Caribou Gear

Gotta brag on my old man (84 years young)

Update on my dad, the 89-year-old elk hunter. I'm back on the home place helping him recover from hip replacement surgery. He hunted around the farm just about every day of elk season. Didn't get an elk, but did get a turkey which he said was easier to pack out. In October, he fell while changing a tire. Turns out he broke his hip, just below the ball socket. The doc misdiagnosed it as bursitis, so Dad did PT on it for 5 weeks ("Walk it off") before getting another xray that found the break. So sometimes being a tough, stolid Norwegian goes a bit too far. (Take note BigFin.) Anyway, he's healing well, back on his feet and he turns 90 in February. I'm not sure if he's got another elk season in him but I won't put it past him. Once my wife asked me if I would ever get tired of hunting. I said, "You've met my dad, haven't you?" And she hasn't asked since.
My mom (84) broke her hip towards the end of October and had a hip replacement, too. She was getting along pretty well on it when we were there Thanksgiving week. I hope your dad gets along well, too.
 
Great testimonials! We do what we really "want to do" in this Life! I have a big Want To, ha
 
Is 84 too old to hunt elk? What if you hunt alone? Some folks in my family wish my dad would move to town and quit elk hunting. But don't count on it. This year he went out alone, departing by headlamp, with his 50-year-old BAR in 30-06. He lives on a quarter-section in Idaho's Unit 8 (or 8A, I'm not sure). He heard a bugle in the dark, but not sure if it was an elk or a hunter, he crept closer. At dawn he saw a 5-point about 300 yards away. He cut the distance in half and dropped the bull with one shot. He got out his cell phone (which is only for emergencies) and started calling reinforcements. He walked back home, got his John Deere, scooped up the bull and took it home to cut and wrap it. You don't quit when you get old, you get old when you quit.
If any one ever says a person is to old to hunt they should be slapped, I'm 53 and plan on hunting as long as I enjoy it. I aways tell my wife, when I get up in age and go out hunting it's like the country song. If I don't come back don't come looking, I'm where I always wanted to be. In God's country
 

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