Prayers up. This weekend was special in many ways for both of you and more than you realized at the time. Glad you could spend it together

Pops crosses my mind each time I watch the sun rise on a feed pen...Keep doing what we do, its what a Son is supposed to do for his Father, to watch a Man hard as Nails at one point in Life look me in the eye after letting a Deer walk and I said Pops why didn't you smoke him...He said Son I wanted him to live, end of conversation.

Prayers

Well said, X's2

I mainly hunt alone, occasionally with friends. But, even when alone, I'm kept company by all the many memories I have from growing up. Being out in the woods is how I relive those and get to enjoy all over again.

I lost my mom a few years ago. Hunting and fishing were some of her biggest passions. Every time I'm out in the woods I think about her. My dad has all but given it up since it was their thing to do and his wife isn't outdoorsy, but that still doesn't stop me from calling him after each deer I take, or random trip out to the lease. I get to share that with him, still. He hasn't put his nose up to any venison I make/give to him either!!

My grandpa and I talk nowhere near as much as we should, but I call him after every successful hunt and break it down like it was the superbowl. To this day, hunting and fishing is what keeps him going. A few years ago, he gave his rifle he bought in 1957. It's my exclusive deer rifle and I have no plans to retire it. If I have kids, one of them will get that gun. It's one of my prized possessions. I think about him every time I hold it.

I guess the reason why I mention all that is to show that just because circumstances have changed, doesn't mean you have to.

Wrote all that and went back and read some posts before posting. Just saw the update on your dad. I'll echo stx and the others. Know you're in my prayers.

I am that old man. I'll be 72 this month but still enjoy good health. Well, pretty good health anyway. I don't shoot as well as I used to. An hour with a chain saw doesn't produce as much wood as it used to.

Old age can be a lonely time. Kids and Grandkids are busy and have their own life. No problem, I have my own interests, stay pretty dang busy and I'm not whining. One Grandson has been hunting with me since he got out of diapers. I treasure the hunting time and now take all of his buddies along. None of their parents could afford a lease. I know the time will come when they haul my old carcass out there and leave me at the house. I hope I know when that time is but I doubt it.

Just thought of something I read. "Grandpa, don't you need to rest? Rest hell; I have all eternity to rest. Let's go fishing.".

Glad that you decided to keep taking him. Let him tell you when the time comes.

This thread is what the non-hunters will never understand. It is the time spent with loved ones and the memories created that make hunting what it is for me. It is clear from this thread that I am not alone in these feelings.

I just built a bridge this weekend so my 70 year old pop doesn't have to cross through a 20ft deep creek to get to his stand anymore. I got nervous watching him climb back up the otherside of that dang thing. All he asked was "Do you think I can walk across it with a deer on my shoulders." I know he would do it but I said he better drag it. I don't want a poacher mistaking him for a live deer.

I just lost my grandfather, best friend and hunting buddie in July. I went through the whole grieving process but nothing could prepare me for opening morning without him. He was 99 when he passed and went to the ranch right up until he passed. I have been very fortunate to grow up hunting our family ranch but with him gone now it is just not the same. All I can hope is I can be as great of a role model for my children and peers as he was. I hope I get that fire back in my belly, but at this point it is just like I am going through the motions. It makes you realize that hunting is just as much about the people you share it with as it is about the activity.

There's a couple points to make here:

-You went out of your way, a long way, to get your dad to the hunt.

-You gave him all the best tools he could use in order to use the capacity that remains in order to get just that one more.

-You were there the whole time to make sure things went well, and to help make sure everything was taken care of.

Your dad raised a good kid, no matter how old you are now. Prayers up for your dad, I certainly hope this is just a hiccup on the path down the long road we're all on.

God forbid, if it's not, I simply cannot think of a better way to go.

Dad came off the respriator today! The first thing he told my Sister was He and I were going hunting again Saturday! Prayers answered!

Man that is great news!

Great!!!

His fight with cancer left him without much lung capacity, so dad can no longer chase quail or climb into his blind. He has spent the last few years taking his grandsons and sitting in his truck watching a peanut field while they hunt. When he goes duck hunting with Joshua we carry him in the ranger right to the blind. He knows his hunting days are over, but he refuses to miss out on the grand kids and their adventures. We sit around the fire at night and the kids sit and listen to all the same old stories and eat them up. It is what you make it and we make memories every time we are together.

AB, kudos to your dad. He is a real man.

Do whatever it takes to keep him involved as long as possible. Our 87 year old granny shot a big tom last weekend and we had 4 generations tracking it for her.

All of y'alls stories strike a chord in each one of us. I think most people would understand. It just seems to me that of all the great times I've spent with family and friends, fishing or hunting was at the center of it. When we got our place 'in the country' it was because of the hard work of my Grandparents and Parents. Thank goodness, Mom and Dad are still here to enjoy it with the rest of the family.

The first buck I shot at our place was a spiritual as well as an emotional experience. I can honestly tell you that I wept, thinking about my Grandmother and Father. They would have been pleased.

Great news

That is great news!!! He's not ready to retire from hunting!!! He's ready to spend more time with you making more memories!!!

Great news and ditto Seadog

As long as he wantsto go, take him.

I would give anything to have one more hunting trip with my Dad.

DId he take you when you were too young to keep your yap shut and you couldn't sit still long enough for deer to show up at the feeder? Now it is your turn. Sometimes sitting in a blind remembering past hunts is more important than sitting in a blind and trying to make new memories, because in the end all we have are our memories. Your Dad will never think he is too old to hunt, just as no one could ever convince you that you were too young to hunt. The time will come for all of us when we can't climb that ladder or we can't see that buck, or we can't make that shot. WHat you are trying to do is help your Father put off that time for as long as possible. It is out there for all of us, but none of us want to admit it.