not bad for an old guy

littlebull209338 · Oct 8, 2018

I enjoyed your post about how long you will be able to hunt elk. I have reached that point this year. I am 75 and this is my last elk hunt. I just can't climb those mountains even though we hunt a private ranch, it is just to difficult Somebody has put rocks in my backpack ! I have taken 33 elk so my run has been good. I am resigned to muzzle loader deer and turkey which I can do for a few more years.

twdjr · Oct 8, 2018

Congrats on your great run on the elk! I hope to be chasing them as long as you have. Best of luck chasing deer and turkey.

chipc · Oct 8, 2018

Hey Mickey, if I can make it up the mountain until I'm 75 I'll be darn happy. Sounds like you have a lot of great memories to keep you company while you're chasing deer and turkeys. Best wishes! Chip

littlebull209338 · Oct 12, 2018

Well...........I broke my ankle so it is really going to be a challenge. Leaving in a couple of hours and I feel a little of the thrill and anticipation I felt when I was 14 and got my first spike. Packed it out in three pieces, didn't know anything about deboning. If we are successful (my oldest son and myself) the guide will pack it out on horses, so things have changed a little for the best. Stay safe and best of luck !

littlebull209338 · Oct 17, 2018

Back from trip. Broken ankle won and I came home a day early. Hard hunt. Only saw a few spikes and cows. My son got a really nice 5X5 after a really fun stalk on day two.. Guides were able to drive a tractor right to the bull and load him in a flatbed truck and within two hours he was in the cooler. There were several hundred elk.....on the neighboring ranch that we could see. Little frustrating but fun. Had a small herd of cows and spikes walk right past me and they were all talking....really cool. My last hunt and I am pretty sad about that. The hunt had 6 hunters and five got bulls and I came home limping and acting like an old man !

DeerHunter53 · Oct 18, 2018

Hey Little Bull it's not over till the fat lady sings!! Your not old you are experienced. LOL

My son and I hunt together every year and I so look forward to that time. It's not always about getting the animal as much as it is the experience. You know that so still go

I went last year in Idaho elk hunting and there were seven guys in camp. One was 82 and I have to say I wasn't too sure he would make it. But as luck would have it my son had just shot his elk and they called the guide helping the old man to come an help.

while they were cleaning out my son's elk this huge bull walked out of the trees and stood broadside at 70 yards and just stood there. Well the old man took his sweet time and shot that bull on the last day, turned out to be the biggest of the seven elk shot on the hunt.

So you never know don't give up I'd rather die in the mountains than is some hospital anyway.

Good luck with your ankle and going forward keep hunting you are only as old as you feel.

littlebull209338 · Oct 18, 2018

Well if I am as old as I feel.........today I am 150 !! My son takes very good care of me and is a great shot . I am proud of him . I am going to give him my last rifle for Christmas. I had a custom built 338 Safari Grade...by Tim Macormick, the head of the Remington arm custom shop, that I gave him a few years ago. store bought meat is not sounding very good so maybe I beg some from him next year.

eelgrass · Oct 19, 2018

Anybody who has killed and packed out 33 elk in their lifetime can do whatever they feel like doing. Only you know when it's time to hang it up. Hang onto the memories, there must be many indeed! And it sounds like you taught your son to carry on. You are blessed.

bullskin · Oct 21, 2018

Dang right. That's a lot of venison. At some point, maybe it will be nice just to sit in camp with your feet up and tell stories...

Snoopdogg · Oct 24, 2018

Not bad for an old guy...indeed. Maybe you'll have a change of heart next year. Regardless, congrats on 33 elk.

Blank · Oct 24, 2018

Right behind you, in years and elk. Taken 26 in 40 years, and I am 68 now. Helped to get 3 out of the hills this year so far for my partners, but really appreciated the Kawasaki Teryx to get them back to the truck once we hit flat ground. We (wife and I) have two more bull tags this year in November, and hope to draw another in AZ before I quit.

littlebull209338 · Oct 25, 2018

LAST EDITED ON Oct-25-18 AT 09:35AM (MST)[p]Blank...I enjoyed your post about having a great year. That is a lot of adventure in one year. I was blessed to cram almost as much a couple of years. One year I hunted Alaska for moose and caribou,Africa for plains game New Mexico with Larson Pansy of the Jicarilla Apache at Dulce for elk, Colorado for deer Utah for muzzle loader deer and Nebraska for whitetails. I have had some very funny experiences in hunting camps and that is the best part now....memories !