. Unlike earlier years I have to plan my hunts meticulously and map out where I will be hunting so that my wife feels a little better. She has put up with me for 46 years now so I figure that is the least I can do to make things a little easier for her.
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I'm in my 62nd year and dealing with the ravages of time and disease. Over the last decade I've dropped my hunting bow weight from 65 to 50, and I can see 40 in my future. As my body has deteriorated I've learned to pace myself, sort of like hunting the high country when I was younger. Go for a ways, and then rest a bit to let ability catch up with desire. The goals are still attainable, it just takes a little longer to get there.
On the plus side, since it takes longer to get there, we now have more time to enjoy the journey!
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I turned 69 this past Sunday, missed last years archery season due to a back operation,triple bypass 21 years ago, the sport has pulled me through the tough times thats why the flight of the arrow rejuvenates the soul and spirit and makes the aches and pains feel minor compared too the magic of shooting the bow.
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I just turned 61 last month and can relate to the aches and pains of aging. My shoulder hurts, my feet hurt, takes much more time to heal a cut or bruise, high triglyserides and elvated blood pressure. But God has blessed me with a loving Wife of 41 years, a great Son, Daughter-in-Law and 2 wonderful grandkids. Life does begin at 60.
Thanks for your post. It caused me to reflect and be thankful again today. You are most correct also in stating that shooting an arrow makes life seem better.
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Ron,
I too liked the poem. It is an accurate description of my evolution as an archer and mentor to my offspring. I'm at the grandson point right now. He shot his first "tournament" at 3.5 years old (he's almost 7). My daughter in England is due TODAY with our second grandson (her first child). I can't wait to offer to pass on archery to him (Drake). My daughter said she saw in the untra-sound today he was making a fist. If it's his bowhand I'll have to work on getting him to relax that grip a bit!
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i'm 75 and still do all the things i did 10 and 20 years ago.
my doctor told me when i went for this years physical that he didn't know what would eventually kill me but he knew it wouldn't be rust.
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Donny, Saw your post here and had to take a look at it. Now I'm glad I did. Great advice has been given from some great folk.
I hope your health issues get cleared up and can get back to shootin alot more. Hang in there brother.
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Just got my One cup of coffee...can't take all the caffeine anymore. Vitamins and a couple of Aleve to get going ;) I'm 64 and hunt now more than ever! I've gone down the same road as most here on this post. Started with 80# longbows now shooting 50#. Old college sports injuries remind me of the fun from yesteryears :)
If I'm not shooting my bow, you'll find me with a fly rod chasing stripers & salmon Or with a hammer in hand pounding out hot steel for a new knife. Then every now & again I still have to grab my stethoscope as I've fooled my young doctors into thinking I still know a thing or two.
My Dad lived to be 96 and still when hunting with us boys til he was 88. I sure hope I got as pair of his jeans...Doc
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I am 64 and God has blessed with me good genes and spared me any sort of major health issue. I can still do practically anything today that I could at 34. It is a fact however that I now need an aerobic/physical exercise program to maintain this level much more than was once necesarry. I find that a brisk walk or bicycle ride 3-4 times a week and a couple of sets of push-ups/pull-ups to maintain Archery strength are pretty doable and the physical and psycological benefits are priceless.
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My dad will be 79 in Oct. He brought his selfbow up last month and asked me to take it from 53# to 45# so he could shoot it more comfortably. He still shoots very well and hopes to have a good hunting season down in the pasture behind the house. Here's a pic of the young man shooting. (http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll210/RangerB/18654_1290887588890_1131243273_9061.jpg)
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I'll be 63 first part of next month. Had a couple of unsuccessful angio plasties and then a triple by-pass when 42 and have had major heart problems every since.Two more angio plasties and 5 by-passes that didn't work. They all closed up within a month. My cardiologist said I had two choices..either a heart transplant..which he said was not really a option since my arteries were so bad, or a series of 6 to 13 or so stints as needed. So far got six.
But I really can't complain, I hunt just as I have always hunted. Carry climbers a mile or so bone out and pack my game out by myself. The thing that bothers me the most is my back..had major lower back surgery and have to deal with the pain all the time. Just take it slower and use over the counter Tylenol. Cold weather bothers me more than anything due to all the blood thinners.
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When the elk are bugling this September I'll turn 62 ... I love shooting my bows and do most every day. I have been fortunate from a genetic point of view to have very good health, but unfortunate from the wear and tear I have put my body through over the years. But all the parts that are wearing out haven't stopped me yet and I truly believe it is archery that keeps me going, keeps me young. In my mind and heart I can still climb the mountains, explore the next canyon, and smell the sweet air of the wild outdoors as I put my nose to the wind. Nothing will ever take that away from me, all thanks to the magic of the stick and string.
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57yrs now for me, been shootin bows for 40 of them. Don't see ever stopping, as long as I can pick up a bow. I remember when I bought my first real bow, my mom plumb threw a fit over spending the 40 bucks. Said in two weeks it would set in the closet and never be touched. She's still here and I remind her of that every now and again.
I never tire of watching arrows fly, God willing, its something I'll be doing till he calls me home. And then maybe after!!!
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60 ain't bad Bubba. I can still do everything I could at 30, just takes a bit longer on some things,LOL. Shoot everyday, course I am down to 60# bows instead of the 80# I used to shoot but I can still pull that weight. Fairly healthy except for high blood pressure and they have me on 4 different meds for that. Gettin some weight off so maybe I can change some of that. The flight of the arrow is what keeps me goin.
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Hey Stone Knife what do you mean feel like a kid you are a kid and though I'm 15 years older than you I am too!!!!! And I intend to be until the day I die!!!!I shoot a hundred or more arrows on my clubs 3d course at least 5 times a week, walk at least 30 miles a week and going on my next elk hunt for a month in 1 1/2 months. If I kill one and I probably will I will pack it out on my back myself. Don't get old get better. FRANK
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Originally posted by Michael Golden:
Time to step down and let us young bucks have a JOB! I'm dealing with the older crowd not retiring at my job and it's getting pretty annoying. I understand things are tough out there, but if you are financially stable then it is time to retire. Why would you not want to retire you can hunt and fish all day! Just my opinion about retirement sorry about the rant.
Mike
Mike...that sounds familiar :readit:
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Thrill to see you older folks out bowhunting & shooting! Hope I can do it for awhile yet within my set my limits. Not anxious for the dirt bed; but, if so I hope it's while I'm out hunting. I've been blessed.
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I'm 53 and have been fotunate to have inherited good genetics healthwise . I've had no major illnesses but I've had my share of injuries. Shoulder separation, broken back, broken arm, degenerating discs, and separated back muscles are the major physical ailments that try to slow me down on a regular basis. I fight back by working out through the pain and limitations and it really helps. I might not have that motivation if not for traditional archery. I still plan on hunting elk with my bow for many years and if I get where I can't hike up that mountain or pull enough bow back to kill an elk, I hope some younger hunters will need a camp cook or roustabout and let me tag along.
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I'm 63 and have been in the hospital 3 times in the last 6 years for my heart. Like you said when I pick up my bow and go shoot it does feel so good to watch that arrow hit the target. I can't shoot as much anymore but it is still fun. I have learned that bodies do change pretty rapidly after a certain age. Plus it didn't help my body any by operating heavy equipment for 40+ years. That bulldozer really beats you to death.
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I turn 60 this Fall, been chasing a powersaw for the last 35 years, up and down on the old skidder, outside almost every day. Arthritis now and some joint problems, but feel pretty good. Feel really good to have found the bow and arrow. Hunt with a passion, think about it every day. Live in a big old farmhouse on 250 acres, beautiful wife of 32 years, two grown children.
Like others have said, just do things slower now, actually works out for the better on most things. Just keep your nose into the wind and the sun at your back - should be OK.
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The older you get the smarter you hunt :thumbsup:
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Amen, brother!
Bisch
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I`ll second straitera.
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My body is 57 but my mind is 27.
I jumped out of a boat the other day as it hit the shore to remove my weight therefore allowing the boat to beach higher (I've been doing that for years)....that night my right knee swelled up and I limped for 3 days.
We got stuck in low tide another day and I pulled and pushed a 23' freighter canoe for a couple of hours (not a big deal for me before)....my wife had to massage my back that night, I could hardly walk the next day.
etc.etc.etc. LOL...But... I am looking forward to many more adventures and will keep going until I drop (I'll just try to be a little smarter as you say).
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I feel the same way guys. I hunt a lot slower now and see a lot I missed when younger, and really enjoy hunting off the ground. Doctor put me on potassium the other day and a stronger water pill. Legs are a lot better, peeing a lot LOL, but the pain is almost gone. Thank you God. Hopefully I can get a lot of weight off before the season and that will even be better.
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I was out to a local "Wally World" the other day and this older gentleman was getting out of his early 70's model Ford pickup. He and I were walking side by side going in. I asked...."How are you doing today?" He replied, "Son, I spent a grand total of 9 months gettin' into this world and have spent the last 85 years trying to get out of it......and any day on THIS side of the dirt is a good one."
There is a good message in that statement and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. Life is a journey......not a destination and none of us are gonna get out of it alive. I believe that people were meant to be introduced into our lives for a reason......and those few words from that gentleman sure made me feel better about my aches and pains.
Winterhawk1960
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I'm 56. My best friend is 64. I've been blessed to date with very few health issues. My best friend Jim is at least as agile as me, climbs, hikes, shoots, etc. -- I can't tell any difference in him since we became friends in 1977. It did shock me to ear him reply a couple of times this past year that he hoped to do this or that at least one more time (elk hunt mainly). I'd like not to regret too many things. However, economics prevented me from doing a lot of "big hunts" in the 30's and 40's. Now that I can afford these better I'm not as confident taking the plunge. However, I'm getting very serious about trying to bother a moose next season and check one of my bowhunting dreams off the list. Looks like it can be done for $4,000 including license, etc. (Newfoundland).
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55 going on 30... shoot a bow and bicycle a couple thousand miles a year.
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I am 62. Had 2 operations last year that slowed me some. As I have gotten older I no longer want to kill things, I still get to the woods, now I just sit there and watch, I take my bow but don't pull on game very often.
The worst part of getting old for me has been losing several close friends, most died far too young. When I am in the woods or on the range, I find myself talking (to myself)to those buddies who can't be there with me anymore.
The best part of getting old is not having to work anymore and my shooting is better than ever. I have Rod Jenkins to thank for the improved shooting.