The time is come to quit Hunting

[BrandonOR]

You guys are lucky to have Father's in your lives who taught you those life skills and spent time out in the woods.

My Dad took off when I was around 5yo, then got a stepdad at 10yo but he had already raised his kids and wasn't much interested in raising more.
He took me one year for deer season, but seemed like there was more drinking then hunting.

I didn't start hunting until I was about 30, I had to teach myself and it was several years before I bagged anything. Still 0/8 on elk.

But it was a great experience. I'll be teaching my kids when their old enough.

Similar to my situation.

My father is very much alive and hunted with his father and shot most of his life, never took any interest in teaching me any of those skills. When I turned 30 I became interested and had to teach myself and continue to teach myself what I can.

I try not to be bitter but I do spend a good portion of my time outdoors thinking about my grandfather, what it would have been like had he lived long enough to teach me. It's a way I can be close with him still. That being said, alone is hard.

 

[Pops1911]

For me the key to hunting turned off during my last hunt when I lived up in Wyoming. I had friends who owned large ranches and welcomed us to hunt their property. The owners also had out of state hunters hunting on their land - for a hefty fee, of course. I used to love heading into the hills passing by a group of [ahem] Eastern hunters who had not yet filled their tags. Told the two of us about not seeing any game and the hunting prospects were not good- even to locals. I REALLY loved coming out of the hills a couple of hours later when both my buddy and I had nice bucks in the truck. Always enjoyed the out-of-stater's looks of incredulity that we both limited out and they had bupkus. Where I was in Wyoming back in the day the deer and antelope season overlapped by a couple of days. Imagine the looks we got from out of staters when we came out of the mountains with 2 buck deer and 2 antelopes in the back of the old rattle trap pickup we used for hunting! Priceless! It was on the last one of those trips when I had an epiphany. I didn't particularly like the killing of the game ... what I really loved was the stalk/ambush! [old military training] Heck, I figured I could still go "hunting", enjoy myself immensely and not have a carcass to process afterwards. Bingo! For years after that I would go up into the High Country just to put the sneak on an animal. Really liked the looks of surprise on the deer to discover me standing there close to them. Laughed my backside off. I could afford the meat and luckily still can. Made a promise to myself that as long as I could afford to buy meat I would not take another game animal. Why not leave them for other's enjoyment? Anyhoo that's my story. Sorry I don't have a good Dad/Son hunting story to share. But that's another really long story ...

 

[xlsbob]

For My dad hunting was a way of life, he despised hunting for sport as he called it, which is why he was never into it . In my mind he grew up into an amazing life which i would love to be able to replicate. If I can ever buy the old homestead I will in a heartbeat.

 

[Stomper]

Nice! I have an 06 CRF250X myself. I ride with my rapidly growing grandson. I'll quit riding when I can't do it anymore. One of our customers gave me a little grief last summer cuz I kinda wadded myself up and missed a little work. Then he told me his dad rode dirt bikes until he was 72! I aim to pass that mark.

NICE!!

Mine's an '06 CRF450R... even at (a very well maintained) 15 years old, it's a FREAKING BEAST!!

 

[Spitpatch]

Well, since we's all lak whippin' 'em out n stuff,



'99 TT-R250. Bootlegged streel legal and custom exhaust.
This was summer before last I believe, on an all day solo run the circumference of Flathead Lake (and trailriding side trips along the way).
Week before Sturgis, and so the traffic to the Rally was in full force. I got invited by a rough Hog group (in reality probably lawyers and CPA's) to go on to Sturgis with 'em.
I have no doubt this bike woulda made it.
And yours might be "bigger'n mine", but I've got a dog-year on most of ya.

 

[ZigZagZeke]

WHOA, hold on there!

I'm in my mid 50's and I still get after it like a big dawg on this....
View attachment 807553


And NO, I do NOT own a sports car nor have a 20 something bimbo mistress.


55 is the new 35.

At 54 I had a Corvette and married a 26 year old (definitely not a bimbo).

 

[orygun]

Well, since we's all lak whippin' 'em out n stuff,

View attachment 807893

'99 TT-R250. Bootlegged streel legal and custom exhaust.
This was summer before last I believe, on an all day solo run the circumference of Flathead Lake (and trailriding side trips along the way).
Week before Sturgis, and so the traffic to the Rally was in full force. I got invited by a rough Hog group (in reality probably lawyers and CPA's) to go on to Sturgis with 'em.
I have no doubt this bike woulda made it.
And yours might be "bigger'n mine", but I've got a dog-year on most of ya.

I "had" a CRF230 until my grandson "stole" it. He'll grow past it and I'm keepin it. Fantastic class of bikes.

 

[DeanMk]

When I was in high school, my brother dropped his bike off on his way back from Japan.
1975 Honda TL 125.
That bike was a lot of fun, except when the throttle would stick wide open.
...I could climb a tree with it, though.

 

[coop44]

I don't think you have to quit, just change method. My dearly departed uncle Bill, would head out on the first day of season in his car drive out a dirt road to the edge of a legal hunting area, pop open his trunk get out a folding chair and his rifle enjoy a cold beverage in the shade. Within an hour or two he would have his choice of game to shoot, usually within a hundred feet. All those fancy hunters would do the work for him.

 

[ZigZagZeke]

WHOA, hold on there!

I'm in my mid 50's and I still get after it like a big dawg on this....
View attachment 807553


And NO, I do NOT own a sports car nor have a 20 something bimbo mistress.


55 is the new 35.

I jumped my Polaris over a 4' pile of chips last fall. The guys running the chipper about had heart attacks.


I traded my Banshee off for a Honda so my teenagers wouldn't kill themselves. I still miss it. There's a lot to be said for the idea that you're only as old as you think you are.


I'd rather go out riding an ATV, or watching the sun come up over the sagebrush than slipping in the shower.

 

[Spitpatch]

I remember an emotional conversation with my Mom about something pretty serious when I was about 14 or 16, and she was point by point and right on every one (as she usually was). She finished her presentation by saying, "Someday, you will have to grow up."

I replied (entirely a valid response from my perspective and age at the time), "If that's what growing up is, I never want to grow up.!"

And I regretted saying it right away.

And she FOLDED! She said to me, "I hope you never grow up too."

And THAT is why I am the poster child for Arrested Adolescence. (I have BOTH credentials: I was arrested as an adolescent, AND I am "going on 14" in the department of "Acting My Age.")

 

[Kf338]

My dad is a diabetic he has problems with vertical I hope I pronounce that right. We had a lot of fun times just sucks to get closer to the end.

 

[coop44]

My dad is a diabetic he has problems with vertical I hope I pronounce that right. We had a lot of fun times just sucks to get closer to the end.

I'm 65, and yeah those thoughts come up. I get morose at times, wondering what is ahead for me. Then I drag myself up and out of it, give myself permission to feel better and go out and do something. Maybe I can't do what I did when I was younger, but hell, you can't be a porn star forever!

Last time I was down in cali to see my mom (she's 95 btw, and still amazing) we took a drive to the coast, had a nice dinner and watched the sunset. What I'm saying is that it's not what you do, it's the time you spend together doing it.
(By the way it's "vertigo")

 

[orygun]

When I was 21 or so and doing taxes, I mentioned to Mom that I made a little over $13K that year. She asked me what did I have to show for it and I pointed to my car. She asked me if I thought I would have it forever and I quickly responded in a positive manner. She didn't believe me. 20 or 30 years later she figured out I was correct all of those years ago. Wish I could have "kept" her and Dad around forever...

 

[Bobbygun]

I'm not quite 60, but April ain't that far away. Quit hunting? No way. But maybe have to adjust your tactics. I loathe sitting in treestands, but my 74 year-old hunting buddy likes it just fine. In the 2020 late bow season, I hung his stand for him on Monday and he called me from that treestand around noon on Tuesday wanting to know if I might be available to help him find and retrieve the four point blacktail he had just arrowed. He seemed to enjoy watching me drag that buck out for him very much.

We don't hunt elk in all the same places we used to, keeping within a mile of a road that we can get a vehicle to is now how we roll. Unless we have my 23 year-old son with us. Then we might be less cautious.

Much of it is mindset. When I was 56, I had a Hart Mountain muzzleloader tag. A guy stopped by my camp to see how things were going. He mentioned that he and his buddy were almost 40 now and didn't know how much longer they'd be doing stuff like this. I pointed to a basin near the top of the nearest mountain and said "I'm 56 and worked my way across that basin this morning. Where was it you boys wanted to hunt?" He replied "Dang! That's pretty good. Maybe we have longer than I thought." I suspect he had much longer than he thought. At 5' 10" and 225 pounds, I'm no "wilderness athlete" and this guy appeared to be in much better shape than me.

So the days of taking my mountain bike with a Burley trailer into the Snake River unit chasing big bulls with a bow may be behind me. We would make a pact not to take anything but BIG bulls. Now I prefer somewhat milder terrain and just about any old elk will do. But I still love hunting.

 

[DeanMk]

I'm 65, and yeah those thoughts come up. I get morose at times, wondering what is ahead for me. Then I drag myself up and out of it, give myself permission to feel better and go out and do something. Maybe I can't do what I did when I was younger, but hell, you can't be a porn star forever!

Last time I was down in cali to see my mom (she's 95 btw, and still amazing) we took a drive to the coast, had a nice dinner and watched the sunset. What I'm saying is that it's not what you do, it's the time you spend together doing it.
(By the way it's "vertigo")

Give your Mom a hug next time you see her, Coop.
My mom was 95 when she passed last October.
Everything you wrote at the end of your post is the absolute truth.
Cherish those times. They'll be gone before you know it.

 

[bbbass]

You guys are lucky to have Father's in your lives who taught you those life skills and spent time out in the woods.

My Dad took off when I was around 5yo, then got a stepdad at 10yo but he had already raised his kids and wasn't much interested in raising more.
He took me one year for deer season, but seemed like there was more drinking then hunting.

I didn't start hunting until I was about 30, I had to teach myself and it was several years before I bagged anything. Still 0/8 on elk.

But it was a great experience. I'll be teaching my kids when their old enough.

You're lucky your stepdad wasn't one of the ones that beat on or molest the younguns. My former stepson got beat on regularly by the various men my ex brought into the house for the money they provided.

Or like my last bozz, who's natural father took him out to the cabin for a special father/son time, then exiled him so he could cheat with his various girlfriends. I can imagine how he felt, and he is a messed up adult.

As one who also taught himself to hunt, with a little help along the way, I can say I didn't get much big game at first either. I wandered around, hoping I would run into something, but all I saw was butts running away. Guess I was too noisy or smelled bad or moved too fast or some danged thing. Saw a few deer/elk when driving, but jumping out of the car to get a shot... they were always on a hard run. Tried driving down the road aways ans sneaking back... jumped the deer but not good at snapshots and won't take shots at running animals cuz I'm not good at that either.

Finally got my first elk when I buddied up with friends that had elk camp. Not the first year out tho. For those of us with similar backgrounds, getting an elk may be few and far between. I marvel at the guys that say they get theirs every year. Most of those work really hard at it. Like getting up in the middle of the night to walk into some hellish place. Uh, no thanx!!!

 

[bbbass]

My dad grew up in the depression. They ate chicken every night, because they HAD to. They raised chickens behind the house to survive, since his dad, who was an inside carpenter, was out of work.

My wife grew up on a ranch/farm/orchard. Her dad was a heavy equip operator that worked the farm every night after he got home. But his work was intermittent, so they didn't have a lot of money, and lived on wild game that the boys harvested. To this day she will not eat big game meat, nor especially cherries. Can't even stand cherry pastries or pie (YUM). But she did eat the birds that I shot. And was with me when I got my first deer using her sporterized M1 carbine that SHE used as a deer rifle. It was an old critter with pretty lame/deformed antlers, but I sure enjoyed eating that tough old thing.

 

[41mag]

In that genre of nostalgic looks at irreplaceable moments in our lives, I treasure the one clear moment when both my grandfather & father & I were on a fishing trip on the Snake River. Despite my caution in one critical moment moving around an obstruction to my bank fishing movements & their advise on what not to do, guess who managed to fall in? Eventually Grandpa admitted the same thing happened to him 70 years prior.

 

[bbbass]

My Dad was a jerk in many ways, but a good provider. I loved him like a good son should and took care of him when he became feeble and as he was dying with liver cancer. And so it goes. I got tired of listening to him tell the same stories over and over every 10 minutes of every day. But that's how the old are sometimes. I don't miss him being a jerk, but I do miss him.

Mom is 95 and still going strong. Very alert and sharp. But not taking walks in the mountains or going with oldest bro out into the Utah desert canyons. I worry about her every day. She was bad to Dad, but that was their problem, not mine. She's an Obama supporter, so we don't talk about politics. However, even she hates Newsom!!! LOL