Older eyes....,

[scruff]

Hi guys
I'm sure some of the more "experienced"bowhunters can relate....., I've noticed the past few years that I am slower at following blood trails and have a harder time seeing flecks of blood.  I have very good eyesight for distance, but need to put my 2x readers on for bloodtrailing, I also need to be on my knees-in order to get the focal length right.  Does anyone know if an optometrist can design a pair if glasses with a focal length of about 5 feet, so I can blood trail while standing up?  
Hope y'all have a Happy New Year and may all your blood trails be short!
Thanks
DK.

[Bow-n-Head]

Scruff; Try 1.75 or 1.50 from Wallgreen or CVS. They work for me.

Originally posted by scruff:
Hi guys
I'm sure some of the more "experienced"bowhunters can relate....., I've noticed the past few years that I am slower at following blood trails and have a harder time seeing flecks of blood.  I have very good eyesight for distance, but need to put my 2x readers on for bloodtrailing, I also need to be on my knees-in order to get the focal length right.  Does anyone know if an optometrist can design a pair if glasses with a focal length of about 5 feet, so I can blood trail while standing up?  
Hope y'all have a Happy New Year and may all your blood trails be short!
Thanks
DK.

Man, if you find the answer I want to know too! I was always real good at finding even the smallest dots of blood but in the last few years it is really getting hard to see the small ones. I usually never have my readers with me because I can see GREAT at distance. I guess I will just have to buy another pair to leave in my pack to go with the ones in my car and in every room of the house!

Bisch

[scruff]

Thanks I keep a spare set of readers with me and use them. The issue is with the focal length of using the "readers" it would be great if I didn't have to be on my knees to get the correct focal length and could walk upright!
Cheers
DK

[Jmatt1957]

actually this year i tried the weakest over the counter reading glasses for blood trailing. I believe they were 1.25 and it really helped. Think I paid $6 at dollar general.

[Pete McMiller]

I'm sure any optometrist can get you into a longer focal length prescription BUT they may not be able to correct your eyes.  Until a year ago (I'm 62) I wouldn't have said that. I went to get a new prescription and wanted to be slightly over corrected "like before" but the tech said she couldn't even get me back to 20/20.  Apparently my age is catching up to my eyes.  Good Luck

[Uncle Buck]

I wear progressive lenses. I usually just have to find the right part of the lense to look through. Middle aged eyes are one of the main reasons I shoot instinctive I can no longer focus on both a sight pin and a target at the same time.

[30coupe]

Trifocals work for me. Not the progressive kind, but the old-school lined ones. Your optometrist should have no trouble fitting you with ones that work. Just let him know what distance you want for the middle lens. Mine are still made for ideally about 18-24", which was perfect for teaching. I could look at the kids' papers on their desks without bumping heads with them. They still get the job done pretty well at blood trail distance, though I do have to bend over to find the tiny spots.

[JINKSTER]

All through life i've had 20/20-20/15 vision but..not for the past sevral years..I'm 53 now  and i have a lot of recent experience with failing eyesight that ended in a positive fashion so here's my suggestions...

1. get your blood sugar levels checked..as we age?..our bodies begin to lose the ability to create enough insulin to properly process sugar (and it's in about everything these days)..so the body begins to produce an acid to disolve/digest/process the surplus sugars..unfortunately?..these same acids disolve the bodies organs..including the eyes..if you don't know someone who has a glucometer?..the "relion ultima" (avaialable at wallyworld) is $9.98 and includes everything you need and you dont need a prescription to buy one..the longer you wait the more damage will be done..i was diagnosed with type II diabetes 6 months ago and dang near legally blind..and for years prior was doing "The $6 readers" thing...today my vision is almost back to what it was..get'er done...that said?..

2. I fully realize that not everybody has diabetes and some folks eyes change with age as the eyeball itself changes shape and goes out of focus..and if that ever becomes my case?..I'm going  RK.."radial keratotomy"..lasik surgery...if it was good enough for Tiger Woods?...it oughta work just dandy for my tradbows..cause i freaking hated dealing with glasses..stumbling around...off/on/off/on..clean/dirty/clean/dirty and the oh so dreaded.."where'd i leave'em now?" deal.

all i got.  

[straitera]

Bought readers specifically for filling out my tag. Put them in my orange vest pocket. Broke them before I got out of the truck! Not funny! But I can read a newspaper across the street! Why is age wasted on the youth?

[Hot Hap]

When I was a yonker I had 20/15 and 20/20 vision. Now at 67 I'm at 20/20 and 20/80. Without glasses everything is out of focus. I got lined bi-focals and they work pretty good. But I have a hard time hunting with them. I'm going to try shooting w/o them this year and see how that goes.
I agree with the 1.5's for tracking. I can walk right along standing upright wearing those.
Good luck-Hap

[Ground Hunter]

I tell my students in my crime scene investigation class that they have young eyes and can see more than I can.  The difference is that I know what I'm looking at!

[Dennis Allman]

I wear trifocals, the lined ones (not progressive); I had the optometrist set the middle lens for 4-5 feet, so I could read blueprints and computer screen, as I worked. I can walk a blood-trail, without having to bend over now.

Dennis

[Mark Baker]

I finally got some progressive lenses this past year, and they have worked surprisingly well for me....after a month or so of walking like a drunk!  But seriously, it's nice that I still have my sons around for my "backup" trackers.   Perhaps this is a good incentive for introducing some new youngsters to the sport.   My kids were dynamite trackers when they were little guys!  

Either that or hunt in the snow more often.

[bawana bowman]

I've been wearing Progressive 5 years now, (as long as I've been wearing glasses). Have no problems tracking, driving, or doing normal day to day things. Just can't shoot worth a d*%@ with them. Tried using reading glasses for shooting like the Optometrist suggested, but have to take them off to walk. He then suggested I try contacts. My thought is that's a bigger pain in the a** than glasses.
I'm going to check on Lasik, don't think I'll ever get use to glasses, and don't particularly want to deal with contacts. I just want to be able to shoot and see my target without things being blurred, my neck hurting, or looking between lenses.

[lpcjon2]

I think that for blood trailing a spray bottle with peroxide in it makes for a great way to find blood. spray it as a mist and it will foam up when it contacts blood. its chaeper than glasses.

[scruff]

Thanks guys
Looks like a trip to the eye doc for me!
Glad I don't need them to shoot instinctive,
Happy New Yeats
DK

[ksbowman]

I have the same peoblem.The Doc told me that lasic wouldn't solve my problems as I can't see up close and distance is off a little too due to age. He says the only way he can correct both is thru lens replacement. Getting old isn't as great as it could be, but beats the hell out of the alternative!

[KSdan]

Good relevant post.  51 this year and the past couple I have had a hard time tracking after dark- just can't seem to get the focal distance right.  I even waited this year until morning to track a deer even though I was pretty sure of the hit. What a difference in daylight!  Need to talk to my opto. .

Dan in KS

[McDave]

An optometrist can make lenses to focus your eyes at about any distance you want. A good example are "computer glasses," that focus a little further out than reading distance for looking at a computer screen. Now if they could only make glasses that would correct my red/green color blindness, then I could see a blood trail....