Thanks for the comment. Yes, everything you say makes sense and my views on killing are the same. Please be aware this is not a pity party. It is about the fact that 4 of my 7 hunting buddies and now me and everybody reading this will or have lost their strength and mobility in the coming years. That sitting on the porch in the rocky chair waiting to die thing is getting closer. So, how do we keep hunting as long as we can, that may mean hunting over feeders which I have always thought of as cheating. LOL Hunting is for me and obviously many on this site, one of the few things that makes life meaningful.
I am not totally immobile, just every step hurts and even climbing into a 15 foot elevated stand is very painful. I am medically rated as home bound, some days I am, but some days, I just refuse because I am a hunter. The deer I killed Saturday was over 300 yards from my 4 x 4, no big deal, but I could not have walked the 3/4 mile from my truck. I was once an infantryman, so when I say this sucks, you get it.
And we all will be losing our strength. For example I also have a condition where I have very little grip strength, that makes it hard to even field dress a deer, especially cutting the pelvic bone, I simply cannot do it or saw thru it. Solution: I think I read it on this site about using a set of pruners, like you use on fruit trees, these are fiskar lopper/pruners. They cut right through that pelvic bone in 5 or 6 little cuts. These are like $25 at Walmart or Home Depot. They weigh nothing and stay in my backpack. I used them Saturday, they work great.
I also have an issue with little things like moving the deer. I am lucky enough that I can pay to hunt on private land where I can take a 4 wheeler. Mine is a 2006 model but it gets me and my deer where I need to go. As I said on another thread, I have those little ice sleds, you just lay them over on one side next to the deer, push the deer in and flip it upright. Works like a charm.
The one issue I have is loading the deer into a trailer. With limited grip and bad spine, lower thoracic and cervical, lifting is not really possible. No big deal, I just hook a come a long on the head and pull it up into the trailer, tie it off and then do the same with the butt end.
The nice deer Saturday was only about 70 yards away so nothing to report there, down in like 5 steps and doa long before I walked the 70yards. I highly recommend the Win Silvertips, 168 grain, 30-06. I have killed over a dozen whitetail and mule deer with them, all one shot deals. I don't know if you saw it. I posted it in the meat thread. If it is the last deer I ever kill that is good, it was a good one not a huge body but nice just the same
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As we all age I think we just need to plan for the times when this stuff happens. I have added ground blinds that are easy to transport and set up and I have saved an old 12 x 12 canvas tarp that I painted the color of dirt. I am thinking that in future years I can just drive my little 4 wheeler out to some spot just below a ridge line or peak of a hill or just above a pond and cover it completely with the tarp. Then throw up a ground blind and be good to go. I would have everything with me and be immediately mobile when I decide to leave. Anyway, that is the gist of my post, that some changes need to be made as we age, maybe even hunting over feeders at some point. I just do not see me shooting from the truck, might happen but I prefer my feet on the dirt when I shoot, probably just my infantry history. Thanks for the comment.