Keeping Older Hunters Interested. How can it be done?

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Hokkmike

Hokkmike

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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.
 
Some things loose their appeal with age. Comfort is a good idea for folks that don’t like to rough it. Circulation seems to be an older guy issue, I like a stand I can stand up in and maybe even move around a bit.

I still find solace in being alone at my stand in the woods - nature, God, and all of that.....But, I may not have anyone to go with me.
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Seems like you don’t really need someone to go hunting with you, a camp or cabin with all the luxuries older people like is a sure fire way to keep your buddies around for conversation after you get back from your hunt.
 
Yes, yes, and yes.
I've witnessed the sun come up over the hood of a tractor enough times to take the magic out of it.
Comfy hunting blinds. Well planned out of state hunts. Goose pits. Prairie dog towns. Hogs from a elevated blind. Mr Heater and a Coleman stove. A good crappie hole. 6 trout from a beaver pond. Three squirrels with a flinter. A turkey with a bp shotgun.
Dinty Moore over a fire, eaten from the can. A club match with prizes and a meal following. Sipping whiskey when you're not leaving the cabin.

I carried my slug gun, and 'hunted' every day during our firearm season, but i really had no intention of shooting anything.
I enjoyed seeing some young bucks walk this time.
My freezer is full of beef.
We'll see how i feel next year.

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I can't seem to get my younger friends into the woods.
What the hell?
I shoot my rifles year round. Started working on a hunting load for my Pa10 two days after our rifle deer season ended and Pa doesn't even allow semis for deer yet.

I do.like comfort. My tree stand is 100 feet from a real toilet and fresh coffee. I did take the zip line down to my treestand as per my wife's wishes.

Yep us old men don't like discomfort.
It was uncomfortable jumping off the Stratosphere in Vegas. They wouldn't give me time to change my depends.

My younger friend, when I told him about my cow elk hunt last week told me he wasn't in good enough shape to do that hunt.
I just told him its a matter of priorities.
One of my main priorities is hunting ( well, shooting a handgun too). I walked a trail with a 40 pound pack and my kenetreck hunting boots for 7 to 10 miles a few days a week to prep for that hunt because it was important enough for me.


Most of my hunting buds sight their rifle in a week before deer season by shooting their 3 rounds and are good to go.

Old guys get lazy I guess. And there's a couch and television.

Hope it doesn't happen to me.
 
Getting older older has its challenges, personal priorities have changed over the years. Physical comforts play into that. The desire to experience God's creation in person rather than view it from a photograph can't be duplicated. Perhaps the most important is my responsibility to teach and pass this heritage to the next generation.


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My dad is 68 and he keeps saying this is his last year for hunting. He hunts on his own back 40 and rides a quad to his blind and is successful every year too. He has a comfy stand with a staircase up to it so it is pretty accessible and safe in that regard.

I predict the same will happen to me as I near 70. Shooting game becomes less of a priority as a hunter ages.
 
Seeing the excitement in a young hunter's eyes has been my best motivator as of late. I get more from that than putting down a buck or a Tom. While I still love to hunt, I don't have the drive or the intense desire I used to to get out there every chance I get. Knowing how much my bird dog loves to hunt makes me take her out, and when I do I'm glad I did, but otherwise I probably wouldn't bother. Same thing goes for ridin' the motorcycle and fishing. I still enjoy it when I do it, I just don't have to do it anymore.
 
Comfort and safety. Comfort meaning things like a minimum amount of walking to the stand/blind, having the right clothing and gear, and a comfortable seat in the blind/stand. Safety, meaning approaches on trails or other routes that are easy to navigate, and wearing your harness in a tree. I'm 53 and I do all of these things, because I have chosen to hunt "smart" and not "hard". I have taken to bringing my kindle tablet into a ground blind to read a book (no paper rustling). Every time a turn a page, I get my head up and scan the area. Another big one is having a good plan/strategy to get that deer out of the woods- whether its a 4 wheeler or a youngster dragging it.
 
I feel it most discomforting going out before the sun is up and walk to my portable blind, but I enjoy the thrill of the hunt ! I have a heater in my blind to try to make it comfortable and a portable chair to make it more comfortable. I have back problems so I try to stay out all day but usually come out at noon for a short break and to chat with my son-in-law who also hunts with me. Every year it gets harder and harder to get up at 5 in the morning to get ready for the hunt and with Pa. changing the rules and starting dates it doesn't make it any easier.
I hunt the North East of Pa. so we get a lot of out of state people in the area who come up for the first week of deer, after that is it very quiet for the second week. We had a successful harvest this year and that just puts more thrill on the upcoming year for a new hunt!
 
I'm 66 and can deer hunt out back as well as next door. I know that sounds good but sometimes that convenience works against me when it's a breezy 20 deg morning, nothing is showing up and there is a warm house, with coffee, not far away.
This season has had the added factor of my having to un-retire and not having much time to spend on "chores" vs hunting.
I had hoped to pass on a love of hunting and the outdoors to someone but that did not work out as hoped...
 
Continue to mentor younger hunters. Us older hunters (hopefully) have the skills we can pass down to younger ones, and the smiles and glint in their eyes is priceless. My older son is only 27, and he has been mentoring a friend's son; lends his a rifle, goes to the range with him, has him come out and cut lanes and check cameras and read sign. The kid got 4 deer this year with my son's AR, with my loads, and I'm proud of my boy, and the kid.
 
I'll be 63 in a couple of months and my philosophy has changed. My younger brother and I used to hunt a lot, but he gave it up 5-6 years ago so I usually hunt alone. If the weather is bad I stay home. I often hunt mid-day getting into the woods around 11 AM and hunting till about 3 or 4 PM, especially if it is colder. You'd be surprised at how much game is moving then. The biggest buck I ever killed was taken at 1 PM.

Anymore hunting is an excuse to spend a few hours in the woods. I do spend a lot of time hiking and camping away from hunting season but it is different. When hiking without a rifle, shotgun or bow I feel as if I'm visiting nature. With a weapon in my hands I feel like I'm part of nature. My senses are more alert if that makes sense. I've killed whitetail, black bear, ducks, geese, coyote, fox, squirrel, rabbit, quail, dove and probably some I've forgotten about. At this point I pass up a lot more shots than I take.

I've BTDT so many times that I feel like I need to expand my experiences and do something I've never done before. The last time I got really serious about taking a game animal was on an elk hunt in Colorado in 2018. I hunted hard on that hunt. Killing an elk, even a small one is a sort of bucket list thing I've always wanted to do. I really wanted to go back this year, but for a couple of reasons it wasn't practical. But as long as I feel that I'm physically able I'll go back. Another thing I'd like to do is a guided waterfowl hunt in a good location.
 
I'm 63 and hunting has lost a lot of its appeal. I've been banged up some and everything is harder and more painful than fun. I have a young friend that I've been able to get involved in hunting to some degree and I'm happy to help him but there is no one to hunt with me. No family in the area.
My hunting friends are gone or in worse shape than me. I lost both my best friend and my last hunting dog last year.
I have pheasant and quail and deer right out my back door and haven't even walked out there this season. I have access to some prime Illinois deer habitat in addition to what I own.
I went bow hunting 3 times this year at a timber a couple miles away and shot a big doe on the 3rd time out. By the time I got her dragged out of a ravine and loaded up and home I wished I hadn't bothered. 3 evenings butchering and making sausage by myself so I can give it away at Christmas.
My son in law was going to put together a Washington state elk hunt for us and I gave him a great rifle scope case and ammo but that was 11 years ago and hasn't happened yet.
 
The hunting generation is getting older. I turned 63 this year. The drive is still there but the running gears are showing some wear. Can't see or hear as well as I did when younger. Recently bit the bullet and got hearing aids. Have also lost some of the "killer instinct". Had a golden opportunity to take two squirrels with one .410 shell this past fall. Just before pressing the trigger I realized they reminded me of the kittens playing out back of the house. Safety back on,lowered gun and left them playing and chasing each other. They just looked better on their tree than in my frying pan. Will I hunt next year? Gosh I sure hope so! Nothing compares to watching the woods wake up at daylight!!
 
huntsman said:
I’m 60+ and don’t feel the drive to hunt as I used to, won’t go out in the rain and predawn walks to the stand are a risk of falling.

I now define a successful hunt as the hunt itself, seeing and killing game aren’t as important as they used to be.
Click to expand...
I'm right there with you! A successful hunt for me is when I don't bust my a++!!
 
As someone who has only hunted big game out West where things like blinds and sitting all day are unheard of, I don't have any experience with most of these posts as trudging up and down mountains changing elevations up to 3000' is too damn hard on these old knees and lungs. Sitting in some warm blind sure sounds like a nice way to get away from the wife and house chores............
 
Big 7-0 here this year too. All of the above apply to me in one way or another. I hunted rifle hunted deer this year, but it would have had to be a big one for me to shoot. Didn't see anything legal so it didn't matter.

Plenty of meat still in the freezer, mainly moose but I was able to stumble far enough into the woods this year to surprise a bear. More meat and a $1000 taxidermy bill. I learned to hunt in the big woods and was taught by a few dedicated walkers and I get bored sitting in a blind all day. We started hunting around my house years ago when we moved out into the country but things have slowly changed and we are now squeezed into a fairly small patch of woods. Its just not the same.

I would like to go back out west for elk. But that's the only thing hunting related thing that truly interests me now. I'm not going to shoot another bear, that's one thing I'm pretty positive about!
 
I think as we age, we come to terms with certain aspects of life. Our prime is well behind us, and our abilities take a downward turn. We may lose the motivation to do it like we used to because we know we can't physically put the effort in to do things at the level we did once upon a time. Everything takes longer to recover from, whether it's warming back up or getting over aches and pains from exertion.

My dad deer hunted this year. Rode a Gator down a logging road, got off and walked about 50 yards into the woods. That's his limit now. I asked if he wanted me to build a blind so he doesn't have to even get off the Gator and he said it wouldn't feel like hunting. It already doesn't feel much like hunting to him.
 
Finding it harder to put my boots on in the morning. Taking food out to the stand cause it takes too long to get dressed. Finding ways to stay warm for longer time periods. Use to be out all day. Now it's 4 hours morning and 2.5 in afternoon. I walk with a shooting stick cause I am too embarrassed to use a cane. Got stuck in muck up to my knees in the local swamp. I did get my brother hunting who broke his leg this summer in 5 places. He's got more steel in now than a Sherman tank. He got a Handicap permit; gets to hunt from a truck. I'm the go-fer; this and go-fer that. (He can't kneel to gut a deer.) He's 70 and I'm 68. It's really hard to find a good Vacuum bottle to keep things hot. "Santa" found a Stanley which "guarantees hot-ness for 8 hours". I will test it, for sure. When I die, let be doing what I enjoy.
 
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