doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Old legs, and smallbores.

Don't make so much of it Lowell. If the mind stays sharp it will always be able to make the legs get going. I could tell you stories all day long of 70+ year old men who are still going strong. My own father is 72 and has had both of his knees replaced twice (he wore the first ones out) and still works 40 hours a week in my steel fabricating shop and then goes dancing every friday night like he is 25. Short of a truely dibilitating condition if there is true desire in your heart you'll find a way.

Bill G.

Hunt as hard as you can as long as you can, then get smarter. Take a son or grandson to do the heavy lifting. They will not mind and will cherish the time with you years later. Besides as you know the real beauty of hunting is not killing but instead watching the dogs, birds, other hunters and the world we live in. Gauge does not matter.

I remember the last Black duck my maternal grandfather killed, when he was 88. He had taught himself to crossfire because his right eye sight was gone. The shot was about 35 yards and the duck hit the water stone dead. He held that duck for a long time and stroked the feathers softly. I think he was telling the duck he would soon be joining him in the next world. God willing I will be able to do the same when I reach 88. He talked about his father and his grandfather, about hunting and just normal everyday things from his youth. Few ducks flew that morning but it is still one of my best days duck hunting ever.

What do you mean future shock, LG? More likely no future shock. The only thing that keeps me from identifying with a dead duck is my feathers aren't nearly so pretty so conclude that the duck probably isn't geriatric.

jack

I'll sell my guns when I'm no longer able to hunt on my own hind legs. Young men feel a need to kill, we old farts have killed enough and are in the game more for the hunt. Sitting on your butt in a deer stand is just killing, not hunting.

I plan on chasing chukars in the scabrock with my 16b until I'm physically unable to, which, if I play my cards right, won't ever be the case. So far so good. And if I should fall and break a hip or worse, so be it. Go down swinging I say. No second chances in life, and no regrets either.

Jack Maloney, its not the need to kill, its the need to have a nice day out.
So if they sit in a stand, or blind - so be it!
I don't want to hang my guns up in the future, just because I can't make the climb anymore.
Wild things, are wild things!
All this is better than the poultry put-put course at the club.

I'm in my 70th year and still enjoy the "hunt". I got my first springer in 1944 and my current 4 year old is a wonderful dog.
For grouse and woodcock I switch from a Darne 20 to a Wm. Evans SLE 2 1/2" 12, depending on weather and conditions. When hunting pheasant my favorite is a 12 bore Greener. When shooting doves and skeet I use a Beretta sxs with choke tubes.

JAB, thanks for a close look at your cabinet!

Lowell, I don't often find your posts either to my interests or ideology, but this one is different and special. KYJON's post of his grandfather is poignant and beautiful. Jack Maloney's post about younger hunting companions both wry and astute. And your own reply to Jack about a good day afield, whether sitting or striding is on the mark. I wish I could say, with all the confidence of youth like that Bill G. kid, that it's mind over matter, but at 62 -- and with a genetic history that points only to 70 -- the matter doesn't always respond. I can only echo Jack, that each season has a weight and specialness that might not have been so apparent a decade ago. Wishing ALL you OLD guys good days afield for years to come. Best, Will

You got that right, Lowell. My longest and oldest friend is 91 and hunts deer now as always with a Savage 250-3000. At 75 I'm more active now than ever chasing ducks. Where once I didn't think about the weight of a gun, now I do. They say the legs are first to go but so far they're just fine. Eating properly and getting lots of exercise daily is key.