I Knew This Day Would Come

[Buckman]

Not Happy, I have had to tell my 2 elk hunting buddies that i wouldn't be going any more. I just don't feel that good or full of energy anymore and the stamina is gone. its been a great ride and i will miss the adventure and the scenery BIG TIME. At least i'm ending it after the last trip which was as great an adventure as a guy could ask. Shot my first bull and my buddy shot one too that we had to chase a bear off of in the dark. Great time. So I've got no complains. So boys and girls enjoy it while you can and keep the stories coming this year so i can live it through you guys.

 

[wannakillabigbull]

Well that’s sobering. Congrats on the bull last year! Thanks for sharing

 

[toadmeister]

Not Happy, I have had to tell my 2 elk hunting buddies that i wouldn't be going any more. I just don't feel that good or full of energy anymore and the stamina is gone. its been a great ride and i will miss the adventure and the scenery BIG TIME. At least i'm ending it after the last trip which was as great an adventure as a guy could ask. Shot my first bull and my buddy shot one too that we had to chase a bear off of in the dark. Great time. So I've got no complains. So boys and girls enjoy it while you can and keep the stories coming this year so i can live it through you guys.

Sorry to hear that. Sounds like you had some great times.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[rayporter]

good grief.

it must be a disease, as I have also decided I can not cut it any more. when my partner in crime died 8 years ago I tried to keep going but it was tough as all get out. I left his ashes over a cow on a cold miserable trip.

got a bull a couple of years ago and I knew then it was time to quit, but I still drove out alone and tried to hunt every year.

like you I have had a good run, but the time has come to hang it up

you young fellers will have to carry the torch now.

 

[Bubblehide]

I have a current knee issue that has been keeping me very very limited in what I can do before it swells up and damn near disables me. I finally got approval for an MRI and Ortho referral. I'm not ready to call it quits, so I'm hoping this can be fixed. I've been feeling it coming for some time, but last season packing out a deboned mature Buck was more weight than it could take. I got it done, but my knee has been *&%^$# up ever since. This getting old thing sucks.

 

[Buckman]

rayporter, I feel bad for you man. It was a very hard decision for me to make. I just don't want to be the reason my buddies don't have a good time cause i couldn't pull my weight. GETTING OLD SUCKS.

 

[Johnboy]

Buckman, what is your age? Just curious as to when guys are tending to approach retirement. I'm 40 and in decent shape. I'm trying to stay healthy as possible to stay in the game as long as I can.

 

[5MilesBack]

I know a local guy that shot a 353" archery bull just a few years ago.......in his 80's. That became my new goal......size of bull excluded. At 80+.....I'll take any bull.

The funny thing is........I was just thinking about this whole stamina and energy thing the other day. Not sure why, but I feel so much better at 11k feet than I do at lower elevations, and look forward to that every year. The last three years we've taken Spring Break at sea-level and I feel completely exhausted and like crap all week down there. I get to high elevation and feel like a 20-year old again. I think I need to move.

 

[MallardSX2]

I'm sorry to hear that you have to throw in the towel.

However, your opportunity to help others is just getting started. Friends and family especially.

When I am too old to get it done I look forward to sharing my secrets with the younger generation.

I was talking to a guy the other day who is out of the game and in his late 70's. I asked him if he was willing to share any of his stories and secrets about hunting the west. He looked at me and told me to learn the hard way like he did and he laughed and ended the conversation. I didn't laugh at all.

When I give it up I look forward to being able to help guys plan things out.

Not saying i'm getting online and posting the information for the world to see but I would certainly PM people with solid advice and have a good feeling about it.

 

[Buckman]

Johnboy i'll be 66 this October.

 

[Northernpiker]

i don't know you, your health, or your hunting buddies and its your decision to make BUT if you love it get in a little better shape( if possible) hunt a little easier (again if possible) and push it a couple more years, easy for me to say. Hope you had some good memories and congrats on your first bull, I'm still in search of that elusive first! Good luck.

 

[elkduds]

Sorry to hear it, men. This fall I'll hit 6-0, and will still be hunting elk solo. No telling how long that will last. I encourage others to hunt like there is no tomorrow, because someday that will be the reality.

 

[ramont]

I'll be 61 this August and luckily I can still get out there but I understand what you're saying. I moved to Montana and live in a National Forest just so that I will be able to enjoy the country that I love so much, being able to hunt it is nice but even when I can't get out there to do that any more I'll be able to sit on my front porch and enjoy the view and watch the mountains. Those that haven't gotten there just can't understand the limitations that we start to feel at this age. I've got a neighbor that thinks I can keep pushing like he does (he's in his early 40's) and I have simply quit trying to tell him it doesn't work that way. When your lungs quit pushing oxygen and your joints have no strength, you can hope and wish all you want but it just doesn't happen.

 

[kicker338]

Well understand where your coming from. For me it is a yr. to yr. thing, i'le be 71 this coming elk season and my health according to my doc. is still good so barring something happening I will be chasing those elk at least one more yr.

 

[netman]

I’m going the opposite direction. Last may I was preparing for the Triple Bypass bike ride. I’m 53 and got to hanging with a bunch of young guys who are hammerheads on bicycles. During the ride I had a major heart attack the took me down hard. A few months later I was medically retired as a LEO.
Since I’m retired I have nothing to do but get into shape and take my meds.
I’m going to hunt and fish now more than ever. I have hunted and fished my entire life.
A couple days ago I went to a doctor to get a basil cell cancer spot removed from my nose. The bump was smaller than a pencil eraser. 11 hours later and 8 separate procedures the left side of my nose was removed. The cance was greater than expected.
So now I have to have a plastic surgeon perform the paramedian skin flap procedure next Wednesday to repair the cancer surgery damage.
So I lan to be out of commission for 6 weeks.
I’m going to get prepared for my trip westward, listen to podcast, read and watch hunting shows/videos.
To the OP I wish you luck and hope your able to continue hunting just in a easier way.
Hunting is my life!

 

[boom]

i like to think i will go until the end.

i KNOW my hunts will change. thinking way less packing it in..more hard sided tower blinds. or just hunt birds..something.

 

[AdamW]

I'm curious whether it is age, etc. or "other" that is having you guys hang it up. It's an expensive trip for non-residents to go and half-ass it, but finding something you enjoy to fill that niche sure sounds like a good alternative. Going along and staying at camp (if you base camp), trying hunting coues deer, something.

It's easy to say "I'll never quit!" but the reality is it's okay to not be a die hard in everything you do. Life's about enjoyment and when enjoyment becomes a chore, it's time to hang it up maybe.

Random thing in reference to aging. There's a guy named Steve Maxwell that said something like "The old cliche of 'I've fallen and I can't get up' is true. If people did nothing but lie down on the floor and get back up on a very regular basis as they age, that could be very beneficial." Not sure that helps pack out a bull though.

 

[bz_711]

I'm 40 and I can't even think about it...
...still have 4 kids to show the elk ropes to...

 

[SLDMTN]

My Dad will be 62 this year and he's still faster than me and about 75% of the guys in his mountain races but his back is getting progressively worse each year. He is mentally and physically, the toughest person I've ever come across and has always made due with subpar gear.

On a sheep hunt two years ago it became apparent to me for the first time that my Dad is getting older. It took him several minutes to crawl out of the tent and get his back loose enough to get his boots on. Since he won't buy anything for himself, the family joined forces and bought him better gear. An extra thick Thermarest, better sleeping bag, warmer insulating layers and a bottle of Motrin helped tremendously last year to keep him from getting too stiff from the cold.

Even in the phenomenal shape he keeps himself, I know our years mountain hunting together are likely into single digits now. It makes me very sad to think of not hunting with him but very grateful for the years we've had together. Unless something even more extraordinary happens, our sheep hunt from last fall will forever be my favorite hunt with him. Shy of hunting with my own kids, I don't see how that hunt will ever be topped.

Do it as long as you can and take your kids as much as you can.

 

[oldgoat]

You need to enlist a couple young bucks and hunt a little closer to the truck is all, or buy a deer tag and invest in some light equipment.