A hunter getting older

Moose season ends Friday, Sept. 25. I haven’t made it out hunting yet, but since I’m writing this a couple of days ahead of time to make deadlines, I have hopes of getting out at least once prior to the closure, if for no other reason than to say I went.

Something all of us lifelong hunters must face at some point in our lives is the fact that we can’t hunt like we used to. I learned during the 2019 season, when I had a permit for a Talkeetna Mountains caribou, that I can’t walk like I did in my younger days, and I definitely can’t pack a large animal like before.

My hunting partner, Gnarly Dan, did harvest a young bull no more than about a quarter mile from camp. He proceeded to start processing the animal while I brought our pack frames out to load to move the meat back to camp. Dan met me about 75 yards from the caribou to get the packs and told me to wait where I was since the ground got rough between where I stood and the kill site.

I had had a total right knee replacement only six months prior and Dan didn’t want to take a chance on me hurting myself walking across the rough ground. The short version of the story had my right knee doing okay, but my left ankle, injured in an auto accident about 15 years earlier, not holding up worth beans.

I was only able to make two trips packing meat back to camp before my ankle brought a halt to my walking, period! Dan ended up making four trips to get everything back to camp and was one tired puppy after the last trip. I couldn’t walk well enough to do any serious hunting after that point and, with other factors, caused us to end the hunt a few days early.

This year, the knee continues to do fine but the ankle not so much. Since that hunt, I was able to get a custom brace made for the ankle that helps, but the joint will never be fully functional. My options are to live with it as is, get the ankle joint totally fused, or investigate ankle joint replacement surgery. The second two options are last ditch and I’m not considering either one at this point. Either of these two options would require a year or more of recovery time and I don’t have that many years of hunting or fishing time left (I’ll be 71 next month). Time will tell what happens.

Not everybody has injury or joint failure issues to consider. However, we all get older and the resulting physical deterioration takes its toll on everyone. I have all the issues – age, some physical deterioration, and injuries. I used to be able to “muscle” my way through any reasonable situation. Now, I find myself figuring the smartest and easiest way to accomplish the task at hand. That’s a good thing, but it takes more time and doesn’t always allow the completion of projects.

Am I saying I’m going to stop hunting? No! What I’m saying is that I must hunt in a different manner and, maybe, for different critters than before. My days of walking miles to scout out the country while hunting for big game are over. If I can drive or boat or snowmachine or use an ATV to access an area where not much walking is required afterwards, then I’m still good to go.

I can still participate in bear baiting in areas accessible to boats or ATVs. I’ve got a heavy-duty tree stand that I can use to watch an area for moose. I’ve got a boat which would grant access to waterfowl hunting. I can drive the back roads looking for small game like grouse or snowshoe hares to harvest. And if a legal moose is spotted on these “road hunting” excursions, I can still harvest it too. There’s still a lot I can do in the hunting fields!

I must develop a new mindset on how I want to hunt. Sure, a full freezer from a one-shot moose kill would be nice, but a bunch of grouse or hares along with some ducks and geese wouldn’t be bad either and would provide a nice variety at dinnertime as well.

It’s hard to face the reality of getting older and losing some ability to do what I love outdoors. However, life goes on and we adapt!