Hokkmike
Member
I am 70 - that is important to this post. But my adage has always been that "model years are for cars". A lot of my friends, including my two brothers, seem to have lost interest in big game hunting. That means Whitetail deer in Pennsylvania.
I think that getting up early in the morning and sitting in the cold has lost favor to sleeping in a cozy bed and a warm breakfast with coffee. Shooting and guns are still fun but now relegated by my ex-hunting buddies to the range and warm sunshine. We used to shoot groundhogs in the summer evenings but the coyotes seem to have pretty well finished them off.
I was joking with a remaining hunting companion that we should come up with a "fun hunting strategy for older shooters"... An easy chair instead of a bucket to sit on, dressing to stay super-warm, no going in before sunrise, (sleep in a little) taking time out of the field for a comradely lunch, using a blind with a heater, forgoing the iron sights and using good scopes on flat shooting guns. Maybe even taking cat naps in the field.
I still find solace in being alone at my stand in the woods - nature, God, and all of that. I enjoy possessing and shooting a quality firearm. I don't care so much about just shooting any deer. I have passed up some recently that I would have certainly shot when I was younger. I still enjoy the excitement of the first day like it is a holiday. I am looking forward to next year. But, I may not have anyone to go with me.
Putting this in the hunting section probably has eliminated responses from the older shooter who has given up on it. Most of you readers are still here, I'll bet, because the word hunting still attracts you. So maybe I am speaking to the wrong crowd!?
What are your thoughts on the matter? Thanks.
I think that getting up early in the morning and sitting in the cold has lost favor to sleeping in a cozy bed and a warm breakfast with coffee. Shooting and guns are still fun but now relegated by my ex-hunting buddies to the range and warm sunshine. We used to shoot groundhogs in the summer evenings but the coyotes seem to have pretty well finished them off.
I was joking with a remaining hunting companion that we should come up with a "fun hunting strategy for older shooters"... An easy chair instead of a bucket to sit on, dressing to stay super-warm, no going in before sunrise, (sleep in a little) taking time out of the field for a comradely lunch, using a blind with a heater, forgoing the iron sights and using good scopes on flat shooting guns. Maybe even taking cat naps in the field.
I still find solace in being alone at my stand in the woods - nature, God, and all of that. I enjoy possessing and shooting a quality firearm. I don't care so much about just shooting any deer. I have passed up some recently that I would have certainly shot when I was younger. I still enjoy the excitement of the first day like it is a holiday. I am looking forward to next year. But, I may not have anyone to go with me.
Putting this in the hunting section probably has eliminated responses from the older shooter who has given up on it. Most of you readers are still here, I'll bet, because the word hunting still attracts you. So maybe I am speaking to the wrong crowd!?
What are your thoughts on the matter? Thanks.