Saturday starts our gun season. We've been having nice weather lately so I decided to leave work an hour and a half early to day to get one last hunt in before all the commotion. Well I got home and the wind was wrong for my most productive spot so I couldn't go there. It was so nice out and I didn't really feel like dragging a deer and all that goes with that, so I grabbed my bow and went to some public ground not far away. Spent my time stumpin and just enjoying hiking and scouting and just being outside. When done nothing much to do, just loaded up my bow and headed home for supper. Enjoyed myself immensely. No fuss no muss, just a good time.

Sounds reasonable to me.

Sounds good to me. Lance

Nothing wrong with that.

Bout what I did today

spent the whole day out in the woods shooting stumps and just sitting , Dog and I had a ball

Sounds like a great day to me !

You'r getting smarter and unders what makes a good day! TLM

Just starting to ripen up - lol.

I think you just having fun,, no worries

I've been doing similar for years. Don't want to get too close to a deer...you know....

Reasonable! Sometimes gotta give them a break!

Sounds like the proverbial second childhood! No responsibilities, no need to justify the decision-making process.... just Out There with the sole intention of enjoying yourself.

You’re a lucky man!!!

Nothing wrong about shooting stumps! You are out in the woods, flinging arrows and no real pressure! Sounds GOOD to me! We had rain and gloom here today and MY INTERNET WAS DOWN! PHOOEY!

Yep, old. I know cause it made good sense to me.

Yup. And I can relate. ;)

I dont know, Im old and as long as deer season is open, Im gonna hunt seriously. Got all the rest of the year to fart around with,stumps and nature. To me, deer season is a time to take every effort to get a shot since my method results in far fewer of them than tree sitting. I went out for the last 20 minutes of legal hours today after work. Bow during gun. Jumped,a,doe,in the field right next to the house, it circled the field, cur through the spruce windbreak, and went right across the lawn. Trapper barked at her from the kennel. Then I kept giong and a,small doe got up in frong of me and ran a few bounds, stopped and looked back at me. Fawn, so I passed. But to me that little hunt was an important success, and if Id decided to stump or target shoot, Id have not experienced this little hunt. Saw more deer in that 20 min than a couple all day hunts this year. Yup, got to work every minute of season I can. Season is too short as it is. Thats just me, to each his own. Nothing wrong with blowing off a hunt if thats your thing. Have at it.

I love each day of getting older......it means I'm not dead!

Woods Walker X 66. I keep hunting, getting out of bed each morning, shave every day, watch as many sunrises and sunsets as I can, listen to a little music every day, hug my wife every time she will let me..... y'all get the picture.

Yeah seems logical to me how many we have to drag out to get us tired and change up.

The enjoyment is the important part. Doesn't matter what the means were to get there. Sounds like a nice afternoon.

Age is a non-factor when enjoying oneself in the woods.

Sounds like you’re getting smart, just out for enjoyments sake. Everything is right about that.

I thanked a police officer the other day as he was giving me a ticket while I was taking my grandson to school. I said "thanks for reminding me to slow down". He said "yes sir the speed limit here..........bla bla". I said "driving too fast got nothing to do with it." He just looked at me as I said good day and drove away. Getting old and slowing down is great.

Yeah. Little old maybe. Hunting would be really easy if you could practice catch and release. I'm somewhere between sitting under a blanket with some popcorn watching October Whitetails and sending in for the Testosterone supplement so I can be virile and ripped like that old dude on the internet getting all the hot babes. After 45 everybody just has some days like that.

Wisdom comes with age.

Sounds like listened to experience, more than getting old. Knew wind was wrong for hunting, and did not want to waste a beautiful day, so why not stump shoot. Done it a few times myself.

Seasoned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After 45???

Well, yeah. My hair fell out at 30!!!

I lost a brand new hammer head stumping arrow last night. Just one shot and a skip and it was gone. Dang hard ground. Later a young buck at 20 yards came by, said hi and left. A large doe stood out and ate some corn and then I left her and the four deer further off to themselves in corn with 15 minutes of shooting time left. I had no kill in me last night. I blamed the sun angle on my glasses, I have nearly 20/20 vision and could have taken them off. Gun deer chasing starts Saturday. I figured watching the deer having a peaceful evening was an enjoyable way to spend the last day of the regular season, that one shot and it's gone stumper arrow does gnarl my butt a little. Another perfect day for hunting, I am going to the chiro. Those mile each way hikes were getting to my back.

Soap Creek sounds like a good time to me. Getting old is when you are 82 with two new knees, a new hip, a ruptured Achilles tendon and Vertigo which kicks in much too often. When hunting off the ground sitting on a stool until your back cramps up and you have to stand up, and hopefully not fall, which I've done a few times. I have friends my age that have quit hunting years ago and wonder whats wrong with me. My pat answer is I will hunt until they carry me out "feet first". I have a cart to haul my deer which can be used for me when I finally have my last hunt, which I hope is years in the future. Wishing you all the best as you age. Joel

Why would you go hunting and shoot something??? Do you know how much work that causes???

Im getting old to I guess.

woods walker said it best

Well, you are getting old, but not sure what your enjoying a day out has to do with that.

I've been down the same road as many of you. When I first started bowhunting I just wanted to get a deer, any deer. Then some years latter I became more selective, holding out for a nice buck. Now after doing that for a number of years I don't feel the need to take a deer to feel it was a successful hunt. The experience, time with friends, what I've learned all account for a successful day afield. Don't get me wrong if given the opportunity I'd shoot a big buck, but my success is not dependent on taking any kind of deer. I think I enjoy and appreciate my hunts now more then ever before.

Roving and stumping is a great way to refresh your spirit, vitality and confidence. We all need that time now and then.

No hunting, no fuss, no muss, no venison. Nothing new about that combination.

Wild Bill I have venison in the freezer. I shot a Doe and an 8pnt buck earlier, just nothing on that particular day. Like I mentioned earlier not every outing requires a deer down to be deemed a successful outing. I realize that doesn't apply to everyone, and that's ok. What ever floats your boat.

Nothing wrong with enjoying yourself. If we aint careful sometimes deer hunting can be become more of a chore. I dont worry about it. I arrive when I feel like it and leave when I'm ready.

I like to go hunting when I'm rested, so it's better to make it enjoyable. Some days I would rather go out stumping. Dont think it's an age thing.

'I mentioned earlier not every outing requires a deer down to be deemed a successful outing' soap creek, I do agree with that, but I still HUNT when Im hunting, not messing around with stumps. Time for that off season. 'Those mile each way hikes were getting to my back.' This one get me though... I have had back issues, severe ones, in the past. Mostly gone now, but at almost 62, this statement makes me feel young. A mile is barely a warmup, c'mon. Bodies require exercise to stay young, not letting age be an excuse or get in the way of performing a decent amount of mobility. I am sure,everyone has their limitations... I just can imagine being limited to a mile before hurting... That day comes, Ill wanna leave this planet.

Can't imagine...not 'can'.

Sounds pretty good. Only having a good dog along would top it.

TK, I am disabled. When not hunting I often walk with a cane. I had a falling accident just before deer season, I compressed two discs, messed my left SI joint and shoved half of my ribs up to where they shouldn't be. I hunted with walking sticks and had my ribs wrapped for a month. When I was 62, I went on a three week Canadian wilderness canoe journey. Some of those longer portages were as long and rougher than hiking across Iowa wooded hills, except with a 53 pound canoe and 60 pound pack on my back. I had arthritis in my spine then as well, I just fight through the pain levels. The last couple of years, we have taken the more common routes through Quetico, I still had to make it through the Beelzebub and Lucifer and Yum Yum portages. Besides if I hiked everyday when deer hunting more than a mile, I would be closer to the next gravel road, our hunting areas are not that big.

TK you say that your back issues are mostly gone now, good for you. When they become permanent like mine were in my early 50s, does was chicken out and wish for an early death? Or does one accept the change and continue seeking life and adventure in anyway they can? I know a very old man that hunts with a custom light draw crossbow, he cannot cock the heavy ones, he walks with a walker. He is kind, safe and asked to use my deer cart last year so two compound hunters could get his deer out for him. One of those same compound hunters has also used my cart for himself and has also hauled my deer out for me. My days of throwing a 180 pound buck on my shoulders and hiking out with it are long over. One odd thing I am shooting as good or better the last ten years better than I ever could in my fit years. I still shoot hundreds of arrows a day from spring thaw to the start of hunting season with my longbows. Oh, at the end of that mile hike, including a couple of sitting breaks, I still hunt, meaning I do not sit in a blind or tree stand, that's sissy stuff. Just kidding, do what ever.

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