Recommendations For An Old Goat

[Swede]

Ok, we give advise to new elk hunters and young people fresh on their way. Well that got me to thinking what recommendations would you have for older more senior hunters? Don't forget your meds. Don't leave your Geritol and Ben Gay in the medicine cabinet. You can't go there on your Lil Rascal. What else?

[cohunter]

I'm not an old geezer, and this doesn't apply only to old geezers but rather especially to old geezers:

Take a non-hunter hunting.

I grew up in a non-hunting family. For some reason I had a doggedly passionate drive to learn how to hunt. Nobody ever taught me any tricks or showed me any honey holes, but my parents were good sports and generally outdoorsy people and for that reason I was one of the lucky few.

Lots of people want to learn to hunt. You old goats should take them. I run into tons of people who have an interest in hunting and some are surprising - we tend to think of youth or our kids (or grandkids for you ol' geezers) and that's probably the norm, but there are older folks too... and vegetarians (not joking!)

Two years ago I had the pleasure of hunting with my dad during his first elk season on his 60th birthday.

This fall I took a 40-something friend of mine into my favorite area. He'd hunted a few times, but never with much success. He asked me for some tips. I was pretty hesitant to show him my secrets, but it was an awesome experience! He didn't get an elk, but he saw elk every day - he had a ball and learned a ton. Probably most encouraging to him was hearing stories about all the stalks and shots and opportunities that I'd botched along the way and that there was no shame in going elk-less his first 4 seasons.

Lots of people have questions about hunting and not in the antagonist way we sometimes assume. Get out there and teach some folks about what it means to be an ethical hunter. It's for the survival of our sport! You old fogeys might add a bit to your legacy as well

[Swede]

Cohunter great thought. Thanks

[WapitiTalk1]

Oh boy, here we go . I really don't have a lot of advice for the few hunters longer in the tooth than I am. They've been up and down the trail many more times than me (and have the T shirt, stories, and battle scars to show it) and honestly, I just try to learn from them. I guess just be smart and don't let certain amorous individuals lure you into situations that may be beyond ones physical limitations. That can result in an unplanned day off from the hunt to recharge the internal battery . BTW, solid comments cohunter......

[Lefty]

Metamucil is a wonderful drink every morning,.. gets me moving,.
Marry for love,.. or is it marry for money and find love
Ok Swede I have a mental block

Keep first things first.

Now to my pet peeve. Im a teacher. It justs tears (torn,.. well maybe wet eyes too) me apart when a student talks about their dads going hunting with-out their kids.

With lame excuses,.." its my time" "Guy time" "My alone time" " He's not old enought" " "she needs to wait until she is @@ years old"
I had one girl who drew a coveted tag, six week season,.. Every weekend her dad had excuses
Another student did all of his own research, put in for a turkey draw tag, worked his tail of to pay a 16 year old friend to drive, scout , and gain some of the best permissions in the unit. Over 4 week season. His Dad never had the time to drive him 15 miles.
One student, a young Eagle scout, performed and incredible feat. A guide/packer gave this young man an incredible offer. Gave the Kid a full week guided hunt
Im digressing and getting upset

Hunt with your close family, take your wife, your kids.

[Lefty]

Work Hard, play hard.

Staying with Swedes theme,.. Advil PM is great stuff
You ccan hunt in cheap shoes, wear walmart camo, shoot a used 10 year old bow, get wet when its raining.
But make sure your comfy when you sleep

[Elkduds]

More glassing, less walking. Get a lighter rifle. Mentor young'uns. Keep hunting as long as your health allows. Get engaged, stay engaged in the fight to keep public lands public; without that legacy, hunting will end.

[Dr. Rx]

tree stand

[WapitiTalk1]

tree stand

Goats can't climb trees

[Charina]

Just because I know it's one of your pet peeves, I was going to say you need to work towards being in marathon shape. Or better yet, a triathlon! Nothing less will suffice in preparing you to be in the elk woods.

It wasn't until a few years ago when Dad hit his 80's that I could finally physically out-perform him. Granted, 5 years ago when we last worked side by side, I was not in very good shape, but still . . . in his late 70's he could out pace me, out last me, plain out-do me in the field. I could sprint faster, and recover the next day faster, but he still always would out perform my best - even on the second day. I attribute it to both mental toughness, and working to remain active all his life. Even now, with no need to do so whatsoever, when he sees a neighbor taking down a tree, he asks to have the trunk pieces. He wheelbarrows them over to his house, and splits it by hand. Does a little each day. He still takes the hawks out hunting (falconry) as often as weather allows from Fall through Spring. He doesn't take it easy just because he's "old". He's working hard to stay in shape, and it has shown. Only lately, in mid 80's is he starting to have trouble maintaining fitness because of physical issues.

With me in my mid 40's, I'm seeing more and more the need to maintain physical fitness. Not marathon, nor my "best", but to have some level of workout at appropriate levels year round. Watching Dad, I expect it to pay dividends for a long time if I maintain it, even if at a declining level.

I used to have a bit of a "use it up" philosophy about my body (e.g, your heart only has so many beats, or your knees only so many impacts). And in some respects, that may be true. But a few studies as of late have reversed a bit of my thinking to understand that knees, back, etc, can and do improve with impact exercise. Don't "beat up" your body, but use it so it knows it needs to build and regenerate. Capacity is lost through lack of use.

[Dr. Rx]

That is very sound advice Charina! Couldn't agree with you more..
One of the main reason that Archery Elk hunting is so attracting for me is exercising all year long.

Last year I saw two old goats scrambling on the side of the mountain with there recurves.. they had to be in their late 60's early 70's..kicking butt..

Good stuff

Kris

[Swede]

I don't know where anyone else is at on physical ability, but I can get around ok for my age. I can pack out too, but I am more limited and I stay tired longer than I used to. Charina is right about me scoffing about needing to be in marathon shape to be effective as an elk hunter. My purpose is to remind folks that even old goats can get er done. I would like to encourage old guys to leave the TV behind and head out West. You are not too old. You don't have to hike 5 miles into a wilderness to get into elk.
For the young bucks, I would encourage you to load up a pack with 85 pounds of boned out dirt back 4-6 miles in the outback and pack it out. The first thing that will shock you is what a real 85 pounds feels like, and a real 5 miles on GPS will feel like forever before you arrive at your truck. Now you can dump the dirt out of your pack and go get another load. You are less than 1/2 finished if you count the weight of a head and camp. I suspect most of you will never finish this exercise before you realize you have more in common with the old goats than you thought.

[saddlesore]

Don't stay home because you are not in shape Do the best you can,but don't kill yourself in the effort. I'm 73 and not in shape due to many health problems that I have had for years. I have not missed a hunting season for at least 20 years, possibly 40, but my memory is not that great. You can sit home and hurt or you can go elk hunting and hurt. 2017 might be the first time I don't elk hunt for many a year.I have shoulder that doesn't work anymore, I can' t hold a rifle up, and just found out I have serious neck problem with ruptured disc on the same side. I would never not go elk hunting because I could not run up a mountain side with an 80 pound pack on.

If I can,I will try to go on ML whitetail hunt in Nebraska, along with young friend who I met on this forum. He has graciously invited me to hunt on his farm. I might go as camp cook with my buddy elk hunters.

There are ways to hunt smarter.You can hunt later seasons when the migration is on. You can rent horse all across northern Colorado and do DYI hunts..You can have an outfitter pack you in on a drop camp.You can back pack in a smaller camp and have an outfitter pack your meat out for you. You can hunt in an area where ATVs are permitted on certain trails

I have told this for years,to get in shape I go buy a box of Jelly Donuts and go down to the corrals and share them with my mules. They are always readyto go.Round is a shape too. Get your head in shape and go elk hunting