Interesting to read the thoughts here. Steve and I got on the topic of age, almost by accident, as I could see I was making many remarks that were not quite relevant to Janis, who is in his early 30's.
The reason I have picked age 65 is that I had to find some mark to put in the ground to keep me focused on a time frame. If I am lucky, I will get to 65 and re-set the marker. But, I'm not going to the mountains each year taking for granted I will get to do a re-set.
Dealing with your own major health concerns can cause one to think about their mortality, or lack of immortality. Losing friends or family causes us to think about it, but not to the degree you think about it when you are laying at the Mayo Clinic, convinced your days are numbered in weeks, not years.
I find that when I don't put a date on something, I take for granted that it will be there forever. As such, I think I appreciate the increasing scarcity of the opportunity when I realize that I might only get to do this for 10 or 15 more years. Hell, that is not very long, once you get a bit older. When I was 30, ten years seemed liked forever. Now, ten years seems like a short passage of time.
I've got my share of family health history that gives me no reason to take anything for granted. My Dad died at age 62, his father at age 63. I've got a rare liver condition that causes a lot of health complications. I've got a blood clotting problem that has created three major clots in the last dozen years.
Or, I could pray that I get the longevity on my Mom's side, where her Grandmother lived to be 102, her Grandfather 91, both her parents well into their 80's in spite of smoking for packs of Pall Mall non-filtered, every day. In that case, I've got a lot more elk hunting days ahead of me.
Or, I might draw the short straw as my Mom's brother Elton did. He was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer two weeks after retiring at age 62. We buried him in May.
Last year I went on three hunts with guys who all have some major health issues. They were probably three of the most rewarding experiences I will have in this TV show. I could see how much each of them appreciated what had just unfolded. They were taking nothing for granted, as they have had life-changing events that give them perspective as to the fickleness of health. Hunts like those help me measure my own appreciation for the gift that each hunt represents.
Point of all that above is this; I'm not taking anything for granted. I might have 5 years ahead or I might have 25 years ahead. Every year I have, I'm taking advantage of it and enjoying it immensely. When I die, I hope my buddies all say, "Damn, I wish I had hunted as much as he did."
I do think that when you start finding a way to measure the closing window, it gives you much greater appreciation for each hunt. This November, I turn 51. According to the arbitrary marker I set, that means I've got, at most, 14 more years to elk hunt. That scares the hell out of me. When you younger guys are out there this fall, think about the possibility that you only have 14 more elk hunts in front of you. I can assure you such thought will give you cause to savor each day of that hunt a bit more than you other wise might have. And when you are packing up your camp, it causes a bit of melancholy thought, knowing you are now even one year closer to the terminal end of your hunting years.
Not sure if that makes sense. It is my way of putting some perspective as to how limited our health is, as it relates to an activity that requires good health; public land elk hunting. I do it, because I find the busy-ness of my life causes me to underappreciate things unless I put some measurement system in place that shows the scarcity. The more scarce something is, even future elk hunts, the more value you place on that which we have.
