I'm 65. I've never been the most prolific game killer, but I've had my share of success and killed a variety of game. Whitetails, black bear, turkey, lots of duck, a few geese, fox, coyote, as well as most small game. I've hunted in 5 states and overall had a lot of fun.
At this point the only game animal left on my bucket list is an elk. I've had 2 unsuccessful DIY hunts in Colorado. I just got in the truck, drove west, found public land with an OTC tag and went at it. Had a great time, but the odds are pretty long when you don't know what you're doing. But I knew I'd never kill one sitting on the couch here in GA.
There is a group of hunters locally who have made the trip to CO for over 20 years. They usually take 4-6 guys and have never failed to bring back at least 1 elk, often 2 or 3. Which are pretty decent odds for out of state hunters on public land with OTC tags. These guys know what they are doing.
This year they invited me to go with them. Was supposed to leave today. Had to say no, maybe next year. Two days before the invite I got confirmation that I had Prostate Cancer and would be recovering from surgery about the time they left. Confirmation of cancer and having to turn down the hunt of a lifetime in the same week was a double gut punch.
The surgery was 15 days ago. I'm well on the road to recovery, but nowhere near ready to hunt. This season will be a bust even for local hunting.
The Doc assigned to my case is an older guy who only does conventional open surgery. Many people urged me to change to another Doc who could do it robotically. That would have moved the surgery until December or January and allowed me to hunt this year. But I told the Doc I wanted it cut out ASAP. Which proved to be a good decision. The surgery ended up being more complex than anticipated and could not have been done robotically anyway. They would have had to just sew me up and re-do it conventionally if they'd tried with a robot.
All of the cancer was confined to the Prostate which is great news. But was very near the edge in one spot. Had I waited a few more months it may well have spread elsewhere.
At this point the only game animal left on my bucket list is an elk. I've had 2 unsuccessful DIY hunts in Colorado. I just got in the truck, drove west, found public land with an OTC tag and went at it. Had a great time, but the odds are pretty long when you don't know what you're doing. But I knew I'd never kill one sitting on the couch here in GA.
There is a group of hunters locally who have made the trip to CO for over 20 years. They usually take 4-6 guys and have never failed to bring back at least 1 elk, often 2 or 3. Which are pretty decent odds for out of state hunters on public land with OTC tags. These guys know what they are doing.
This year they invited me to go with them. Was supposed to leave today. Had to say no, maybe next year. Two days before the invite I got confirmation that I had Prostate Cancer and would be recovering from surgery about the time they left. Confirmation of cancer and having to turn down the hunt of a lifetime in the same week was a double gut punch.
The surgery was 15 days ago. I'm well on the road to recovery, but nowhere near ready to hunt. This season will be a bust even for local hunting.
The Doc assigned to my case is an older guy who only does conventional open surgery. Many people urged me to change to another Doc who could do it robotically. That would have moved the surgery until December or January and allowed me to hunt this year. But I told the Doc I wanted it cut out ASAP. Which proved to be a good decision. The surgery ended up being more complex than anticipated and could not have been done robotically anyway. They would have had to just sew me up and re-do it conventionally if they'd tried with a robot.
All of the cancer was confined to the Prostate which is great news. But was very near the edge in one spot. Had I waited a few more months it may well have spread elsewhere.
