Is it Really My Age?

Al Hansen

Al Hansen

Well-known member


Two days ago I was out on the Rio Grande looking for a spot to set up and found a dandy one. I can drive my Mule within 150 yards of this area, then all I have to do is drag my sled to where I want to set up. Since yesterday when I had to substitute teach, I have been thinking of going on this hunt. It was exactly one week ago that I shot those 5 mallards/Mexican ducks.

The first mistake that I made was when I let Chip out to go to the bathroom this morning at 4:15. I tiptoed in barefeet to where we have a good thermometer hanging on a patio 4x4. It read 10F. I was back in the house in a split second. The radiant heat that we have sure felt good right about then. I then came into the office and looked up the weather report on my computer for Socorro and it said that it was 20F. How could they lie like that? Well, I happen to know that whenever I have gone to the Rio Grande to hunt, it is always a few degrees colder there than here. In actuality, it is closer to 4 or 5 degrees colder. Now my mind was thinking of temps down there hovering around 5F or colder.

So, I decided to sit at my computer for an hour just to see what would happen. The latest update has Socorro at 17F and now our thermometer is reading 7F. I think I'll wait for another morning to hunt when it actually is 20F or warmer. Was I like this when I was younger? Absolutely not! Could it be common sense kicking in? I don't think so because I am a duck hunter---
Al
 
Al, stop being lazy and go for it! I think the hardest part is to actually step out of the house lol. I remember on a very cold day I got to the ramp and just sat in my warm car, thinking, and then just shrugged and went to work. You are so right about being a duck hunter, my wife says how the hell you can have fun getting up at 3 in the morning on your day off??
Farrukh
 
AL, When you were younger the snow was so much deeper , remember it was waist deep and now it is only ankle deep. ;-)) Come on back home if you think it is cold there, the whole darn state is froze up solid. Seriously we do get smarter about some things as the years slide by. Maybe tomorrow.
 
I can relate, in my younger days, I would have went out in the rain & 25-30mph winds on this last Saturday morning.
Now in my wiser days, I go back to bed and hunt another day!
 
Age + Waterfolwing do not equate. Prior to retirement age when I was working, I went every chance I could - Hell or High Water. Now I go when I feel like it. I don't think it's so much the suffering that holds us back. More like wisdom gathered from years of experience. Not to mention after 40-50 years of waterfowling, hands tend not to work as good as they used to. Cuz they have been Frozen so many times, for good reason.

As I write this I'm waiting to go muzzleloading for deer. Temp and weather are just bout right now. No more gettin' up hours before shootin' time, except for first day. I do just as well now, if not better, then when I had to be out there really early everyday. Being Older has definite advantages, why not enjoy them?

What still IS the same, is once your out there, you know it's where you belong........
 
Al,

I did the exact same thing this morning, telling myself I'll just wait 'til tomorrow to go deer hunting. It's not a matter of age (no, I'll never grow up ... never grow up), as I believe I've got at least 10 years on you :)

My decision was made easier when the Love of My Life rolled over and exclaimed she wasn't going to work today. She's counting the days (less than 20) to retirement, and I'm already there ... at least, in my mind finally. In recalling some personal history, there have been many times I've made plans for a hunt in the morning, only to decide even before sunup to stay at home with her -- and I don't regret any of those decisions. What I do regret are the times early in our marriage when I was a young squirt driven by success, leaving her alone on weekends just to go chasing ducks and deer.

Come to think of it, maybe it is a matter of age ... We'll never admit to getting old, Al, but I can claim to be a wee bit wiser. And, I know that tomorrow morning the big buck I jumped last week will be walking through my creekbottom, just as the red-legged mallards will be flying the Rio Grande. By the way, the weather is forecast to be 10 degrees "warmer."

steve
 
Al,
New dumping of snow last night + River is way up + I know the ramps are a mess + It's darned cold out.
Alternatives: Full rack of wood for the stove already on the porch. There's a warm studio waiting with lots of birds to paint and a warm shop with lots of "projects" to play with. I'll wait.
I think for guys like us (read old, retired farts), the secure knowledge that "every day is Saturday," added to the fact that there's a lot of season left gives weight to the thought that in the near future a ducky day will make its appearance; and when that happens, we can just pick up and go.
Of course, I don't want to harp on this, Dave ;-)


That being said, there is still room for a little insanity if the spirit moves.
View attachment Mingesfarm2011Jan 035 (600 x 389).jpg
 
When younger I went hunting because it was necessary. Which is another way of saying I was very compulsive...driven if you will. As I have aged,
compulsiveness has been enhanced with whimsical and there is more time to be both.
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Al...like Thumper telling Bambi...."Look Bambi the water is stiff". Old or not my season is over with 7 days to go. No place to put a boat in. Guess I'll get started on the woody boxes I've been wanting to build.
 
Yep, you are just getting old. :)

I use to love the cold, and still do to some extent, but this below 0 stuff is getting old after only about a week.

Tim
 
I know exactly what you mean Al.

The older I get the more selective I've become on the conditions UNLESS I am hunting with someone else.
Having a hunting buddy or a group motivates me to get out of bed...and sadly due to circumstances over the last few years it seems like I have fewer and fewer guys to hunt with.

Don't get me wrong...I still hunt and fish...but if I'm on the fence...and alone...I find myself choosing the warm and snuggly or relaxed option.

Whatever you choose....enjoy each and every minute and be thankful for the health and chance to choose.
 
Not old Al, just wiser! Back in the younger days you just had to get out because they ducks were there, now you know the ducks will still be there.....

I love the cold, it makes me think of younger days and of times long before I was born. I enjoy the squeek of sub-zero snow under my feet, the feeling you get in your nose the second you walk outside, the nip of cold on the tips of your ears and nose.....sure beats sweating!

I haven't used my bearpaws in years! This one may give enough snow to see if I can still walk in them without an ER visit!

The only thing that stopped me from hunting is the dang ice (and my wife asked me not to for the very first time). I didn't feel the need to re-create the Titanic legacy here on the Mississippi, one sunken boat a year is enough around here. So, like Ed said our season is done on the water.

Besides, my wife would be really pissed at me if I hit a iceberg and drowned!
 
Besides, my wife would be really pissed at me if I hit a iceberg and drowned!
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Yeah, mine keeps telling me basically the same thing, I'm not allowed to die until I start my state retirement checks coming in!
 
One thing that I have learned is that it's important to listen to "the voice." If your gut feeling is that you want to wait until later then there may be a good reason for that!

I finished a subfloor job that I was doing for a lady tonight, and I was cutting outside and taking the pieces inside her house to nail them down. 8 degrees feels a hell of a lot colder when you're working outside than it does when you're duck hunting. Mind over matter I suppose!
 
Hi Al

7 degrees would be a heat wave for me right now.

This past friday was our coldest so far this winter low was -32 and high was -17.
 
Al, stop being lazy and go for it! I think the hardest part is to actually step out of the house lol. I remember on a very cold day I got to the ramp and just sat in my warm car, thinking, and then just shrugged and went to work. You are so right about being a duck hunter, my wife says how the hell you can have fun getting up at 3 in the morning on your day off??
Farrukh
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Well, Farrukh, I will attempt it again tomorrow. The lows are supposed to be in the high 20sF and that will be nice. Besides that, I delivered my last cord of wood yesterday so now I have a bit of free time.
Al
 
AL, When you were younger the snow was so much deeper , remember it was waist deep and now it is only ankle deep. ;-)) Come on back home if you think it is cold there, the whole darn state is froze up solid. Seriously we do get smarter about some things as the years slide by. Maybe tomorrow.
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Boy, do I ever remember how deep it was! As for coming back into the deep freeze and all that white stuff you now have, no thank you, Tom! When you said, "Maybe tomorrow.", I had to chuckle because that is exactly my thought pattern now.
Al
 
I can relate, in my younger days, I would have went out in the rain & 25-30mph winds on this last Saturday morning.
Now in my wiser days, I go back to bed and hunt another day!
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Well said, Carl. For so long, I have hunted at least 70 or more days a year but recently, past 4 years, those number of days began dwindling. Bev told me that it started to happen after I broke my leg duck hunting.
Al
 
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