I’ve taken a 4-5 year break from shooting and hunting as I just lost interest . Recently the urge to get back into it has come back in a big way . I’m compelled to get back into mountain hunting , maybe just a fantasy as I approach my 55th BD next spring . Any gunnutz still doing back pack hunts here is there 50’s and beyond ?
Mountain hunting for guys over 50?
- Thread starter grit
- Start date
I've had friends who still hunt the high country at that age, but it really depends on the person. If you're healthy enough, go for it. - dan
I am 54. Just finished my third annual sheep hunt. We did over 100km on foot and my son shot a mountain goat. Packed it out about 15miles down the mountain to a stashed pack raft and he floated it out with most of the gear and I hiked out 16miles further to the truck. Lots of tired. Lots of sweat. Lots of amazing memories. Get a good pack and go at your pace. Use walking sticks to save your knees. I cannot keep up to a 24yr old and don’t try but I get there. We saw several sheep that were just too small and about 30 lambs and ewes with some banana rams. Also saw over 30 goats. Had a cougar sneek up to us at 23yds to check us out.
I did two hunts with a pack frame and saved up for a K4 for the last hunt. Such an improvement. Went from struggling with 50lbs to just enjoying it. No more sore shoulders. Worth twice what I paid. Can’t wait for next year.
I did two hunts with a pack frame and saved up for a K4 for the last hunt. Such an improvement. Went from struggling with 50lbs to just enjoying it. No more sore shoulders. Worth twice what I paid. Can’t wait for next year.
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Falconflyer
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
55.... your just a pup, get off your butt and get going!
Yes, by all means! Get into good physical condition and stay in good physical condition year round. And hunt with a friend or two, to split the weight.
I went on a solo sheep hunt this past August because my 70-year-old hunting partner injured his knee. A more knowledgeable sheep hunter than me, he suggested a relatively easy access into the high country west of Kusawa Lake, Yukon Territory. It took me all day to get nine km into an area where I saw Dall ewes and lambs late in the day. Next morning I decided to hike back down to the truck but two rams over a km away distracted me until I lost track of them. A solo hunt at my age (I was 81 in June) would have meant at least two round trips should I have been lucky (unlucky?) enough to take a ram -- not something I'd thought through thoroughly until I got into the mountains. Still, getting above tree-line is always worth the effort whether you are successful in getting game or not.
I went on a solo sheep hunt this past August because my 70-year-old hunting partner injured his knee. A more knowledgeable sheep hunter than me, he suggested a relatively easy access into the high country west of Kusawa Lake, Yukon Territory. It took me all day to get nine km into an area where I saw Dall ewes and lambs late in the day. Next morning I decided to hike back down to the truck but two rams over a km away distracted me until I lost track of them. A solo hunt at my age (I was 81 in June) would have meant at least two round trips should I have been lucky (unlucky?) enough to take a ram -- not something I'd thought through thoroughly until I got into the mountains. Still, getting above tree-line is always worth the effort whether you are successful in getting game or not.
Up here there is a few, one of them a friend of mine he stoped at 80, he is 84 now and this fall he got his moose all by himself self, 13hrs total to get the animal back to his truck!! So if you are fit and in no rush there is not real age where you can’t be up there and hunting!!
At 60 I had no problem with packing big loads and going hard all day.
I am now over 70 with severe osteoarthritis in both knees and two hours behind the bird dogs with my legs braced up is hard to do some days .
Cat
I am now over 70 with severe osteoarthritis in both knees and two hours behind the bird dogs with my legs braced up is hard to do some days .
Cat
350tracker
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Interlake Manitoba
If you have the opportunity to do it, go for it.
I'm 68 years old. I don't hunt the mountains anymore. However, I'll be humping my butt on the river breaks chasing a mule deer buck this autumn. The river breaks are 300 to 350 yards into the valley floor, most steep in some areas. Congrats to the OP for returning to the best outdoor activity.
Entirely individual. If your heart health, joint health, and overall fitness are doing well I can’t see why not. You’ll need more recuperation than a young guy but if the above are in check I don’t think it’s a problem.
There are guys in their 80s pumping iron and guys in their 20s dead of heart failure. I’d get a doctor to do a general work up (a good idea for us anyway) and then gauge it by how your specific body handles other physical demands as a test run.
There are guys in their 80s pumping iron and guys in their 20s dead of heart failure. I’d get a doctor to do a general work up (a good idea for us anyway) and then gauge it by how your specific body handles other physical demands as a test run.
Nice. My son has taken my rifle from me and carried two so I could almost keep up. That was our first trip. He still seems to get more in his pack than mine but he is half my age. It gets better every year and we go further and see more.
Big bore dinosaur
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- NORT OF COW.TOWN.EH
Still solo sheep hunt , getting close to 50 years old . My ruck training starts 5 to 6 weeks before season starts.
But my sqaut rack gets used with regularity , helps maintain my body. Keeps your legs and back tuned up and ready.
But my sqaut rack gets used with regularity , helps maintain my body. Keeps your legs and back tuned up and ready.
There is the physical side, and then there is the determination side. While my body is breaking down, my mind refuses to allow me to quit... just keep humping it... one foot in front of the other until it gets done... period.
OP, the biggest issue when you get older is trying to keep up with a 20 year old.
I'm 75 and I did a back pack hunt for Black Bear last spring.
You know your capabilities, hunt accordingly.
If you hunt with someone, make sure they're willing and able to do their share of the work on such a hunt, or it can go sour pretty quickly.
I went out with a fellow last fall, when the animal was down, he folded on me. Didn't help with the gutting, skinning deboning and didn't want to touch "raw meat."
Luckily, the trek out was only a klik, but that was his last hunt with me.
55 isn't a stretch for some folks, depending on their mindset and fitness. Other folks convince themselves they're too old by this time, defeating the hunt before it starts.
Now, what do you describe as a "backpack hunt?"
Such hunts can be morning to dark, walking the sidehill trails, overnight with a small tarp for a tent, and hopefully a lightweight sleeping bag capable of keeping you comfortable enough to sleep. Then some folks go all out, such as "toebako," but from his pics, someone "carried a stove into camp?" on foot? on a backpack?
I haven't done it this year, but maybe during the last couple of days of the season, in November, I will put my two man insulated ice tent in the box on my SxS quad, to get back to an old camp I know, to see if I can't come close enough to a 4x4 Mule Deer, that doesn't come down until the snow drives him out. Maybe I can talk my 55 year old neighbor into coming along?
I'm 75 and I did a back pack hunt for Black Bear last spring.
You know your capabilities, hunt accordingly.
If you hunt with someone, make sure they're willing and able to do their share of the work on such a hunt, or it can go sour pretty quickly.
I went out with a fellow last fall, when the animal was down, he folded on me. Didn't help with the gutting, skinning deboning and didn't want to touch "raw meat."
Luckily, the trek out was only a klik, but that was his last hunt with me.
55 isn't a stretch for some folks, depending on their mindset and fitness. Other folks convince themselves they're too old by this time, defeating the hunt before it starts.
Now, what do you describe as a "backpack hunt?"
Such hunts can be morning to dark, walking the sidehill trails, overnight with a small tarp for a tent, and hopefully a lightweight sleeping bag capable of keeping you comfortable enough to sleep. Then some folks go all out, such as "toebako," but from his pics, someone "carried a stove into camp?" on foot? on a backpack?
I haven't done it this year, but maybe during the last couple of days of the season, in November, I will put my two man insulated ice tent in the box on my SxS quad, to get back to an old camp I know, to see if I can't come close enough to a 4x4 Mule Deer, that doesn't come down until the snow drives him out. Maybe I can talk my 55 year old neighbor into coming along?
