Senior hunter observations, history and safety while hunting

[Bang]

Well, I'm 85, have been giving away the meat for years after losing taste for it. Have a spot on son's acres that just makes shooting a nice buck so easy it feels like cheating. I gave up archery back around 1994 because I found myself one day wishing I had chosen to go for stripers on my boat. The boat won.

Knew a dairy farmer in Schuylkill county who routinely carried a '94 on his tractor. One day we were watching a nice buck out of season and he surprised me a little when he said, "Let him live". Several years later he passed at 83. I've come to understand what he was thinking.

This year I planned to skip it and as it turned out, I got sick for a week beginning opening Saturday anyway.

[27hand]

Bang, I hope I can still be in the woods at your age regardless if I'm still hunting or not.

Having gone through my first 3 phases of hunting ( early archery, old mans / young kids 3 day rifle doe season and regular firearms, the deer are winning.
4 of us over 70 have not gotten a deer as yet nor have the 61, 59 and 25 YO friends.

The last day, I saw a couple blue herons and a half dozen woodpeckers.
The buck I pulled up.on was moving so couldn't put legal 3 up on him.
The doe I saw were running and I do not shoot at running deer.

A guy I talked to early in the dark limited out in one day with a small 8.point and 2 doe.
I offered to help him load but he was waiting for a friend to.put them.in a truck.

As I posted earlier, I passed on 2 small 8s in early archery.. The angles they came in on were such that I chose not to take a shot.

The nontypical 8 has been hanging around my camera. I'll see if he continues to walk by after Christmas.

One area I have permission to hunt still does not allow straight walled cartridges so Ill have to shoot the Ithaca 12 ga in the next couple weeks if I hunt there.

My one friend is 74 with really bad knees and we usually don't hunt together but it was cool seeing him.
My first hunt was out of his dad's camp in Tionesta.

I took 2 pretty hard falls the last day.
My license pin came loose and I lost it.

The 74 YO buddy found it which was cool.
I'll put it inside my back pack from now on..

All in all, I had a lot of really nice days out.