OLDER SPORTSMEN HAVE MORE FUN

Luke (rt) and his good friend Larry Weishuhn are both in their mid seventies and still enjoying the great outdoors, maybe more now than ever! Photo by Luke ClaytonThere was a time back when I was in my twenties and thirties that I thought I would be hanging up my hunting and fishing gear when I reached those magic ‘golden years’. I used to dread turning sixty and then.. seventy because I truly thought I would be on the front porch in a rocking chair reminiscing about all the great times I had in the outdoors as a young man. I guess these so called ‘golden years’ occur at different times for different folks but for me, now in my mid seventies, I’ve found that I enjoy hunting and fishing every bit as much as I did as a young man and maybe even a bit more but I definitely do things a bit differently. I actually enjoy some of the new ways I do things, very often out of necessity. I’ve always enjoyed planning for an outdoor outing and today I deal with a few ‘built in’ challenges when making those plans that come with the aging process.

Hunting is way more than just harvesting a game animal especially big game hunting; it involves packing the meat out of the woods and butchering which equates to work but work that can still be accomplished by ‘mature’ sportsmen. There was a time when I thought nothing of shooting a wild hog  or buck back in the woods and either dragging it out in one piece or quartering it and carrying it out in sections. I suppose I could still do this but my body would pay the price and I’d probably be sore for several days. I’ve learned this the hard way during the past few years. What’s the old saying, ‘work smart, not hard’? This old axiom applies to hunting and fishing as well. Take a hunt I have in the works as an example.

I have a corn feeder several hundred yards back in the woods that I usually access via my rancher friends hay meadow. With the currently wet conditions, I don’t want to risk tracking up the road and have decided to access the spot from a different route which will only allow me to drive to within about 300 yard of my feeder/stand. That would be no problem when hunting during daylight hours, I would have plenty of time to get a harvested animal back to the truck with plenty of light but the hogs are moving at night, usually around 9 to 10 and I will be hunting with my AGM Global Rattler thermal scope and little .223 Mossberg Patrol rifle. If I were to shoot even a 100 pound hog that far from the truck at night, it would be a challenge field dressing and packing the meat back to the truck.

While walking the trail back to the feeder last week, I devised a plan that would make things much easier and be a lot of fun putting to practice. Why not bring the hogs up close to the truck? I began sprinkling a little corn from the feeder down a trail, heading to a spot about 60 yards from where I can park my truck. There I baited heavily and placed a trail camera on a nearby tree to monitor the activity. My plan is to back the truck up about sixty yards away, place a comfortable chair in the bed and hunt from the comfort of the elevated truck bed with a thermos of hot coffee at arm’s reach, I can even pack another chair and have a buddy join me for a very comfortable after dark sit in the quiet spring woods!

My plan is now in place and I’ve been watching my new baited area for two nights. Thus far the porkers have not found the corn but four very healthy looking whitetail deer have been munching away; one very heavy doe and three younger bucks.  With the hog’s excellent nose, it’s only a matter of time until they locate my daily offerings of golden corn kernels. When I see a pattern develop, I’ll back the old pickup up to the designated spot, break out the comfortable chairs and thermos and settle in to collect some fresh pork for my smoker!

We aging fishermen/women also have our challenges. I do a good bit of fishing from Jon boats on private waters and have found getting into and out of the boat a bit more of a challenge than just a few years ago. I now run the bow of my little flat nose boat up a couple feet on dry land before disembarking. I still fish solo from time to time but for safety reasons as well as a more enjoyable time, I often invite a friend to fish with me. I always wear a life vest, even when fishing farm ponds and really favor the new inflatable vests that are now available at a reasonable price. I’ve always been a good swimmer and although it was not smart even in my youth, I often ventured forth on private waters without a safety vest.  I could have easily swam across most of the ponds if needed but I didn’t account for the ‘what iff’s’ of reality such as hitting the side of the boat with my head while falling or one of a kazillion other mishaps that could have occurred.

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I no longer plan on fishing all day, especially during the heat of the summer. I like to be on the water just after first light and wrap things up by mid morning. I’ve found my energy level after several hours fishing is beginning to dwindle and my body tells me it’s time to head back to the ramp, after all if things went well, I will have to conserve energy for fish cleaning!

My good friend Larry Weishuhn, also in his mid seventies is also a very active sportsman, actually the most active hunter for his age that I know.  He’s planning a bear hunt in Canada this spring as well as a moose hunt this fall. Larry also says he enjoys hunting as much or more now than when in his youth.

“I hunt at a slower pace these days and I honest think I’m a better hunter because of it. As a young man, I was always thinking about what was just over the next hill and I’m sure I passed up lots of game along the way”, says Larry.

To sum it up, if you are also ‘getting along in years’, by all means don’t stop doing the things you love, just understand that you will not be able to go as strong or as long as you once did. Once these facts sink in, you might just be in for the most enjoyable outings of your life!

Email outdoors writer Luke Clayton through his website www.catfishradio.org