old men vs. old Deer

I carry a hatchet and a saw in case they gotta get cut in half.
Even half can be a chore sometimes.
Better than having somebody throw dirt on ya.

Boy do I remember the good old days of going through the woods and over the field looking for deer I would bring backout.

Now I go through the woods and over field looking for; from which I can get back out and the stupid deer, can walk out on their own.

Congratulations Sam to both you and your buddy. May the memories of the hunt bring happy conversation for many years to come.

Well I give them credit,there still doing it. At 64 I'm not what I use to be but I got two out of 3 back to my truck. The Ohio buck was 5 weeks after I had open heart surgery,so I let my son handle that one. Sam I hope you make it to 72 and still are doing it. My dad always said your going to get old someday if your lucky. In my days I've help more than a few older gents get a deer out,and they always seemed to really appreciate it. Good deeds will always come back on you.Hope you learn something from it,maybe someday if you make it some young buck will help you get your deer out.

I definitely don't hunt some of the areas I used to just cause I know I would be in there forever trying to get a deer out. I did buy a deer cart for archery season when I pretty much hunt by myself, but deer carts don't work too well in some terrains.
 
There is no doubt our average hunter population is on the old side and that does not bode well for hunter numbers and participation in the future.
 
When I see some folks out there in there 60's, 70's, and even 80's hunting by themselves I give them a lot of credit. I offer my services whenever I can. I hope the shoe is on the other foot one day when, lord willing, I am still able to be out there in my golden years and a young buck like Eman89 happens by when I shoot a deer.
 
Congrats to you and your buddy, Crappie!

Must be two Pennsylvanias, huh? Last deer I shot I was definitely struggling to get out of the woods. Out of breath and feeling sick at my stomach I heard an ATV approaching so I stopped. Young hunter, 20 or so, showed up admired the dead deer even said as much. Seeing I had caught my breath and the quad was riding off I started dragging again.
        Following years is when heart started acting up.

 Couple of years ago while Grouse hunting Two doe came ripping by me. One of the doe I believe caught its leg while making a long jump through the clearcut we were both in. Well it caused it to corkscrew through the air and it landed on its back on a stump. Its back was broken and it all happened 30 ft. from me. Well that year I didn't get a deer and was needing venison so my buddy and I called the Game Com. figuring I could get a tag for keeping it. I told them they would have to shoot it.
  When one warden, one deputy, and one want to be deputy arrived and we went to the deer it was dead. As we never got closer to the deer than the 30 ft. what happened was easily read in the snow. I gutted the deer with Game com. gut gloves and for the most part the deputies dragged it out for me. Neither my buddy or myself had a camera to have a picture of the wardens dragging my deer out. I was given the deer. That was a nice day for all but the deer, and a pleasant experience with some wardens for me.
  I use a cart, and think they are well worth it. Head for trails with them and stay out of the brush.

I used a cart during bear season in Elk county, mainly to haul my camp gear in and out and just in case I got lucky.

I started going along deer hunting with my Dad when I was nine. Of course, in those days, one could not actually hunt until age 12, but I went along anyway to learn what I could.

We always went to the same area of Clearfield County. From then until 2015, a span of 45 years, the first day of rifle season found me there.

During my youngin days, I was fairly successful, harvesting a buck before 10 AM on the first day for 32 straight years (killed the first one at age 14 to start the streak). The rest of my day was spent helping others, my family and the oldsters from the hunting camp that was on the property (we were friends, not members) drag their deer out. Even during the one-and-done deer days, I would be there for doe season to drag.

Over the years many at the camp passed on or had to give up hunting. My brother passed away. My father had a medical issue in the deer woods at age 82 which ended his hunting. My wife decided the mountains were too much for her after a leg injury. So I spent the last 10 years there hunting alone.

Over the years, the mile long gas well road went from being gated to open. This really shortened the drag because one could now drive out to a power line and park. From the parking spot, I would take the deer cart down the steep power line for about 1,000 yards and drop it there. The power line was steep enough that when hauling a deer up it on the cart, if you stopped to rest, the wheels had to be chocked or it would start to roll or slide back down.

From the cart drop off, I would continue another 200 yards down a steeper portion of the power line to where an old logging road crossed on the edge of a bench. The road was flat and I would take it for about 150 yards to the middle of a bowl shaped revive. This is where my stand was located.

At first it was several iterations of wood (with the land owner's permission), then it was replaced with a two person ladder stand, which was left there year round.

Most deer were shot 50 - 100 yards on the downhill, of course, side of the stand. This meant dragging that distance just to get back to the stand, then another uphill drag, taking the short cut straight to the cart, of about 200 yards.

The cart is useless in there because of the ground cover of logs, grapevines, uprooted trees, brush, and mountain laurel. Behind my stand, the hill is steep enough to have to grab onto trees in order to prevent the dead weight of the deer from taking away your traction. I guess the reason this spot was so good is that no one else was stupid enough to go there knowing what was to come should one shoot a deer.

One reaching the cart, it was a wheel back up the power line to the vehicle. Then, I needed to load it by myself, which after all that dragging was no easy feat itself. The one rule the land owner had was no ATVs.

The last deer I shot there, in 2014, took me almost four hours from the shot until I was back in my vehicle, covered in sweat and puffing like a steam locomotive. And I still had an hour drive home at that point. It was a good thing I shot it in the morning. I can't imagine getting one late andvtrying to do that drag, especially the woods part, in the dark.

In January of 2015, leg cramps led me to the doctor and it was diagnosed as DVT blood clots. A blood clot was the medical issue my Dad had while deer hunting. It broke free from his knee and lodged in his bronchial arch. This would have killed him right there had he not tripped over a stick and fallen. The fall was hard enough to knock it loose into his lung, which was a problem in and of itself, but not fatal, just a lot of hospital time and rehab.

I made the decision that heading down that power line was no longer in the cards for me due to the drag. In fact, when my father passed away at 91 and I took some of his ashes there (most got buried with Mom, but some also made it to Spring Creek and the Juniata River), they were spread on a deer trail at the top of the power line and not where I really wanted to spread them, at his spot, which he hunted starting the year he returned from WWII, because it was another 300 yards below the logging road I cut off on.

It was tough not going there for the 2015 season, but I was offered an alternative spot, much closer to home that required no dragging.

This season, that spot went away during Thanksgiving week when the owner informed me that relative would hunting there the first week.

Now, I gave a platform on our piece of ground, but I had promised a retired State Trooper, who is in his 70's, that he could hunt there. I was not about to go back on that.

As I contemplated missing the first day for the first time since I was 9, I had the discussion with myself that I could go to the Clearfield County spit and just head out a few hundred yards across the top of the power line without going down over. But the angel on the other shoulder told me that after an hour of not seeing anything, the hunter in me would take over and I would head for the ladder stand and probably impending trouble.

I listened to the voice of reason and remained home, waiting to hear a shot from my oldster friend, so I could help him get his deer out.

Unfortunately, he did not get one.

Yes getting older sucks. Hunted WV and NY where I'd walk a mile 1.5 back or more in,even being younger it took 2-4 hours to get a deer out.  That's definitely out of the question now.That's one hell of a run DarDys not bad for and old bird hunter 32 in a row I'm impressed. Very emotional story
because it touches home with me,saw my Grandfather,uncle,and dad struggle with health issues. I still do ok on deer but really hunt smart and easy now. My best Pa. spot is a 200 yard drag down hill to the road,my best Ohio spot is a 125 yard walk to my ground blind. The Ohio farmer is super nice,he'll get his tractor and get my deer or if the fields dry or frozen let me get as close as I can with my truck . I've pull deer out every way you can think of,carts,quads,mats,ice fishing sleds,and mostly with a harness drag. Getting older does have it's limitations but I'll hunt something thing,when I can't get a deer out by myself or my son is no longer available for the choir,I'll just hunt squirrel.lol  I tried to fill my buck tag today without and luck,had a single deer sneak in behind me and a slight wind change at the wrong time messed that up.I was hunting with my X bow. Oh well still had fun saw 4 squirrel,and a big red tail. I'm heading to Ohio tomorrow if we don't have freezing rain. Think I'll get a squirrel hunt in before the season goes out.Plan on checking some fields for geese also.