Feeling old this year.................the spark to hunt is there but the energy level is not !!!!! Dave
Reminisce on your first hunts. What got you out there to begin with, not your first kill but your first sit. Relive that anticipation and hunt for what it used to mean. I'm assuming "energy level" implies drive to get out there and not physical limiting, if latter is the case I apologize and can only ask to be somewhat more specific as there are a few here that can probably assist with either a similar situation or knowledge of such.
I never thought I'd loose the drive for bear hunting but I did this year. Not for myself as I love the meat but for hosting others. All good things come to an end sooner or later. Remember the good times.
I'm sorry, just got back from elk hunting. Opening day and windy as heck but I still went. And I am 67
Just wore out this year, some old nagging health issues. Nothing to stop me from hunting, biggest issue is work. COVID got staffing way down so I am working long hours. Just feeling my age I guess. Dave
Man we have all been in a funk at some point this year.. But I can tell, it will melt away the first sit I have...
I'm 63, and I understand your situation completely. Two years ago I tore my rotator cuff, and it took a full year to totally get back to normal. I had to use my CB to hunt that year though, but at least I was in the woods. I killed a doe too! Then, last summer I slipped again going down a power line to fish a stream, and I hurt my other shoulder. This one wasn't a torn RC, but after an MRI Doc said I had a frayed ligament, that has taken me another year to heal. I'm not 100% yet, as I can only draw my bow (60lb) one time, and that's with a lot of effort. If I don't get my full strength back by opening day, I'll just have to use the CB again. It bums me out, but just being able to hunt makes things seem not so bad. I think attitude plays the biggest role in a bad situation.
With all of this crap and negativity going on this year, bow season can't get here fast enough. My advice is keep it simple. Don't put no pressure on yourself. Go when you feel like it and have fun! My Dad is 84 and he still gets excited when deer season rolls around!
I am excited for the season I might even break my own rule and shoot a doe as soon as possible just to get a deer into the local processor early. I want my meat sticks before the gun hunters slow down delivery times.
got a call from my old man this morning. Best news I've gotten in a long time- Barring anything unforeseen (it is 2020 and all) he'll be hunting with me this season. I thought for sure he was done, he hasn't hunted in 3 years due to health issues. He's going to fly in to Grand Rapids Sept 30 (day before opening day) where I will pick him up on the way Up North to camp. I wasn't planning on doing more than 3 days for Opening Weekend but that will change now. Probably stay at least thru Wednesday long as it's not pouring rain. Moon's going to suck for that week but I don't care- get to spend one more week in the woods with the Old Man....crap, better go dig out his ground blind from the crawl space!
Lost the last member of a multi-generational hunt camp last year, minus myself and my FIL, whose 81 and in poor health. We, as an older generation (I'm 60 and was always the "baby" at camp), were never able to successfully recruit the younger generation and that loss - watching the older guys die off one at a time - is really affecting me. For the first time ever, the thought of being alone on both season openers (bow/CB and firearm), added by the whole Chinese virus thing, has sapped me of motivation. I really want to get back in the saddle, just need to figure out how.
Bring in a local if you don't have any family. You can even hold interviews for the (spot). I have bought ppl into my farm over the years even some members from here and made lifetime friend doing it. Good luck
We/they actually (most members owned small vacant parcels near our central camp which had my FIL's cabin..ie..camp - and these properties were in most cases bordering state/federal land or within a few miles of it) sold off their parcels slowly but surely over the past decade, as advanced age made it too difficult manage/control/enforce. I feel fortunate though, having been a part of their tradition.
