Boarhunter
Member
I will be 67 tomorrow, and I feel the pain of the old shooters....
BOARHUNTER
BOARHUNTER
It sucks to get older...
- Thread starter Shipwreck
- Start date
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Jim Watson
Member
I felt like I was doing ok until about 72 but it has been downhill ever since. The panicdemic hasn't helped.
gyp_c2
Member
aarondhgraham
Member
New Man, it sucks to get old...
\The alternative is worse!
Aarond
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\The alternative is worse!
Aarond
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Howland937
Member
That's a a big gap. I'm realizing I can't do things at 44 that I could do at 43.
Old Dog
Member
I went from 20/15 to glasses in a couple years...
I figured this out the other day when I was playing a pick-up game of hoops down at the park with some youngsters... there's no jump involved in my jump shot anymore. I have, however, reconciled myself to shooting handguns with my everyday glasses (progressive lenses) on... for the past few years, I'd been swapping out and wearing a pair of low-powered readers, just enough magnification to get the sights in focus and still see the target. Have learned to shoot with my head up, which definitely required a lot of practice... But shooting on the move with bifocals is definitely a challenge.
I see more red dot sights in my future, and regrettably, probably less revolver shooting.
@FL-NC - uh, who's the dude in the pic?
Riomouse911
Member
It happens fast
.I just ordered a Glock slide with a RMR cutout. That’ll be put together at some point and give me a taste of red dots on handguns.
Stay safe.
trackskippy
Member
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2010
- Messages
- 3,486
You can slow a lot of it down, but that requires constant work on your part.It happens fast
Just because you get older, maybe retired, doesnt mean you stop doing the things you did a 30, 40, 50, etc, you need to keep doing that as long as you possibly/physically can, if you want to keep doing what you want. If you slack off, take it easy on yourself, and dont keep yourself up, at least the best you can, things will go downhill fast. We pay for what we did to our bodies earlier in life too, and there is always going to be some level of pain, but it only gets a lot worse if you dont keep working all the parts, and keep things up.
Shooting is a physical thing, sport, lifestyle, however you want to look at it. Just like anything else, you need to keep the "shooting muscles" up and in tone too, and that includes the old eyes.
15 years ago, I was 51 and wearing progressive trifocals. Had them since my mid 40's and went to the eye doc every couple of years and they just kept making them stronger and stronger and making my eyes weaker and weaker (my theory
). One day at work I trashed my glasses, and due to the job I was on, couldnt get in to get them replaced. I just wore my safety glasses and carried on. Come the end of that summer, I realized I really wasnt missing the trifocals, my eyes didnt feel near as strained, and I wasnt having any trouble seeing things clearly that I had before. I also hadnt had a migraine since I quit wearing them, and Ive only had one or two in the 15 years since then.Ive been back to a couple of different eye docs three times now since, and asked them if because I was actually using/exercising my eye muscles not wearing the glasses, were they actually getting better? LOL, "of course not!" Could have fooled me. They kept telling me I need them, although interestingly enough, the scripts I was given, were not as strong as the ones I had last worn and trashed (all different doc's).
These days, I wear a $3 set of Walmart 1.5 or 1.75 "cheaters" to read fine print, or if Im reading a lot. Thats the only time I wear them. The only real trouble Im having now shooting wise, is getting a good, crisp, clear sight picture with my handguns, and thats why I went with the top focal safety glasses.
I understand a lot of people actually need to wear glasses, and Im not saying they dont, but I really think a lot of that whole industry is a racket, and like some other things, we trust people who we think know better and just go with what they say, instead of questioning. For me, all the push back I got from them just in asking that question, sent up a red flag for me, especially since they really didnt seem to want to get into it, and my eyes do still seem to be better. Im not saying they arent going either, and in some ways I do see some troubles ahead, as the last time I was there, they said from working/being outside my whole life, the cataracts were probably going to be an issue in the next few years, and the floaters definitely seem to be getting worse.
What else are you gonna do, but just keep plodding on ahead, and dont stop until you drop.
jdh
Member
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2008
- Messages
- 1,375
.308 Norma
Member
deleted - made a mistake
.308 Norma
Member
Hang in there, Shipwreck. Age really is a state of mind.
I was 49 once - well over 20 years ago. I’d already been wearing bifocals for probably 10 years by then, but I was still hunting, shooting, fishing, backpacking and climbing, and I could still hear pretty well.
At 73 I’m still hunting, shooting and fishing. Of course I’ve had to give up serious backpacking. And climbing??? Heck, my wife and I are considering selling our split-entry house (that we’ve lived in for over 40 years) and buying a house that doesn’t have any darned stairs!
As far as my hearing goes though, when I’m ready (or when my wife finally tells me she’s fed up with the TV being turned up so loud) the VA is going to buy me some hearing aids. And as far as going hunting, shooting and fishing, at this age I no longer have to wait until I’m off work or on vacation like I did when I was 49.
Deer season opens in few weeks, and while it’s open, if my wife and I decide we want to go for a couple of days in the middle of the week, we’ll just go. We won’t have to make arrangements (with people we don’t even like) to get off work, and we won’t worry about making a mortgage payment because we don’t have a mortgage anymore. Furthermore, we don’t have kids in college or living at home these days - they’re both off on their own and doing well.
And as far as those bifocals I used to wear go - Medicare and supplemental Medicare insurance payed for laser cataract surgery (which wasn’t even available when I was 49) a couple of years ago. I can get by with a cheap pair of drug store reading glasses now, but I still wear polycarbonate bifocals (with absolutely no correction in the upper lenses) for a little eye protection when I go shooting - which I can do anytime I want as long as it’s light outside and the weather isn’t too drastic.
I'm now in my 80s and went backpacking/shooting on my birthday. Never had a surgery or illness in my life - have original teeth - and no restrictions whatsoever on recently renewed driver's license. Still work - physical labor, and don't want to quit. Dollar store reading glasses work well. Nevertheless I can see the handwriting on the wall - my powerlifting days are over and prolly couldn't go more than 2 or 3 rounds with a good pro boxer. I could give a good account of myself throughout my 60s - not so much now - but I hope to maintain my shooting skills for a long time.
Seedy Character
Member
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2021
- Messages
- 2,064
I did my first ever biathlon at 61 years old.
5 miles, 5 shooting stations, 30 rounds with rifle, 30 rounds with pistol, targets from 10-500 yards. Oldest one there, finished 61st of 124.
The next year, wrenched my back, the week before the run. Had to miss it.
Last year, wuflu cancelled
This year, was working that weekend, couldn't get vacation.
Hope to be at the next one.
5 miles, 5 shooting stations, 30 rounds with rifle, 30 rounds with pistol, targets from 10-500 yards. Oldest one there, finished 61st of 124.
The next year, wrenched my back, the week before the run. Had to miss it.
Last year, wuflu cancelled
This year, was working that weekend, couldn't get vacation.
Hope to be at the next one.
Just noticed post from '.309 Norma' re: giving up backpacking. No way! I see the Idaho location - I lived in N Idaho in the 60s and 70s and backpacked the very remote Selway-Bitterroot wilderness many, many times - also the Tongass in Alaska. Gotta get in hiking shape b/c we plan to get back to my favorite area in the Bitterroots. It will take me at least 2 days hiking to get in - hope I can do it! The downside is one is really alone in an extremely remote area, however I'd rather wind up as bearscat on the forest floor than to die in some nursing home!
Seems to work for my myopic eyesight, might work for somebody else’s;
On my Gen 3 17 & 19, Vickers Elite Wilson Combat blind battlesight rear sights / fiber optic front sights. Red element on the 17, green element on the 19, the red seems to work a little bit better for me than the green, but either one seems to work O.K.
For the young whippersnappers who say that the stock Glock plastic dovetail protectors work fine, I respectfully must disagree! Go splurge for a set of decent aftermarket sights!
On my Gen 3 17 & 19, Vickers Elite Wilson Combat blind battlesight rear sights / fiber optic front sights. Red element on the 17, green element on the 19, the red seems to work a little bit better for me than the green, but either one seems to work O.K.
For the young whippersnappers who say that the stock Glock plastic dovetail protectors work fine, I respectfully must disagree! Go splurge for a set of decent aftermarket sights!
lincen
Member
When shooting at the range I wear a pair of safety glasses with a 1.0 full lens correction. It makes the front sight very clear and the target a tad fuzzy. For work I wear bifocal safety glasses with a 2.0 and sometime 3.0 diopter. I'm 65 and very thankful for decent vision and hand strength to keep on shooting !!
FL-NC
Member
no idea
Yeah I make that mistake more often now too.
1942bull
Member
C’mon @Shipwreck, I am 79, so I see 49 as great age to be. But I can assure the sighting problem will just get worse ove the next 30 years.
doubleh
Member
When I was 49 I thought "Good Lord, I am almost 50 years old". Now I see people that age as still almost kids. I will be 84 in a couple of days. I got my every year new drivers license last week and no longer have any restrictions on it. It sure is nice to only need readers for really fine print.
I got my every year new drivers license last week and no longer have any restrictions on it. It sure is nice to only need readers for really fine print.
Jack Ryan
Member
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2019
- Messages
- 777
Nothing to worry about. It don't last forever.
Average Joe
Member
49? Hell, you're just a kid. Wait till you get in your 70's....
Buzznrose
Member
If you are near San Antonio, I'd be glad to meet you sometime and let you shoot some guns with red dot's on them. You might as well consider them...they are a very good way to help out old eyes.
I'm 58 and have been shooting them for a few years now, but I was introduced to them by a guy 10 years my junior. I have since been putting them on my friend's guns. He just turned 80. He still loves shooting, but couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. He can now stack shots at 12 yards from a rest with his XDM in both .45 and 9MM. He also put them on his Ruger .22's.
You can get the slide cut on your G17, you can bu another slide, or you can sell/trade it on a new MOS.
Best thing about the red dot is it makes previously unmakable shots much easier. 25 hard offhand shots on 5" plates used to be a 50-50 shot for me...now, I'll hit them 9/10 times easily. 50 yards at a silhouette is pretty easy as well.
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