Is it Really My Age?

[Al Hansen]

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........

I did enjoy this, Vince. Another thing I have found out is that always having to get up early to go duck hunting is not necessary. One day a number years ago, I over slept and didn't get to my honey hole until 8:30. I guess it was around 9:20AM when the mallards started to come in to loaf the day away. Here, all the time I was leaving just before the action started. I was glad to have over-slept.
As for hands being frozen multiple times, I, too, fall into that category.
Al

 

[Al Hansen]

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

Boy, Steve, if you have at least 10 on me that makes you 82 years old. Good to know that your wife is about to retire. I'll bet you two will enjoy all those moments. Good for you. By the way, good luck in your quest of an airboat.
Al

 

[Al Hansen]

you wuss,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, :>) :>)

Dave, I think you nailed it! Well, I just want you to know that I decided to be a wuss again today. Looked up the weather for the next two days and will definitely be out tomorrow unless it is raining.
Al

 

[Al Hansen]

I can relate with really old farts, Bob. I sure enjoyed that picture which I quickly shelved into the insane section. I, for one, will look forward to seeing some of your painted decoys when you get them done. Continued success, young man!
Al

 

[Al Hansen]

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.
--------

Good gosh, I think you have something there, Jim. I once thought that if you were a duck hunter you had to hunt about 80 days a year. No longer however.
Al

 

[Al Hansen]

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.

Boy, Ed, you guys sure have been nailed with extreme cold this year. Funny, but years ago, it was normal. Good luck with the woody boxes.
Al

 

[Al Hansen]

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

Just think, Tim, you still have half of December, all of January and February to think about.
We are supposed to warm up into the 50s soon. I think I'll go duck hunting!
Al

 

[Al Hansen]

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.

John, you said a lot with this: Whatever you choose....enjoy each and every minute and be thankful for the health and chance to choose. I wholeheartedly agree.

As for hunting companions, for me that would be Chili, Pepper or Habanero. I know that they must be tired of listening to me talk to them in the blind. Chili is now retired. It is way too cold for her to go out. I am glad that I took her on a early teal hunt, however, because I could tell she loved it.
Al

 

[Al Hansen]

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!

Well, Mark, when you said all that, I remember walking along the Bering Sea with my snowmobile suit and goose down parka on, heading from "the" hotel in Kotzebue to "the" store back in 71. The winds coming off the sea ice from Siberia were so strong that by the time I got to the store, I was totally exhausted and felt like I needed to go to sleep---my gosh, I was only 30 years old. I have no idea what the wind chill factor was but I can tell you that I was not listening for the "squeak" of sub-zero under my bunny boots.
I'm glad you like that sound. As for me, I have been spoiled down here when I can go duck hunting in January, when the temps get up into the 40s and 50s.

I'm glad your wife asked you not to go. Bev did the same thing.
Al

 

[Al Hansen]

Al
I think sometimes it isn't age but a matter of pride---what do you think?
wis boz

That is interesting, Jim. I'll have to some serious thinking about it. Maybe so. I can tell you that since the Rio area was so flooded and muddy this year, it did give me a darn good excuse to cut firewood. In the past 6 weeks I have cut, split, and delivered 12 cords.

That part of knowing that I still can does make a difference.
Al

 

[Al Hansen]

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!

Cody, I know what you are referring to when saying, "listen to the voice". You are right.

By the way, when duck hunting in cold weather, I don't ever remember being cold when I saw ducks.
Al

 

[Al Hansen]

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.

Boy, Doug, that is some serious cold weather. Tell me how the dogs are doing. I'll bet the wood heater was stoked!
Al

 

[william gaynor]

Al;
I went out yesterday with my brother (age 74 ) the tempature was 17 degrees with a wind of 25-30 mph. We set up on the leeward side of an island and I thought this isn't so bad . Than it came time to pick up the dekes which were in the wind. By the time we got back to the launch I had had enough of this pleasure. Next day the temp dropped another 8 degrees my brother called at 5AM and said NOT ME.

 

[Tom Roberts]

When your younger and the alarm goes off at Oh DARK HUNDRED you were probably already awake and had a sleepless night before anticipating the morning's hunt. You literally jump out of the bed raring to go! Now the alarm goes off and wakes you from a sound sleep and you lie there trying to talk yourself out of a warm cozy bed. But once you take that first step out you start gaining momentum and then the old youthful feelings and memories of hunts past start coming back and then you remember why you love doing this and why you got up.

 

[Ron Smith]

This whole thread reads to me like a story from a foreign land. I am heading to Lake Okeechobee on the morning an have packed gloves, a neck gaiter and my jacket because it will be 58 degrees.