Hunting near civilization?

mr00jimbo

mr00jimbo

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May sound like a dumb question but...
I'm 20 and my dad is going to be 60 in a couple of months. I would like to get into hunting with him mostly, but we're both not experienced hunters though he knows how to gut an animal and as far as I remember he's been doing it.

My concern is sometimes when he endures too much stress or physical activity, he gets short of breath, dizzy and feels like he's going to faint. He works too hard and is always busying himself with something, and he will occasionally feel his chest hurt or whatever, but conveniently I live near the hospital so he goes in for tests.

In the middle of nowhere, if he started to feel like that, it would be a catistrophic feeling as no doctor or hospital is out in the middle of nowhere.

Now the obvious answer is, "don't take him hunting unless/until he is in good enough physical activity to do so"
Well, he's in great shape but has always had heart issues that kind of worry me.

Are hunting areas close enough to town centers including say, a doctor or hospital readily available? I know the hunting community seems to be aging, and with age comes more medical/health problems, so i wonder if this has been a concern with anybody else?

Thank-you for your replies. :)
 
Good questions. I'd think the one thing if not already done, would be for him to sit down with his doctor and frankly discuss the situation.

I was in your shoes 25 to 35 years ago with a father that experienced heart problems for almost 10 years - he didn't let that get to him and some of the times we went hunting were priceless - my regret is that I didn't go hunting more with him - moose hunting, elk hunting, sheep hunting - this was in the Alberta Rockies where sometimes it would take a good 4 hours to get out of the bush to the nearest road and then another hour to the nearest town with a hospital.

Interestingly, if I wasn't hunting with him, he was always with a group that had at least one or two doctors in it. He didn't have any heart issues when we hunted together, but did wind up in hospital a couple times with the doctor's group.

Something you might also want to do, is have a frank talk with your dad as to how the two of you want to handle this. Does he consider hunting stressful? Does he pace himself when hunting? Do the two of you want to hunt together or split up?

If you know of friends/acquaintances that have a hunting group, this may be a good way of doing more hunting.

Another thing to consider: are you willing to take first aid, learn about your father's heart condition and what you can do to help him if the heart issues come up? You might want to talk with his doctor(s) about this.

Planning the hunting excursions so that he doesn't get stressed physically or mentally in a bad way would also help.

I think I've given you some ideas, you'll have to think them over, talk with your dad, and decide what you want to do.
 
I knotice you're in Vancouver. That's a tough one, as you can go from dense population to isolation quite quickly if you head north, or just get stuck in population if you head east. My solution for you is two fold. 1) get a third hunting partner, or get a group. If anything, god forbid, goes wrong, it is much easier to have everything end well when there are multiple individuals working on the same problem. 2) If his heart is main and seemingly only forseeable problem, get yourself on a defib course. Basically what is involved in most of these is a day of cpr, first aid etc (which is useful in of itself) and a second day that teaches you to use a civilian defibulator (spelling?). They're incredibly simple and foolproof (there are three buttons, push each one as the light turns on and it does the rest) and can make a difference. My school offered this course shortly after a friend died from a heart attack (he was in his late 20's and a nationally carded athlete, so not your usual suspect) and my father started developing many of the same signs that yours has, right down to the over exerting and driving himself too hard. Whats more, we often spend at least a month a year at our cabin, which is an hour and a half drive from any sort of town, and a 45 minute drive from the nearest electricity or cell phone coverage. Because of this I'm saving small portions of my paycheck to buy one of the civilian defibulators. In your case, depending on your style of hunting, I would suggest quietly packing one along. Theyre about the seze of a childs lunchbox, and not too heavy. I know it was a lengthly post, but hopefully I have wasted my time writing it, and you will never have to take any of my advice.
Good hunting,
H Wally
 
Thank you both for your wholehearted replies! i am going to b oth tell him to talk to his doctor, and look into courses and supplies i can use. Problem is he's stubborn. He'll work hard until he feels these symptoms then stop, which is never good. He'd be like, "Oh I'm fine!" Until it happens, then it's "I'm not feeling too well"
Too much stress/hard work.
I'd definately do most of the carrying most of the stuff, and should really invest in those courses/devices, but above all the biggest peace of mind thing would be accessing medical help somewhere closeby. Also a third partner would be good too, makes things better.
We'd likely be hunting together as opposed to splitting up.
 
Yep, just like my dad - hardboiled and more stubborn than a mule. He once told me he worked harder in retirement than he did in his teaching career. Guess in retrospect he was hardwired that way. That meant having to out-think him which was not easy. You might have to do the same to help him out as well as maintain his pride in being able to keep up and do things without complaint.

Damn, I miss my dad, even to this day.
 
like it was mentioned tkae a qulaity cpr and first aid course and discuss options with a doc,
it may mean less vigourous hunting but it doesnt need to stop all . use common sense keep a radio ,cell or other form of communication between you and him and a close access to transport and you and him should still be able to enjoy several years yet.
remember to make sure he doesnt push himself though. pride sometimes makes us do more then we are able .
 
Then again, fears aside, maybe a good hunt with his son is just what the "doctor" ordered.

Hunt slow, take lots of breaks and enjoy each others company.

I did the same with my dad. He was near 80 and we took short walks while hunting. He was getting back in the truck and was just telling me how great he felt. He only had one leg in the truck when I kinda pulled ahead a bit and his legs spread apart as the truck went ahead a few inches......almost did the splits. It's funny now, but wasn't then..............claims I tried to kill him....lol
 
"...he's in great shape..." He's not. His heart isn't working properly. However, that doesn't mean he can't go hunting with his doctor's ok. Hunting from a blind shouldn't stress him too much. Altitude might though. Thin air won't help.
Finding a place in a valley relatively close to a town shouldn't be too difficult. Likely be best to go with an outfitter and be sure and tell them about his heart. Take the St. John's Standard First Aid course and their Heart Saver course too. Once the deer is down, he can sit and watch you gut it.
 
There are a LOT of places to go where there's no need to walk very far at all. IF at all. While some people scoff at 'road hunters' - there's a hell of a lot to being a GOOD road hunter and if you master it you'll get just as many animals if not more than going into the woods and hiking.

There's also doing some scouting and finding some nice cut blocks, where there's a block then another etc. And just walking down that logging road. If he gets tired or winded, you stop and you go back and bring the vehicle in.

There's a few other ideas i can think of too.

There ARE lots of places to hunt where you're not far from medical help. Less than an hour. You'll have to talk to the doc and make sure that you know what to look for if he starts getting into trouble, and you'll have to tell him 'no 'tough guy' toughing it out - first sign we turn back".

But I'd say the important thing is 'ease into it' a bit - stay on or near the roads, see how it goes, maybe next trip do a bit more walking. Remember - how ever far in you walk, that's how far the animal has to come back.

There's also some good places here and there for a push - put him somewhere then go do a bit of walking where you'll put the deer into him if they hear you. That takes a little thinking and planning to make sure you're never in the line of fire, but it can produce. He gets to sit still, probably close to a road, and yet you get to move around a little.

Also - make sure you have a set of radios with you.
 
In addition to the rest: You may want ot invest in a sat phone if you are in a area outside of cell service. And there are lots of areas liek that. But cell service ispretty widespread these days.
 
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