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Originally posted by M.Shy:

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Originally posted by LivingTheDream1:
So only 39, but balancing family life with hunting. I have a 4 year old who is my fishing buddy.

But I told my best friend last night actually, I see the end of my big game hunting, it just isn't the same for me and maybe I will get that fire again. I killed whitetail on a kill permit, so I am but over it. I am really frustrated with the Western draws and the state of western hunting, I might shoot one more elk in my life but not sure. If I hunt Antelope or Mule deer it will be friends or family. When I burn points, I dont but back in.

I love sheep hunting and being in the mountains but that is a young man's game and I hope to keep pushing myself for as long as possible hunting them. My trips are going to focus on those in the next 10 years, hunting Ibex and Sheep. Turkey, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan seem to be calling me, but that is only really 5 more trips. I'm not sure I will ever hunt a Marco Polo or Blue Sheep as much as I would like to, the costs are getting a bit ridiculous. If my last hunt could be a Dall Sheep in the Yukon, I would be a happy man.

I have a Leopard hunt booked next year, and then Cameroon for PG in 26. I hope to do Uganda and maybe one more trip to RSA for tiny ten. But mostly doing those now because now sure if they will be possible in 5 years.

I will probably continue hunting birds, and traveling to do so, but I look forward to trout streams and deep sea fishing. I might even play golf again.

Don’t get frustrated, there is other places like NZ Australia and Europe with great hunting opportunities and good prices and to boot, you can bring family and enjoy it

I am actually taking them to Greece this year, and I am going to sneak away to hunt Kri Kri Ibex. Part of the appeal of hunting Europe is taking my family and doing some touring.

quote:

Originally posted by LivingTheDream1:

quote:

Originally posted by M.Shy:

quote:

Originally posted by LivingTheDream1:
So only 39, but balancing family life with hunting. I have a 4 year old who is my fishing buddy.

But I told my best friend last night actually, I see the end of my big game hunting, it just isn't the same for me and maybe I will get that fire again. I killed whitetail on a kill permit, so I am but over it. I am really frustrated with the Western draws and the state of western hunting, I might shoot one more elk in my life but not sure. If I hunt Antelope or Mule deer it will be friends or family. When I burn points, I dont but back in.

I love sheep hunting and being in the mountains but that is a young man's game and I hope to keep pushing myself for as long as possible hunting them. My trips are going to focus on those in the next 10 years, hunting Ibex and Sheep. Turkey, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan seem to be calling me, but that is only really 5 more trips. I'm not sure I will ever hunt a Marco Polo or Blue Sheep as much as I would like to, the costs are getting a bit ridiculous. If my last hunt could be a Dall Sheep in the Yukon, I would be a happy man.

I have a Leopard hunt booked next year, and then Cameroon for PG in 26. I hope to do Uganda and maybe one more trip to RSA for tiny ten. But mostly doing those now because now sure if they will be possible in 5 years.

I will probably continue hunting birds, and traveling to do so, but I look forward to trout streams and deep sea fishing. I might even play golf again.

Don’t get frustrated, there is other places like NZ Australia and Europe with great hunting opportunities and good prices and to boot, you can bring family and enjoy it

I am actually taking them to Greece this year, and I am going to sneak away to hunt Kri Kri Ibex. Part of the appeal of hunting Europe is taking my family and doing some touring.

Been doing the same

I'm winding down too, but a bit different reasoning than I am seeing from previous posts. At 67 I am reasonably fit but my finances are diminishing as I semi-retire. I have spent most of my hunting travel with my bird dogs during my 30's through 50's with big game hunting mixed in. I now have enjoyed more North American as well as Safari big game hunting and I am pleased that this has not been a burden financially, however my peak earning years are behind me so that will be the reason for winding down, certainly not my desire to go.

65 now but as long as I have the money and health I will keep going. Where to depends on how much I have to drink at one of the auctions. They make it too easy with the live online bidding but I have to drink my own whiskey. In Zimbabwe two years ago and last year in Macedonia. I also have an AZ mountain lion hunt I bought but have until 2028 to use. Don't know where I am going to next but plan to wait till the late season specials pop up.

I'm 65, brain thinks I'm 45, body swings between 55 - 75 depending on the day of the week and the weather ☺.

Growing up I listened to my father and uncles and their friends all talk about how when they retired they were going go here and that or go there and see this, etc. In reality, by the time they retired they either didn't have the money to do it or were to sick and feeble. I swore that wouldn't be me. There would be plenty of time to sit and look out the window and remember when.....

Been fortunate enough to have hunted Africa 5 times for plains game, buffalo, and leopard. Hunted Scotland for red deer, fallow, and roe deer. Canada for black bear and caribou. A couple of western states for pheasant, grouse, and quail. Been lucky in all these places to get what I went after.

Still want to do a moose in Newfoundland, musk ox and reindeer in Greenland, and brown bear in Kamchatka. Would go back to Africa for ele and lion but don't think my wallet would be able to survive it.

There's a bunch of places I want to fish too.

I'll keep going as long as I can. Like many here I kinda like the feel of rifle slung over my shoulder, a nimble side x side 20 bore in the crook of my arm, or good fishing rod in my hand.
All depends on the heart,legs and cash on hand.

Holy Crap!!
Talk about end of the game... I just received a quote for a jump off safari from our Circumnavigation cruise to hunt 2 Tiny 10 on Zanzibar... minimum 10 days, $24,000, and trophy fees $4k each!!
If anything stops me, it will be the ridiculous prices these outfitters are asking... it's NOT that I can't, I WON'T!!
I will just admire these little buggers on our $100k Circumnavigation of Africa!!

CheerZ,

quote:

Growing up I listened to my father and uncles and their friends all talk about how when they retired they were going go here and that or go there and see this, etc. In reality, by the time they retired they either didn't have the money to do it or were to sick and feeble. I swore that wouldn't be me. There would be plenty of time to sit and look out the window and remember when.....

The above is about as good advice, on this topic, as one could get…

At today's prices, I have to keep working to keep hunting, but I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I retired, so that's just an excuse to keep working. I love what I do and I love to hunt.

Switching to fishing myself, but ecstatic that I took the advice given my senior year of high school, by "Psych" Fonseca, at RVA in Kenya. In 1975 hunting was still legal in Kenya. It took until 2001 to start hunting in South Africa. "Don't wait 'til you are 65 to go on safari! Borrow the money, go when your body allows, then pay off your loan."

In 2022 I had my right ankle replaced. Bad move. I broke one of the pins inserted into my tibia; one was loose as well. Went on a hunt in New Zealand last year but it was really painful, especially when I side-hilled with my right foot near the mountain. Had it redone on Feb 8; also had cataract surgery. My eye surgeon said he couldn't correct me to 20/20 unless I opted for a new kind of lens in which they use UV light to modify the molecular structure of the lens - wow, best 10K I ever spent. Waking up and seeing 20/20 (sometimes I test 20/15) is life changing. I hate glasses when hunting and contacts (gas perm rigid) were an equal pain.

I am waiting to see how my latest ankle replacement works. I am riding a bike a lot but yesterday I walked four miles and it was a bit stiff this morning. I have held off on booking anything exotic until I see how this pans out. Last year was quiet - CO antelope, KS deer, but struck out on DIY elk. This year I drew deer in NM 16 (rifle). I am also fishing a lot more; just got back from sturgeon fishing along the MN/Ontario border - what a hoot. Going to La Paz the last week of June; this has become an annual trip.

Money is not an issue for me at this point in my life; my net worth is more than I could have ever imagined, but I have stopped chasing animal "x" just to say I shot it. At this point in my life, I hunt what I enjoy hunting and am less inclined to go somewhere where travel is complicated (like Marco Polo).

I will be 65 next month. A European company approached me about buying my company and I will probably take the deal. I know I would get a higher price in an auction via an investment bank, but I really don't want the bother. As my M&A attorney said, you have to realize your "point of indifference" in terms of price.

I built a house on our land in Colorado, and frankly, a day there is a day in heaven. I am really into long range gong shooting and can do it right from the house. I am getting really good at wind doping when shooting long range. The more time I spend in Phoenix, the more I hate traffic, although the weather is nice (now) and I have a 500 yard range 7 miles away. When I am in Colorado by myself I often don't see a human for weeks at time.

I have always thought that if I am diagnosed with cancer, the last thing I would do is go hunting. Instead, I would take family members on trips they would like to do but cannot. Last summer my brother, a plumber, noted that June 6 2024 will be the 80th anniversary of D Day. He has never been out of the country, so I am taking him, my wife, and her sister to France in a few weeks. From there we go to Barcelona to visit some friends. My brother is super excited.

In September a friend of ours is going to the International Space Station; it will be his fourth and last trip into space. I watched him lift off via the Space Shuttle on Nov 14, 2008. My wife went to Russia to see him launch some years later. He was on the ISS when the Columbia disintegrated. My wife is going back to Russia (Kazakhstan actually) to watch him but I am not going. Too long, too complicated, and a bit of a protest over Evan Gershkovich's detention. So I might book a last minute Africa trip in September.