Changing
Armednfree: I hear what you’re saying. I’ve got a case of whatever it is as well. It manifests itself a bit differently with me, but there two main factors at work here. One is hormones and the other is attitude.
The big thing that hits you as you get older is a change in hormone levels. That changes everything in your outlook. Twenty years ago I was still fathering children, and I HAD to get out and hunt. It was an imperative. My neck swelled in October, and I started knocking over saplings with my head. My youngest turned 18 this year, and now I’m in it more to watch the sunrises.
The other thing that changes is your attitude. That is primarily due to perspective. For instance, I got The Big One back in 2007. It’s the camp record. It’s likely to be the camp record for some time to come. It isn’t all that grand in the big scheme of things–only about 165. However, once I shot that brute, I knew my hunting career was changed forever. I’d gotten so that I only shot a buck if it was bigger than all the others I’d previously taken. Now what?
Similarly, I went through a ten-year phase where my hunting was subordinated to a large degree to helping my two sons get their hunting careers off on the right footing. That ended 3 years ago. I’m now back hunting alone in buddy stands and two-man blinds. I like the extra room, but it’s really different. I can’t go back to what it was 20 years ago. I would not want to do so. I’ve got a granddaughter coming online over the few seasons. She’ll be fun to develop, but I’m on the backside of a big chunk of my hunting career.
I have to give mention as well to a lot of other things. My struggle to find just the right equipment is about played out. My current kit is about as good as it gets. I have a couple good rifles that are perfect for my hunting. I have not changed the loads in them in over 10 years. I have a nice rack of deer rifles, and it’s nearly full. It took me a decade to find just the right hat, and when I did, I bought two. Deer Camp runs about as smoothly as a fellow could want. However, that is because I’m now the Patriarch.
So now what? The whole point of this is enjoying the challenge. 35 years ago, when I started, it was all about going there and doing it and making it back with a good story to tell. It still is. Sometimes the challenge is the cold. Sometimes it’s the winds. Sometimes it’s been squaring it all with family commitments, or finding the time to get off work.
God help me, but I still want needing to use the tranquilizer darts to get me out of the treestand when I’m 90. If I die hunting, I want them to find me frozen stiff with my hands wrapped around the antlers of a 300 lb buck or being picked apart by buzzards with a 25 lb gobbler on my back.
This post has already been read 107 times!
Comments
Changing — No Comments
HTML tags allowed in your comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>