Advice to You Younger Hunters

[jcar315]

Happy Birthday!

Agree 100%......seems like time will go on forever and opportunities will "always be there" but alas that's not always the case.

[dnovo]

The last 15 years or so I've been fortunate to do some of that. I've hunted bear in Canada and Alaska, caribou, elk , mountain lion, mule deer, hogs and javelina , moose. Some hunts were successful, some not. One of my best hunting buddies who was on a number of these hunts and I were talking about how when we can't do it anymore, we 'll be able to sit around and say" hey , remember when". Instead of saying  "I wish we had. "
Good advice from my angle

[kennym]

Happy Birthday Bill!!

Another angle, it isn't just age that can affect your hunting. I smashed a knee in a construction accident in 92. I was 36 years old with a family, and just getting to the point I could think about elk hunting and other bigger hunts financially.

The knee was and will never be the same(new one in place now), been elk humting a few times, but can't get far as fast as needed.

So young guys, take care of yourself and make it happen !!        

My .02

[ChuckC]

I second ( or wherever I am in line here) the thought.  Let me add one more thought.  In this day and age, many of us are brought up NEEDING to succeed.  If we don't win, we lose.  With that mentality, you are likely gonna be disappointed as well as miss out on a lot of really neat things Mother Nature has to show us.

Slow down and smell the roses.  Take a journey, not just arrive at a destination.
CHuckC

[Jeff D. Holchin]

Amen Bill, and hope you enjoyed your birthday. You have helped a number of bowhunters enjoy their first elk hunt at low cost by hosting those PBS elk hunts and we appreciate that.

[Sam McMichael]

Happy Birthday! Like so many, I wanted to hunt out west, in Canada and Alaska, etc. However, I just could not afford it, so I did not go. Now that I am essentially retired, I still can't afford it, and my health does not support it, either. However, even though cash was short, I still found a way to make a few forays to more distant places. I would recommend that the younger guys do what they can, but don't get selfish to the point that the family suffers. But, if you save over time and plan carefully, you will be able to take some of these trips, and they will become precious memories. Share them with your family if possible as well as your good hunting buddies.

[meathead]

Happy birthday Bill. I am listening to you.

[Biathlonman]

I'm trying to Mr. Kissner, going to Canada in 2017...with you I think!  lol

[Nantahala Nut]

I will be 30 in a couple months. Haven't gotten to do any big hunts but next year I will be hunting out of state in some good deer country. That's a good step for me. Hoping to take a little backcountry squirrel trip next fall. Won't be far from home but we have some wild places to adventure in.

[TRAP]

          great advice

Happy Birthday

[BAK]

Not bad advice as far as it goes, but with life comes duty and responsibility.  Family, children, etc.  

Just because we "want" something in life doesn't mean we are destined to have it.

Now if you want to stay single and play all your life, that's your call.  I have a 40 year old nephew in Montanan that lives a life most only dream of.

[John3]

I heeded this exact advice years ago.. I worked two jobs just to make my "trips" happen.  For five straight years I went on two or three out of state or the country bowhunting trips each year.  I have done everything on my bucket list with only two exceptions.  I hate bowhunting from blinds so South Africa will wait until I am old so humping mountains doesn't matter.  Caribou is the only bowhunt left that I have seriously thought about over the years.  There is only so much time and other hunts got in the way.  Caribou will happen the next few years.  I have been invited to bowhunt Alaska and probably should go. Work gets in the way of Alaska in September-October-November but I should be semi-retired in a few years and will go....

[calgarychef]

Great advise, I've done hunts that we couldn't afford.  My friends have paid off mortgages and are too old to ever do a real hunt. Bthey all tell me that when they retire that they'll hunt more seriously. My dad also saved for retirement ....and died when he was 58.

Do it now, there might not be a tomorrow.

[Cory Mattson]

Bill - totally agree - and pass along the same suggestion to all. I lived by what you suggest and have done did it many times over - now that I am getting up there (60 tomorrow) I am kinda cranking it back - just happy to hunt deer, bears, hogs, alligators, stingrays all not far from home.

Also on the point of never knowing what is coming - I just heard that Quebec is going to close Caribou hunting??!!! I remember late 80s early 90s thinking we gotta go get em NOW. And so we did.

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[hawkeye n pa]

Amen Bill, and happy birthday!

[buckeyebowhunter]

Thanks Bill. Well said sir. I've been trying my hardest the last few years to purchase things my dad and i can use in order to coax him into participating more in the sports he got me started in many years ago.

[Holm-Made]

Good advice.  To add to it...I see young folks get so caught up in buying nice hunting equipment that they don't have enough to spend on actual hunting.   I say spend your money on experiences first and equipment, second.  Memories last a lot longer then material things.

[Mark Baker]

Happy B-day Bill...and right on.  Chad, you got it too, bro....experiences is where it's at.

[HARL]

Happy B-Day Bill.Wish you had told me this 40 years ago !

[Archie]

That sure is exciting advice.  Makes me want to jump and spend and do everything I always dreamed of.  But then I think of my wife (the love of my life), my kids, my church ministry, my other hobbies... and I realize that I've set my priorities right.  I'll hunt as much as I want, but I won't sacrifice the wrong things for it.  In the immortal words of Jim Elliott... "I fear not that I will not succeed... Rather, I fear that I will succeed in that which does not matter."

Doesn't mean I won't get out and hunt though, when I get time!  I get what you mean, Bill... we gotta do what we can while we still can!