Geriatric hunting partners
- Thread starter hunter5425
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when my geriatric hunting partner started arriving in camp without the essentials for hunting..... it was time to have the conversation with his wife.
If it happened once, we laugh it off but he would join me on hunts up north and drive 12 hours from home and forget his boots, one trip it was the bolt from his rifle, another he brought the wrong ammo. The last one , he didn't pack any real winter clothing , it was november and snowing sideways and had no boots. He almost shot me that hunt too..... it was closer than i care to talk about. That said I know several guys in thier 70's that can still pull thier own weight in the bush and I'm looking forward to meeting up and hunting with one of them in a couple weeks
If it happened once, we laugh it off but he would join me on hunts up north and drive 12 hours from home and forget his boots, one trip it was the bolt from his rifle, another he brought the wrong ammo. The last one , he didn't pack any real winter clothing , it was november and snowing sideways and had no boots. He almost shot me that hunt too..... it was closer than i care to talk about. That said I know several guys in thier 70's that can still pull thier own weight in the bush and I'm looking forward to meeting up and hunting with one of them in a couple weeks
I love it, what’s the dimensions?
banditogold
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all very true , but watching your best pal swim 60-75 yds for that last duck, there are no words to describe that feeling
outstanding comes to mind...
nothing finer than watching the determination of our k-9 hunting partners.
Rob
maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
One of my mottos these days.
I'm 76, my K9 partner is now 16, and being as she's a Jack Russel, she loves everything outdoors.
Last year (2025), she put on over 3000 recorded kliks. Just before Christmas, she went blind, but she has still managed to log over 800 kliks this year and has been swimming almost every day, since the ice came off her swimming hole last spring. She just hates being left behind.
She doesn't know she's blind, and has learned to get around without issues. She knows the local trails by memory and follows them by scent. She's not fast anymore, but loves the children and other dogs she meets on the local trails.
To top it off, she has a torn Mitrial valve, for which she takes meds.
She doesn't let any of this hold her back, and she doesn't have any issues with bodily functions. She's smiley and happy most of the time, but she needs a lot more sleep now, at least 18 hours per day.
No visible pain, none detectable by the Vet.
If I'm lucky, she'll go to sleep and not wake up. I'm not looking forward to making the decision we all dread.
I have a couple of younger friends who now invite me along on hunts or accompany me when I call to invite.
I hunted Bear this spring, but didn't see one that wanted to walk into the back of the truck, so I could shoot it.
That will be the last hunting I do this year.
I need a knee replacement and it should be happening soon. I might not make it to the Enderby/Salmon Arm Gun Show in October. If the knee replacement goes well, it's game on for ice fishing and the 2027 spring bear hunt.
We need to keep our minds and bodies active, or we lose it all very quickly.
Many won't admit it, but after we hit a certain point, if we don't take care of ourselves healthwise and mentally, the slope is super slippery, and there is little chance to turn it around again.
Everyone has a limit. We each decide what/when it is.
Good on the folks still pushing the limit. No one says you have to go out of living well willingly.
My old friend Al Forslund passed from heart failure appx 20 years ago. He lived until he died in the field, hunting Ducks, with his Black Lab, RED, and a friend. Felt dizzy for a few seconds, fell down, and it was all over.
We should all be so lucky.
We're 3 close friends but only by bestie and I hunt. He has a place and it's just us two for a weeks hunt prep and then 2 weeks of whitetail season. I'm 76 now and long retired and my hunting buddy is 7 yrs. my junior. Like all of the other older guys who posted, the years are taking their toll but I'm fortunate overall due, I think, to a lifetime of hard work and good genetics. Dad passed away on his 101st. birthday and mom passed at 99 so we come from hardy stock. I'm still good for long walks but slower than I used to be, and I don't have the strength I had but I still do pretty good. As long as I can, I'll continue to shoot, to hunt, and enjoy my life as much as I am able and I fervently hope that all my fellow seniors have the same opportunity. Maybe this'll amuse you as much as it did me, "My sense of humour is 14, my brain is 26, but my body feels like it fought in the US civil war"!
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Its not always age that gets in the way. I am 48 years old. It’s always interesting to hear the stories of hunting groups/friends that make it to older days on their own, the ones that did it and carried on with the help of the younger guys coming up and also the ones that never made it too far. I used to hunt a lot more when I was younger and time seemed to be endless. We had a group that went Moose hunting together for a few years and faded away. I will honestly say my fascination of firearms is what brought me to hunting. I always enjoyed it but I was never really concerned with limiting out or filing a tag. I liked being outdoors, firearms and the comradery in camp. As life went on, things happen that change everything. I have not been hunting in years. I do shoot frequently with my kids and still actively enjoy it but the hunting has faded. Funny, Not long before I read this post I was thinking that I should go ask around for permission to do some coyote hunting around my place. Been talking about doing that for years with my oldest boy but we never seem to make it out. Maybe this year will be the year. Cheers to all the guys still out there getting it, wish you many more good hunts
Hunting definitely isn't for everyone. I know a lot of people who love firearms and shooting them at targets, paper or clay, but they are anti hunting.
They don't tell people not to hunt, just quietly don't do it themselves. Mostly good folks.
If hunting isn't for you, which you've alluded to in your post, don't do it.
You've moved on from camp camaraderie to family camaraderie. That will change pretty soon as the kids move away and the wife pursues interests of her own. Then you will need to find people doing what you like doing, maybe throw in a bit of fly fishing?
I'm 47. And my hunting group are all in 70+ years of age.
Few younger people hunting, save for one of my friends who will do it sporadically. But his job keeps him very busy.
I also find many of the younger folk and folk my age aren't really into the hunting. They're more into drinking at the camp. Which is fine, but just not what I'm looking for.
So the wife and I bought little plot in the area I mostly hunt now. We are building our own camp/cottage.
Few younger people hunting, save for one of my friends who will do it sporadically. But his job keeps him very busy.
I also find many of the younger folk and folk my age aren't really into the hunting. They're more into drinking at the camp. Which is fine, but just not what I'm looking for.
So the wife and I bought little plot in the area I mostly hunt now. We are building our own camp/cottage.
Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy hunting, just hasn’t been a priority. I also fish with my kids frequently, where we live you can catch Muskie off the pier in the fall. My 10 year old son is anxiously waiting to try out his new pole that's twice his size and net he got for his birthday.
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Trimmer 905
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I'm 77 and still pack back fully equipped into the bush for Deer and Moose with no qualms whatsoever of staying out over night if the need arises. My hunting side kick is 84 this year, lived in rural country all his life and still tough as an old boot. We are blessed. Younger guys in camp continue to marvel at the two of us,now,being the "elder" statesmen. Sure,I'm blowing my own horn,I think we've earned it. I told the boys that if someday they find my dead a** on my watch to leave me there because I'm where I loved to be. Life is good.
I'm 72, I have both knees heavily braced because of Osteoarthritis .
26 pounds of gear including binos, rifle and pack, 2.1 miles in and out where my son has seen moose.
That is right at my limit these days.
Gone are the days when I could pack three times that much and cover 15 miles a day on the way out to the cabin in the early fall, but old age catches up faster with some than others.....
Cat
26 pounds of gear including binos, rifle and pack, 2.1 miles in and out where my son has seen moose.
That is right at my limit these days.
Gone are the days when I could pack three times that much and cover 15 miles a day on the way out to the cabin in the early fall, but old age catches up faster with some than others.....
Cat
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Me and my crew are all very close to 60 now. Still going hard with big, high end duck boats and about 100 dozen decoys between us. Still hoping for another good 10 years, before things change too much.
I should be able to kill deer and turkeys till the day I die, but waterfowling will definitely slow down. We figure we will just sell all our gear and do all our hunts for the last years with outfitters.
I should be able to kill deer and turkeys till the day I die, but waterfowling will definitely slow down. We figure we will just sell all our gear and do all our hunts for the last years with outfitters.
