Registered: Jan 2013
Location: Marietta
Posts: 10790

Most of you know that several of us just try and keep the board moving but there is a serious side to the ones I know I am very serious about my dogs and very hard to please. Back in 2000 I fought my way back from a very serious on the job accident broke back broke legs ect. Over the years between it and age it's slowed me down now tho I have been putting it off it looks like knee surgery is next I just wonder how do y'all know when it's time to hang it up these dogs now days even for a healthy person it's a grueling gut wrenching marathon to keep up its all I know how do you go about making that decision I could still hunt but my whole mind set revolves around getting a dog ready for competition how do you know when to give up somthing you love to do.

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Registered: Jan 2016
Location: Bois d'Arc, MO.
Posts: 1823

Probably got a little extra tucked away somewhere tar.

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Registered: Oct 2006
Location: Pleasant Plain OHIO
Posts: 1291

well I guess being over weight and a smoker does slow me down , but losing weight and not smoking don't sound fun , am I unhealthy ? Hell yes , can I keep up with the young guns Barely , does It hurt ? yes , Its getting harder to work and hunt , a hired handler hunting my dogs ,, lol ,, I have seen how they do things ,, Do I love to hear a hound ? absolutely , I also Like being a winner , But hunting alone I can never get beat , Im getting close

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Central Michigan
Posts: 6544

If it still brings you any joy, than it is worth it. My bet is a resounding yes.

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Larry Atherton

Aim small miss small

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Registered: Feb 2004
Location: Ohio
Posts: 1513

If you love getting a dog ready for competition then keep going at it. The young guns can be hard to keep up with in the woods so go get yourself a young gun for the hunts. Bruce could probably give you some good advice on what you are going through. I am sure its not all you know its just that it is what you really love doing. Good luck with your knee and make some plans while your laid up.

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Registered: Jan 2013
Location: Marietta
Posts: 10790

Thanks guys I still got a lot of plans but the hunts have changed for us older guys but even when I was young and even the older ones that taught me me would not have liked the style of dogs today I will battle back I am tuff for pain it's the lack of heart or being lazy that's getting me now.

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Registered: Sep 2015
Location:
Posts: 201

Piss on that. You're an inspiration to us all. Go out with your boots on. Just find a way to make it enjoyable.

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Registered: Aug 2011
Location: Perrinton, Michigan
Posts: 632

I hear you, when I retired from the military I was 56 ever since seems bones are acheing, knees going, back and neck hard to look up or side ways. I'm 61 now but still love to go out , I just don't do as many all nighters or use the truck to drive to other side of section. As far as comp hunts yes getting harder to keep up , young guys try to walk fast to tree and leave you behind. I try to remind them that rules state keep whole cast together but they seem to want to say your delaying the hunt . Well an old comp hunter yelled at me a few times when I was younger about slowing down and beleive me when Ed Mead spoke I listened and apoligized Now a days they won't listen but I'll keep plugging along as long as I can.

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Tony Beals
Perrinton, Mi
(989) 763-4725
MSG, US ARMY RETIRED
President of Michigan State United Coon Hunters Association

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Registered: Jul 2014
Location: IOWA
Posts: 958

Stay with it or you wont be happy and if they can't stay treed until you get there they aren't worth feeding anyway as far as the young group goes I gues they will have to slow down and walk your pace

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Camanche, Iowa
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Registered: Mar 2013
Location: Rover,Arkansas
Posts: 1133

knee surgery is going to be the least of your worries after me and Carson get you back. You sent me on a 4 hour chase for fairy tales today . I'm gonna get you old fart.
FYI old fat guys ride 4 wheelers

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Registered: Nov 2010
Location: Magnolia Tx
Posts: 399

Jeff read his post i think he just admitted to the broke back( left out the Mountain part),,, its in his first line

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Registered: Aug 2008
Location: SE Ohio, Glouster
Posts: 2244

I too have had to face that dilemma of knee surgery. Two years ago at the age of 59, I had a knee reconstruction. This is just a little different than a knee replacement. I have been plugging along at a slower pace since 6 months after the surgery. The strength in my knee is just now coming back to its former potential. I am hoping this hunting season I will get back to full strength, which should get me back to an attainable pace for a few comp hunts in the spring.

Don't hang up your boots, just put together a rehabilitation plan that will put you back when the ole body will allow you to do so. Now that may also mean letting that good prospect get moved on to someone else until you can do a GOOD young dog justice. And that is a tough decision as well, BUT

Anything other than that (I'm afraid) will make you a grumpy old man, I know it did for me for a while until I accepted the fact that I wasn't going to bounce back as quick as I did when I was a young man.

Will I get back to being a full fledged comp hunter, I will know better next spring as I am training a young female through this kill season that should be ready for some major hunts next spring, summer, and fall, but by then I will know if I'm still man enough to hunt with the young men and women that are still in their prime.

Good Luck!!

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Registered: Jan 2004
Location: Greenville, Ky
Posts: 4139

I sometimes think I should have stayed with beagles. Lol. At least a rabbit circles back to you. After years of being in the Marine corps, construction work and just being hard on my body I always tell myself "I've felt worse before". The problem is it takes longer to feel better. Aches and pains seem to stay with you longer during the day. Lol.
I ain't quitting though.

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
Posts: 22586

You know that it is time to hang it up when they are shoveling that dirt on you.

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Registered: Jan 2011
Location: Canton, Ohio
Posts: 2605

quote:

---

Originally posted by Richard Lambert
You know that it is time to hang it up when they are shoveling that dirt on you.

---

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Registered: Jan 2012
Location: Goshen,Ohio
Posts: 2679

If you got one you like that can win.Hang in there bud.

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Registered: May 2016
Location: Palatka, FL
Posts: 5106

None of us know the time we have left but like you I feel the tank running low of gas. In everybody's life there are great times to hunt because of the weather, different hunting seasons, family activities, dog power. Then there isn't because of conflicting hunting seasons, dogs, family, money, etc.

What I have found is when I was younger the things standing in my way, I swept to the side and hunted. As you get older it seems like those things in your way become excuses to watch TV, I have the same desire as I use to during the day but as darkness nears the thrill diminishes.

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Registered: Jan 2006
Location: WV
Posts: 821

I did quit this year for the first time in my life. After nearly 50 years of coon hunting I decided that I had enough. I was tired of about everything that went along with coon hunting. Tired of training pups, buying equipment, climbing hills and the works. Take it from me, I've quit smoking and drinking and chewing tobacco which was extremely hard but nothing was worse than looking off my porch every day at an empty kennel! After about 6 months I got the itch again and went out and bought another dog. She's not all that much but I enjoy hunting her with my friends and their dogs. Now I'm getting much needed exercise and am happy once again. I'll be 64 this coming July and I figured if I want to be able to keep doing this thing for at least another 10 years I'd better get on the ball. It's not easy but it's enjoyable and that's what it's all about. I even got another pup to fool with this spring. I've been through all the big competition events and participated in a bunch of them and now I've come full circle and back to the basics, just enjoying good dogs and good friends. Remember one thing, dogs come and go but a good hunting partner is worth their weight in gold! I wish you the best with your operation. Good luck and God bless in whatever you decide to do......Ron

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Registered: Aug 2008
Location:
Posts: 319

Dont know if your married or not but if you are then how does reruns of golden girls and designing women sound? Id rather have 2 good slick treeing hounds that cant run a cold track but think they can. Than to sit at home every nite wondering if i quit too soon.

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Registered: Feb 2010
Location: southeast alabama
Posts: 180

Maybe your body is wearing. But if your mind is sharp keep on pushing. Maybe it is time to stop pushing those hounds so hard. Maybe it is time to start sharing knowledge with a young person. Start pushing them. I am by no means too old. But some times after a long day or week I just don't want to go. It is those kids that keep me grabbing my boots. If you just can't make that long walk that is what those young people are for.

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Brian Garner

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
Posts: 22586

I have gotten a lot slower but I have found that if you just start hunting with guys that are just as slow then you don't realize it. I can only tell that I have gotten slower when I try to keep up with a couple of youngsters.
I have also found that these young guys are a lot like hounds. If you hunt with just one of them, then they stay right with you. But if you go with 2 of them, they start racehorseing and will run off and leave you.

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Registered: Jun 2007
Location: jacksonville, nc
Posts: 2856

You better find something you will enjoy doing before you quit hunting coons. You've spent a lifetime learning and practicing your craft. To quite that and do nothing is a recipe for depression and an early death. Every time I go hunting and I drive through my neighborhood with my dogs barking I wonder what all those people are doing in their homes and how bored they must be. When they see me going, I see them staying at home doing nothing.
I wouldn't consider traveling either. You hear a lot of old folks taking about doing some traveling. I've learned it's way over rated. People go somewhere, look at stuff, come home and tell everyone how much fun they had. Who wants to look at stuff when you can do something at home.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Weyers Cave Va
Posts: 13416

When my L5 disc ruptured a few years back I came very close to giving it all up. For a three year period I bet I hunted less than three nights a year.
I've been doing this since I was 14, I can't see myself stopping until I am no longer to do it. A month or so ago my oldest grandson told Mrs.Hobo that he would take Papaw when Papaw was to old to go.

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Registered: Jan 2013
Location: Marietta
Posts: 10790

I think the part that's bothering me after culling several in a row I got one that I think might be alright now hunting season is here going to get a winner back you can't keep up with her with a bum leg lol. Go for a C scan tomorrow they couldn't do a MRI because of the metal in my back I just kept putting it off hoping it would heel but I got 1 puppie out of bone coming. Going to breed my old Grntch to him. And got a pup coming out of a daughter of bone so I guess I am going to have to suck it up buttercup lol!!

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Registered: Jan 2004
Location: Greenville, Ky
Posts: 4139

My dad is in his 70's and has had a rough life, triple bypass, hit by a car, broken legs, arms. And he still hunts. But he tires quicker so when he says go get them I know its time. But he runs coonhounds 3 nights a week and beagles 4 days a week. Hope I am still going like that at 74

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