Mountain hunting for guys over 50?

[mark2015]

As others have noted, your health (heart, joints, etc) permits it - just do it.

I turned 66 this year and still hump it with a pack in the Northern Rockies. I do have a surgically repaired knee but fortunately I have no other health issues so I just make sure I stay active all year so when the climbing comes I'm not getting gassed too fast. As well. I set a steady pace. If others want to race - go ahead - I'll be there when it counts.

 

[350tracker]

Back in 2020 I went to NZ to visit my daughter and she had organized a number of hunts in the mountains and let me tell you, I had never done this type of hunting before being a prairie hunter. I wasn't ready for it and wasn't in shape either and my boots were terrible as for traction on the slopes. Sure was happy when I was back on flat land.

 

[Dogleg]

I never did any mountain hunting before I was 50. Some of it was humiliatingly too much for me: others weren’t all that bad, but bad enough. You won’t know if you don’t try.

 

[valczer]

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 ?

If you are asking this question, it suggests you are not sure of your health status and/or know it is not in a decent enough shape to do such demanding physically and mentally activity.

It would not be a bad idea to get full medical check up, blood work, stress test and whatever else your doctor might suggest.

You don’t want to find out in the wild hard to get terrain that your health is not prepared for such activities.

Just a suggestion on my part, ymmv.

Cheers,

 

[mark2015]

Back in 2020 I went to NZ to visit my daughter and she had organized a number of hunts in the mountains and let me tell you, I had never done this type of hunting before being a prairie hunter. I wasn't ready for it and wasn't in shape either and my boots were terrible as for traction on the slopes. Sure was happy when I was back on flat land.

Living in BC there has always been some degree of hill climbing involved in my hunting but the most demanding for me has been elk and grizzly. When grizzly was still open I wold put in for the west side of Williston and always get it because it is a little remote.

We would spot the mountain sides just above the treeline or those beautiful golf green looking patches for grizz. When you saw one either then or later you would plan out a stalk. That smooth cheery looking green patch was generally an old slide overgrown densely with willows and rocks the size of vw's. We would hike from the road through the trees or cut block, up the mountain past the tree line, and then try and find the critter. With that program we certainly slept well at night.

 

[Sun_and_Steel_77]

Bearhunter, I'm pretty certain toebako is using a foldable titanium woodstove. I have one from seekoutside and it is very lightweight and compact.

 

[Titan 08]

If you’re in proper shape and it’s on your bucket list, do it. My father used to tell me it’s better to have memories than regrets. It also helps to have a younger partner with you. In my case it’s my son, however he does get a little over protective of me at times because of my age, I’m 72 and still doing what I always did (flat land hunting).

 

[bearhunter]

I've seen those, but they still take up space and do have some weight. If you can handle it, do it, but if you're going to do trips that require humping mountains, humping out the gear, as well as the required legal amounts of meat, horns, etc. will require a lot more effort.

As for mountain hunting, climbing the hills gets easier if you do it enough to strengthen your body, coming back down, especially with a heavy pack full of meat, never gets easier, especially with bad knees.

 

[boxhitch]

climbing the hills gets easier if you do it enough to strengthen your body

the rub.
Fitness is a lifestyle but everyone has their level of ability and commitment and desires
I know a guide who was chasing sheep and goats at 62, his general lifestyle off-season had activity also so no special training was needed

trying not to be insensitive....but at first I thought the thread title had a typo error in the age for the question
50 is so young..

 

[FLHTCUI]

50 is so young , especially if you are a tree.
Spot/Inreach might be a piece of kit worth its' weight.
Get out, get fit and get shooting, our time on this blue orb we call Earth is finite and may that time be as enjoyable as ever.
Rob

 

[bearhunter]

the rub.
Fitness is a lifestyle but everyone has their level of ability and commitment and desires
I know a guide who was chasing sheep and goats at 62, his general lifestyle off-season had activity also so no special training was needed

trying not to be insensitive....but at first I thought the thread title had a typo error in the age for the question
50 is so young..

Genetics has a lot to do with how well we age. There are some things we just can't overcome.

Some issues are our fault, and injuries we sustained in our younger days eventually catch up with us, some folks think drinking a case of beer every day and smoking a pack of cigs, is good for you. It all takes its toll.

For those of us out there over the age of fifty, good on you.

Funny, most of the folks I see in the bush, hunting on foot, are over 50. It seems most young folks feel you need to have quads, and have comfortable beds to sleep in every night to be able to hunt.

That doesn't mean all young folks feel that way, but from what I've seen over the past ten years, people hunting on foot are mostly older.

Yesterday my 55 year old neighbor and I used my SxS quad to get to the snowline on one of the ridges I know that still has a good population of Mule Deer.

I will admit, I used to use a horse to get up there and what took an hour with a quad would have taken most of a day with a horse.

There was a very good chance of picking up one of those old, lone Bucks, that won't start heading for the valley below, until the snow is close to its belly.

The snow was about a foot (25cm) deep, and wet. There was a 10km wind, blowing fog, and visibility was about 400 meters. Perfect weather for such a hunt.

We were also just above the tree line, other than small pockets of 50 year old, twenty foot high spruce and pine, with 18 inch butts.

The grass and shrubs were sticking up through the snow, and other than a couple sets of Deer tracks, our foot prints were all that was visible.

It was beautiful.

We saw 6 deer, but none were legal.

Slogging through that wet snow was brutal. I was dry, and my clothes held out the wind, but my thighs and calves were on fire from the exertion of moving in the wet snow. We finally got to a position where we had a 360 degree view, and could still be hunkered down for some shelter from the wind. Temps were -3C, and the sun had been shining before we got there.

It was a great day.