1.) luv2bowhunt - 08/11/2017

This made me laugh. :-)

[video=youtube;0P0fo3GLvsM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P0fo3GLvsM[/video]

2.) Swamp Fox - 08/11/2017

"...when things were better, most likely because you weren't here yet..."---LOL

3.) Wild Bob - 08/11/2017

On a serious note related to this topic...

Y'all better take some time to condition yourselves and get into shape before the season gets here. I know some take this seriously and some don't. I used to be one of the guys that didn't take it seriously; but let me relay a little true story that happened to me just last fall.

As usual last summer, I had good intentions of getting conditioned before the season came, but I was lackluster in my efforts and while I did do a bit of walking, I really didn't get serious. Fast forward into early October. We'd spent a good amount of time bird hunting, and did a little bit of whitetail bow hunting...but not much. I could tell how out of shape I was, but I was popping my blood pressure pills regularly like a good boy and figured I'd just power through the season like I've done in the past. I had a week of bow hunting elk set up in the Breaks and was really looking forward to that.

Mid October winds up archery elk in my neck of the woods, and the general deer season (rifle) starts about a week later. So mid October was when hunting season was going to crank up in earnest and I was ready - or so I thought! My big elk hunt came, and I had a great hunt (despite five days of flooding, snow squalls, freezing and logistical issues, but that's another story altogether). So I pushed myself hard for seven days straight, then went right back to work and pushed hard the next several weekends. I could tell I was getting run down after three weeks of that and getting only in the neighborhood of 5 hours a sleep during that whole time frame didn't help matters either.

Then on one Sunday morning, a couple weeks into November, my youngest son shot his mule deer buck while we were out hunting within spitting distance of the Canadian border. To be honest, if I had to pick a day for him to pull off one of the most amazing open country stalks I've ever been involved in...it certainly wouldn't have been on a Sunday, that far from home, and taken as long as it did...

As the crow flys, we weren't that far from home, but to get there from here - it takes every bit of 2 and half hours of slow, off road two-track travel. On top of that, the day had started out at 3:30 am and where he actually killed the buck at approximately 3:15 pm that afternoon was just shy of 5 miles from the truck. So, when we started hiking back to the truck to get the game cart and eat something (since all this took way longer than planned and we didn't have lunch with us) I knew it was going to be a very long afternoon and evening!

To make a long story short; by the time we finally loaded his buck into the truck it was close to 8:00 PM, by the time we finally go home, unloaded and hung the deer, it was pushing 11:00 PM, and if I remember correctly, by the time we got done snarfing some left over dinner and went to bed it was after mid night.

Well, as I was falling asleep, I had this strange feeling in my cheek area and mouth. But I figured; I was tired, run down and just need some sleep, so I dismissed it.

The next morning, I got up and showered. While showering, I kept feeling a strange numbness in my lips, mouth and cheek area. But, I was sore all over from all the work the day before and just wanted to get my first cup of coffee before I tried figuring out what the heck was going on.

So I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down at the table with my wife (she was looking at some kind of school paper work from the boys). I went to take a sip of coffee and ended up spilling it down the front of myself...may dam lips wouldn't work right!

Well, that got my wife's attention, and she screamed as soon as she looked at me and yelled, "Oh my God! I think you've had a stroke!"

So off to the hospital and my doctor. After a day full of tests, including a CT scan and an MRI , it turned out (fortunately) that I did not have stroke. But what I did have was a Bell's Palsy which was most likely brought on by over stressing my system and the cranial nerve. My doctor suspected that the poor condition of my back (I have degenerative disks and have two back surgeries) did not help matters either. There was also question as to having a viral thing going that my system was fighting.

I was lucky tho...with Bell's Palsy, unless it is an extreme situation, rarely is it permanent. With medication and by Thanksgiving, I was pretty much back to normal.

But the take away was: be in the best shape you possibly can be, because as you get older, shit happens!

4.) Wild Bob - 08/11/2017

Great video by the way! :laugh:

5.) luv2bowhunt - 08/11/2017

I remember that story Bob. You told me you were going to be in better shape next time.

I try the best I can, keep the extra pounds off. Also bought the electric bike, hopefully it will help to keep me from blowing a gasket 2 miles back in. But as Bob Peck once reminded me, there are worse ways to die than being out in the outdoors, doing what you luv to do.

6.) Wild Bob - 08/11/2017

It was a good wake up call for me...I'm proud to report that since last season wrapped up:

- I've lost 32 lbs....still not quite where I'd like to be, but man do I have way more energy and feel better! And, I'm off of that dam blood pressure medicine too!

7.) Swamp Fox - 08/11/2017

"He died doing what he loved...Getting slaughtered on the internet."

This could be the epitaph of any number of people I know...LOL. I hope I never have to use it for reals, but I'm keeping it my back pocket anyway. :wink


I don't really understand people who say "He died doing what he loved." What, clutching his chest? Gasping for air? Flashing back to all the things undone?

I was reading something last night about a Dall sheep hunter who died in a fall off a mountain two years ago. I think it was his daughter who said he died doing what he loved. I suppose you have to tell yourself whatever you have to tell yourself at times like that, and I feel for her, but I guarantee gravity and bouncing off rocks was not what he loved.

So, that said, good post WB, and I'm glad you pulled through.

Remember, guys: When I go, it's an Irish wake and a Viking funeral for me. Not the other way around! LOL However, everybody's after me lucky charms these days, so it's BYOB until further notice.

8.) luv2bowhunt - 08/11/2017

I guess I've watched people waste away, little by little, dying a little more each day too many times. Not the way I would prefer.

Heart attack on a distant hill, not the worst way to go IMO.

"Every man dies, not every man truly lives."

9.) Swamp Fox - 08/11/2017

I heard about these three guys that went hunting in Pennsylvania. They had a cabin and liked to hunt by themselves most of the time, but this day Joe and Tony went out together and Mick went in a different direction.

Well, late morning, Mick gets back to the cabin and is waiting on the other two. He'd heard a shot (really, four shots) from over in their direction earlier, so one way or another he expected them back soon. But a long time went by before Tony appeared out of the woods, dragging a humongous buck behind him.

"Holy cow!" yelled Mick. "That's a great buck! What's the story?"

So Tony tells how Joe shot this buck and it's the biggest one either of them had ever seen.

"Well, where is Joe anyway? And why are you doing the dragging?" asked Mick.

"Mick, I have some bad news," says Tony. "Our dear friend Joe keeled over of a heart attack about a mile back there. He's dead, man."

"You mean you dragged this deer all the rest of the way out and just left Joe back there, dead?" Mick asked incredulously.

"Well," said Tony, "I figured nobody was gonna steal Joe."

10.) billy b - 08/12/2017

Luv the video!!!!!!!