Can The Old Man Still Get It Done?

A man who has read my daily blogs for several years had a question. He wondered about my countless deer hunts, both here and elsewhere around the North American continent, and whether I could still fish and hunt.

He asked my age and I told him I turned 70 years old on July 22, and he asked if there were things I couldn’t or wouldn't do again within the realm of hunting and fresh-water fishing.

It forced me to explain once again the lack of vision in my left eye, and the diminished quality of right-eye vision. I told him about the Crohn's Disease which affects my digestive tract, and having broken my back twice many years ago. All have had a long-term effect on my overall health.

I told him a stress test two months ago found no heart problems, but I'm troubled by asthma and hay fever at times. I can't run a half-mile on snowshoes as I once could.

A complete physical took me over the hurdles today. Lungs and heart, OK.

Can I still move?

I can still take long walks on snowshoes, and can ride all day in the saddle on a western hunt without falling down at the end of the trail. I carry perhaps 25 more pounds than 20 years ago, and am trying to get it worked off.

He wanted to know if I still hunted. I can and do hunt on almost a daily basis, and can still climb a mountain providing no one wants me to race them to the top. I tell them "go ahead. I'll get there, slower than you but if you find an elk, I can shoot that critter with a 7mm Magnum and make a one-shot kill when I get there."

Most of the dudes who want to race me to the top are about 25-30 years old, and born and raised in the mountains. I question the sanity of those who ask such stupid questions.

I can walk the nasty country where Alaskan moose are found. I can hold my fire on a young bull busting brush on his way to my call. I can make a stalk on elk, deer or moose, and get within easy range of most of them.

My C.P. Oneida Eagle bow and its internal red-dot sight is perfect for my vision problems. My bow shooting range is 20 yards or less, and I can't remember the last buck I missed at that range. The red-dot aids me in focusing the internal red dot on the target, and shooting a nice buck is not a problem.

Sure, my vision isn't the best but I own many rifles of different calibers, and with a scope it's possible for me to kill deer, elk or moose at 300 yards with every shot. I can adjust my scope to accommodate my vision at that particular moment, and when the crosshairs settle in and the trigger is squeezed, the animal drops and dies.

I killed my mountain lion with a bow after a long and really arduous hunt in hip-deep snow. I killed my muskox with a bow and pin sights years ago when I could still see well. I have three record-book caribou and the muskox, and have never hunted for trophies. Skill and good fortune got me within easy shooting range of each one.

How about black bear hunting?

There have been more bear taken than I care to think about, and it's doubtful I'll hunt bruins again. Again, as the sun goes down and the swamp darkens, I can't see the bear and don't know if I could follow a faint trail for a half-mile to get out of a dark swamp.

The bears don't scare me after dozens of close experiences with them, and I'm not afraid of getting lost. With only one working eye, though, I do worry about falling and running a stick in my good eye.

I can still wade a trout stream, tell you where the fish should hold, and make a reasonably accurate cast with a dry fly. However, if the water is waist deep it's difficult to see the bottom, and on several occasions, I've provided belly laughs for others when I trip and take an unexpected swim.

It's still possible to run a boat but I must be off the water before dark for the same reasons I must be off the road when it gets dark. The lack of sunlight makes it difficult to see.

Fly casting is still possible

I can still, on a good day, drop a No. 12 Adams in front of a feeding brown or a sponge rubber spider over a bluegill spawning bed. I can't tie that Adams to a No. 4, 5, 6, or 7X tippet on my leader. Frankly, four and sometimes six-pound line is very difficult for me to see and tie.

Any wishes? Oh sure, I wish I could have taken a Dall sheep, grizzly bear and a bigger mulie than the dandy I shot on the Kaibab along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon several years ago, but it no longer matters. I have a boatload of outdoor memories, and my mind remains sharp enough to allow me to recall all of my past hunts.

So, to answer the question: Yes, I can still fish and hunt, and I enjoy it more than ever before. Sunrises and sunsets are more important to me now, and killing another deer or some other critter is less important with each passing year.

I can still do it, and I do fish and successfully hunt, but always being successful is not quite as important as it once was. What is important is the opportunity to be there, to see the game and to hook the fish.

And frankly, as more and more people grow older, many stop fishing and hunting. Not me. I just find the need to always kill something as meaning much less than the opportunity to be afield with bow or firearm in hand.

This is what's most important to me; that, and spreading the word of good fishing and hunting to my many readers.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors