Have things changed over time

[ChuckC]

Ron,  I agree.  I just retired this fall, so this is my first hunt as a retiree.  I am still young, not quite 59, and I am in pretty good shape, except for the creeping stiffness and soreness everywhere.

I had a heck of a time changing to NOT plan around the weekend or days off.  It took a long time to get over that, but now, I have to look at my cell phone to know what day it is, and most days, I don't even CARE what time it is.

My wife even told me that it took me about two months, but I have slowed down and mellowed a lot since then.  I guess, with my job and life, I was always bouncing, always needed to do something.  I hated that, so I hope she is right.  I think I feel she is.

I hunted a lot this fall.  More than ever before, but as you said,  I hunted when I wanted to and didn't feel a huge need to push and get out no matter what.  I guess that is a good part of retirement, once it sinks in.

My hunting areas,  that I have been hunting for about 25 years, have been constantly changing, and some areas that ALWAYS had deer pass thru, almost don't any longer.  Things grow and mature, so scouting every summer is required, no matter how well I know the area, but that was always the case, and it was always fun.

I also let a lot of deer walk this year, close deer, deer that would have been in trouble before (if I could HIT the danged things).  I changed the game this year, I needed only the close encounter to call it a coup, and not a bloody arrow.  Yeah, I killed one on my first sit, then I let every other deer walk.   Wow, and I am really, really, OK with it.  That is a change right there !

Yup, the world is a changing, and so am I, and it is (primarily) good...
ChuckC

[Sam McMichael]

Yeah, we slow down a lot. 4:30 is a lot earlier than it used to be, and it is so much harder to stay on stand. 60 degrees is beginning to feel chilly, and I can't pull the same bows I used to use. I have hunted a lot less this year than ever. Health issues just can't be as easily ignored. It seems I hunt a lot more foam targets these days than targets with real hair.

[flinthead]

Used to climb into a tree in the dark[morning] and come down in the dark[evening]. Not seem to have lost the drive to hunt hard. We used to eat 5 deer a year[had twins], now a couple deer see us thru the year. Still enjoy the sport, just do not feel pushed to work at it so hard. Really like stumpin and 3-d shoots , shooting with friends more.
Sold the Loggy Byou climber as older bones will not bounce. Looking forward to more stalking in late bow season. Roy

[njloco]

Well, lets see, I just turned 64 in Nov. I went elk hunting for the first time this year during September and it was in Idaho, where everything seems to be uphill, even when I was going down hill, it seemed like I was going up. I was able to keep up with my friends boys who are young men, though it was much harder when going uphill. I finally got used to the altitude, and it only took two weeks.

Since returning to Trad archery in 2008, and then having to have a heart operation, It seems like I am liking the more challenging things, the cold doesn't bother me yet, nor does the heat.

I'm up to swinging a 45lb. Kettlebell, and doing get ups with a 35 pounder, I can run for miles but I hate doing it and, it does seem to take a lot longer to recuperate ! I can still pull and hold a 60# bow though I usually shoot around 50#s. As of Jan 2014, I plan on exercising more, I would like to be able to run at least 5 miles minimum before this coming elk season.

It does seem to take all day to do,  what I use to do all day.

[Rick Perry]

I'll turn 60 on my next birthday . I rarely hunt mornings anymore . I dont enjoy being cold . I lost the drive to hunt with the dedication to trophy hunt about 6-7 years ago . But I enjoy making sausage and brats so I still try to kill a deer or two every year.

[ron w]

What great responses to this post. I guess I should have expected no less.  

[jwingman]

Ron,
  I am 62 now and health problems have shown up and my knees hurt along with most of the rest of my body but I still got out every morning I was at camp rain or shine. I think if I quit doing this I might quit being able to do it. I use safer ladder stands or ground blinds now. I own my own hunting property now so I keep busy working on improving the hunting habitat and clearing food plots, building better and safer blinds. It keeps me going and I think we all need to push ourselves to keep going. When we stop, we lose it.
  My brother has a saying. The older I get - the better I was! It is so true.
Keep doing - enjoy the time and the outdoors - it is a great life extender. Things sure do change though. I hope everyone stays healthy and can continue to do what we love. Happy holidays to all
Jwingman

[centaur]

Yesterday, I got an email from an Army buddy (actually, my CO in VN). He was telling me of his deer hunt; a 77 year old guy, solo, dragging his deer out of a draw, in the snow. A whole lot of what we do or can do is dependent on staying fit, but also mental toughness. Lots of 30 year olds wouldn't have the stones to do what some old guys still do regularly.
We are capable of more, physically and mentally, than many think they are.
Yes, the hills get steeper each year, but we can overcome them, one step at a time.

[Pete Patterson]

After 66 winters, last winter was the first time I told myself (on several occasions) I sure would hate to mess up a good hunt by killing a deer.

This year, I've moved to the Blue Ridge Mountains and I've taken an oath to never hunt below wherever I park my truck.

[SELFBOW19953]

Pete,

I hope the deer have the decency to go down above your truck, as well!!

[30coupe]

Originally posted by Pete Patterson:
...I've taken an oath to never hunt below wherever I park my truck.

Sounds like sound reasoning to me!

Reminds me of the story about the first time moose hunter who asked an old timer, "Where's the best place to shoot a moose?"

The old boy responded, "Damn close to a pickup, Sonny!"

   

[maxwell]

63 and counting, hunted a lot saw some deer but out of 25+ times I hunted mornings just once and saw nothing. Last Sat. I had 12 does and young ones five yards away and I just watched them walk into real thick safety area.  I wanted them around next year. Admittedly I did get some meat a few weeks ago. I enjoy my mornings watching birds and coffee. 4:30 in am not to appealing. Years back would have been out many mornings so that is a change.

[frankwright]

Just turned 67 last month and I still burn up with the hunting fire but I have learned to control it more as I got older.

And it is true that in retirement I tend to pick my days a little better and will skip a rainy day and wait for a better one.
I get up at 4:00 am to get to my hunting area and there have been mornings I thought about just rolling over and going back to sleep and then I thought about that sound of a deer walking in the leaves and I knew I had to be there.
I guess I am pretty tough, I sat 4 1/2 hours the other morning when it was mid 20 degrees and I still enjoyed it waiting for a deer to show that never did. Had a short nap, ate some lunch and used a climber to sit four more hours that evening and saw one of the best bucks I have ever seen but things did not work out.

I am blessed with good health and no real impairments and I sure hope it stays that way because I want to keep doing this for a long while.

[KSdan]

Bow-n-head. . .  may have something to do with the bow in your head!    

[Sixby]

I was still pouring and finishing concrete at 60 plus building bows and elk hunting hard. In fact that year I packed out half an elk down a mountain and along and over two sets of bluffs. The next year everything changed and changed hard. I got into heavy blowdowns and worked for three or four hour getting out of that stuff destroying a hip along the way.
This year was the first time since that I could actually walk far enough to hunt again. I did and man it was good to get in the woods.
However at almost 68 I am not even close to being as good once as I once was./

Time and attrition changes a lot./

God bless you all and Merry Christmas, Steve

[Bladepeek]

Things sure do change. I'll be 73 next month and I find it ever easier to just roll over and catch another hour's sleep when it's cold outside.

I think my wife, suspecting Alzheimer, would like to see me go deeper into the woods    

And though I've been totally shut out this year, I don't feel the urge to sit out there every day until a deer dumb enough walks by. Maybe there's a confused cause-effect relationship there?

[halfseminole]

Ended up in a wheelchair this year, as well as one eye giving up, so I've been to the edge of the woods, but I'm not stable enough on my feet yet to go wandering into it.  It's killing me, the woods are my home in my heart and I'm not happy out of them.  Bow in hand or no, it's my home.  They say I'll learn to adapt after my strokes, and I think they're right-I can fight an armload of wood in, and that's it, but it's progress.  They say the leg will always be weak, but they're encouraging me to get up and do as much as I can, and I figure in a year or two I'll be back out there.

Oh, and I'm 32.  Young'un, I know.

[Friend]

Would be quite boring if each chapter in life mimicked the chapter before. Acquired knowledge, honed skills and technological advancements may offer one the possibility of adaptation and possibly greater fulfillment.
If the situation and climate are far from agreeable, then effectively plan hunts for more amicable conditions. Subsistence hunting would require one to proceed under most adverse conditions. Virtually all of us are fortunately free from this requirement and are seeking the experience which the great outdoors so generously relinquishes. How that enjoyment diminishes based on the outside pressures of life and/or adverse conditions is individualistic.
   
Seek the realization of fulfillment when both physically and mentally inclined.

Note: Years and years of continuous hunting in varied conditions and pursuing trophies has finally led me down the path to greater personal completion. The focus today is on preparation, strategizing, moving in closer than before, camaraderie, absorbing much more of the elements and reflecting on my surroundings.  Much greater and continued fulfillment is regularly perceived over most days when the harvest was favorable.

[Stumpkiller]

Ron,

My original group has blown to the winds and a few passed on to Fiddler's Green.  I, too, hunt alone - sort of.  The memories are with me.      

I find I do a LOT more stand hunting or ground-level Torges style tree seat.  Patience sometimes pays off, sometimes not.

I also opt out on what appears to be a lousy day.  That NEVER used to happen.  

I also tend to wind up home mid-day for a nap and lunch.        None of the hour-before-dawn-to-after-dusk days afield.  The advantage of walking out the back door and hunting my own property.  

I also find myself passing on smaller deer.  'Coulda is almost as good as did.

[todd smith]

Well, I was reading an article in TBM yesterday and the author mentioned his "bowhunting career".  When I was young I did dream about hunting lots of various game animals.  I was lucky and did hunt some like sheep, moose, caribou, and bear when I lived in AK.  Mostly I have bowhunted Indiana and that's deer and turkey.  Now I don't have the drive to go hunt animals out of state like I used to.  Especially when I factor in the cost.  It's no longer worth thousands to go after out of state critters.  I do like deer, bear, and turkey hunting and I think I can get that in sufficient quantities between Indiana and Michigan for the rest of my bowhunting days.