For 18 months I trained for an unguided Alaska caribou hunt I took with three friends in the first part of September 2019. I was in the best shape of my post-high school life, at age 54. The Alaska trip was extremely challenging but arguably the most rewarding thing I have done outside of my marriage and raising my two awesome kids. I kept up the 6 days per week workouts after the trip.
I also hunt field trial Labradors and got my young one back from nine months of training upon my return from Alaska. Had a couple of good waterfowl trips to Canada and three pheasant hunts on our land and then whitetail rifle season was upon me.
On opening morning of deer season, after a light snow fall, I shot a young buck but did not hit it hard. For the first time in my 37 years of deer hunting, I was required to do a 500 yard track through thick forest. But, I found the buck and ended that story, or so I thought. My two friends and I drove the trucks to a road 100 yards from the GPS marker and were able to field dress and haul the buck out just fine. We lifted it onto my hitch carrier and here is when my entire 2019 and 2020 drastically changed.
I reached into the back of truck for a box of ratchet straps to tie the deer down. I reached in forearm and palm up and lifted the box up and toward me. There was a snapping and cracking sound that was extremely loud and I actually screamed. My right arm was in agony and I was on my knees in the road cursing. My friends helped me change and got me in a make shift sling and I drove three hours back to our city and went to an orthopedic Urgent Care center. MRIs and xrays showed I had severed my biceps tendon clean off my forearm. Its called a distal bicep rupture. And apparently it only happens to men between the ages of 30 and 65 according to the surgeons. Because we lift heavy items in awkward manners! My surgeons have never seen a woman suffer this injury.
So, my hunting season ended abruptly, and I am in a cast and splint for 8-9 weeks. No lifting or pulling anything with my right arm for four months. Then I face rehab until at least May 2020. All because of a box of ratchet straps.
My Labs sit staring at me wondering why I can't take them for walks, why we aren't going hunting, and why I am a little crabby. I am thankful for the successes I had hunting in 2019, and I am especially thankful that I eventually found the little buck I had to track.
I guess the point I am trying to make here is, take each day you are afield, whether alone or with family and friends, as a truly great opportunity to do something you love. I have never been sidelined before, and it's taking some adjustment on my part. I will try very hard next fall to remember to savor each hour and day afield, especially being healthy again. And be careful of your biceps tendons gentlemen.
I also hunt field trial Labradors and got my young one back from nine months of training upon my return from Alaska. Had a couple of good waterfowl trips to Canada and three pheasant hunts on our land and then whitetail rifle season was upon me.
On opening morning of deer season, after a light snow fall, I shot a young buck but did not hit it hard. For the first time in my 37 years of deer hunting, I was required to do a 500 yard track through thick forest. But, I found the buck and ended that story, or so I thought. My two friends and I drove the trucks to a road 100 yards from the GPS marker and were able to field dress and haul the buck out just fine. We lifted it onto my hitch carrier and here is when my entire 2019 and 2020 drastically changed.
I reached into the back of truck for a box of ratchet straps to tie the deer down. I reached in forearm and palm up and lifted the box up and toward me. There was a snapping and cracking sound that was extremely loud and I actually screamed. My right arm was in agony and I was on my knees in the road cursing. My friends helped me change and got me in a make shift sling and I drove three hours back to our city and went to an orthopedic Urgent Care center. MRIs and xrays showed I had severed my biceps tendon clean off my forearm. Its called a distal bicep rupture. And apparently it only happens to men between the ages of 30 and 65 according to the surgeons. Because we lift heavy items in awkward manners! My surgeons have never seen a woman suffer this injury.
So, my hunting season ended abruptly, and I am in a cast and splint for 8-9 weeks. No lifting or pulling anything with my right arm for four months. Then I face rehab until at least May 2020. All because of a box of ratchet straps.
My Labs sit staring at me wondering why I can't take them for walks, why we aren't going hunting, and why I am a little crabby. I am thankful for the successes I had hunting in 2019, and I am especially thankful that I eventually found the little buck I had to track.
I guess the point I am trying to make here is, take each day you are afield, whether alone or with family and friends, as a truly great opportunity to do something you love. I have never been sidelined before, and it's taking some adjustment on my part. I will try very hard next fall to remember to savor each hour and day afield, especially being healthy again. And be careful of your biceps tendons gentlemen.
