My friend Brad is 57. He still has crazy endurance in the mountains but he knows his body isn't quite what it used to be and that setting himself up for an early season solo pack out is both unethical and irresponsible at this stage in the game. I'm a young able bodied man and was always taught that if you see an older person struggling with their groceries to give them a hand. Brad wanted to prove to himself that he can still get after it in the mountains this year, with the size of the buck harvested being secondary to the overall challenge of the hunt. I offered to pack out the bulk of the meat knowing that I would not only be helping him accomplish his current goal but also would most likely learn a thing or two about hunting mule deer in the process. I'm an adult onset hunter and spent a lot of my early hunting years learning as much as I could about bears as far as their behavior, habitat, where to find them at what times of the year etc. I learned a lot and got fairly decent at getting close and putting sharp sticks through bears but now it's time to expand...you can read as much as you want online but there's no better way to get proficient at something than time in the field learning from the guys that have done it for years. I'm thoroughly impressed with Brad's endurance and persistence in the mountains at his age...many hunters wouldn't look twice at this buck if they saw it through their spotter but I know Brad will treasure far more than just the rack every time he looks at the new skull hanging in his ponderosa pine, some trophies have nothing to do with size.
I definitely did learn a few things along the way, I managed to come to full draw on two separate bucks and although the stars didn't quite align for me I know the knowledge gained will last a lot longer than the meat would have. Time to apply it and add some antlers to the bear skull collection!
I also put together a short film of what may be one of his last mountain hunts so that even when his body can't keep up anymore he can still look back on the good ol' days when he used to run ridges like a muley himself. Enjoy!
I definitely did learn a few things along the way, I managed to come to full draw on two separate bucks and although the stars didn't quite align for me I know the knowledge gained will last a lot longer than the meat would have. Time to apply it and add some antlers to the bear skull collection!
I also put together a short film of what may be one of his last mountain hunts so that even when his body can't keep up anymore he can still look back on the good ol' days when he used to run ridges like a muley himself. Enjoy!
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