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 ...
I'm embarrassed to admit that one of the reasons I quit duck hunting was because I loved watching their beauty, colors, and style as they flared for a landing into my decoys. I just enjoyed watching them more than shooting them. That and they taste like schit...
Ah, my hunting was never about putting meat on the table, since I had enough $$ to do that. What I did enjoy was the challenge, the experience, the outdoors, the chase, the satisfaction of being able to get my own meat, a shot well made for a clean kill... you know, the sport! But not the kill. I never enjoyed that aspect, nor did I hunt for the trophy of the horns. That's just me.
Yeah, but you still have to lug that thing back to the car/truck and hoist it in and then back out to hang. I just never saw myself phoning for help to do that. Tho the last elk I shot I used the radio and my buddies came to help me quarter and pack it out. I pulled/damaged both Achilles getting my portion up out of W Birch Creek and then still had to carry that pack 2 miles to the truck. I preferred the time I shot one from a spot sitting just above the road and then we gutted it and slid it down the hill and into the back of the truck.
Diabetes can be a real beotch. Esp if I have my shot and forget to eat. Low blood sugar can be life threatening. I have diabetic neuropathy in my feet but it doesn't keep me from walking... it is the arthritis that did that. And in my back it hinders my lifting tasks. I also have intermittent vertigo... yep that's a nogo for walking in the woods. Too dangerous for uneven footing and a bad attack leaves one vomiting from the spinning. I hope you still take your dad for walks/rides in the woods when he can make it out.
