I’ll miss opening weekend. Nephew in Florida is getting married that Saturday. I called and asked if he was out of his rabidass mind and that I was expecting him to be in Texas on opening day. I asked why not postpone the wedding. He said it damn sure wasn’t his idea but he had just screwed up and it was too late to reschedule.

I asked if a shotgun was involved. He said no to that.

First opening weekend I’ve missed since Uncle Sam called on me in 1964.

Yeah my Dad was an avid hunter most of his life. When he reached his 60's he stayed on his lease but would just take his camera to the stand for pictures. He said he lost his desire to kill an animal.

I am 70 and still love it although I don't work as hard at the actual hunting part as I use to. I enjoy seeing other members and their kids (including mine) take the good bucks.

Lost the urge about 2 years ago. Cost and lack of someone to hunt with have pushed my desire out of the head. Been fun when I enjoyed it, had the desire for 50 years (since I was 10 years old) now its rich mans sport. Enjoy guys!

Anyone else "feeling it," but cannot get out until mid-December?

I'm 74 and starting to know what some of you are feeling. Somewhere around 70 I started to not be as mad at deer as I used to be. Now, I'd rather help a newbie get one than kill one myself. This year health issues are starting to cloud my hunting picture. Nothing major. Just one thing after another. Aortic aneurism that isn't enlarged to the point of a stint yet. COPD scarring that agitated a lower respiratory infection for a month. It's no loonger killing a deer or antelope that is important. It's the experience itself. If it's a good ethical hunt, I'm good with that. I just sit there and think "how many folks my age are still doing this?" Somewhere around age 65, the ground gets harder. The ground gets colder. My current lease ends in 2024. That will probably be it on deer for me. Antelope might go a year or two after that. The difference being a) you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn and b) I can still lift them into the back of the truck without hooking up my hitch hoist gambrel Ive already told my hunting partners that if I get one it will be a monster or it will be nothing. Too hard to drag deer out of the river bottom at my age. The thought of "not hunting" though is a scary thought and I may renege on my decision the closer I get to it. I will say that this year I am hunting out of groundblinds only. Exposed ladderstands are no place for a 74 year old.

It is my daughters year for a buck. So, I'm super excited and more for her. There is a huge 11 point we are chasing and I'm pumped up to try and get him in her cross hairs!

It needs to have purpose. Knowing that I am a “wildlife manager” and not just a hunter puts the importance of what I do in an entirely different perspective. Managing the game, and not just killing it makes all the difference in the World to your frame of mind.

Taking on a greater challenge rather than just waiting on the same old buck to show up and start eating can make it far more rewarding as well if that's all you've been doing for years on end.

I'll be hunting a new tripod my friend and I put up a few weeks ago and I'm excited as hell just to see what shows up totally on its own.

I’ve actually used the term of “State Licensed Wildlife Manager” with private land owners (city folks) who I needed to ask for permission to recover my deer that ran onto their property, and expired. I would introduce myself, then hand them my ID and hunting license. You are an “agent of the State” with that license. Sounds important to me.

I'm in the same boat. Lost our lease last year and this year moved back to some family land we have hunted in the past. got the feeder full, put up a camera and as it is now every night i have two small doe and a fawn hang around for about 15 hours of the day. I've got three small bucks tat take turns roaming through the place but it feels like a not so promising season. Going fro seeing 30-40 different deer a day to 3-5 is saddening.

Seeing deer is still a blessing.

I haven't really gotten excited about deer hunting in years. I do enjoy it a lot, but killing a deer, even a big one, doesn't give me much of a rush. It's more like a feeling of deep satisfaction. It's like doing some job I've never done before and it turns out better than I would have expected.

Now having an entire week off from work for the first time in over a year, yeah that has me excited.

Not feeling it...not about the hunting perspective but the ranch has been leased for solar and seems more like a depressing place than a happy get away it used to be.

Fortunately a buddy called and I'm going to hunt with his 16 year old so that sparked a bit more of a desire than I had previously.

Learned in the last few years that who you do the hunting with is of a lot more importance than the actual hunting. Used to think I hunted with some individuals that thought as much of me as I thought of them. When push came to shove, I found out that was not true, so who you are putting in time with is of much more importance than what you are actually doing. I will enjoy hunting this year, but not too fired up over killing much except hogs. Getting closer to your own demise sort of makes you step back and look over the entire process.

I'm just hurting more this year so that takes some of the anticipation and joy out of it.

I've hunted 50 years. My enthusiasm for it is still what it was when I was 10 years old, maybe more.

Sorry to hear that. Solar farms are destroying as many good farms and ranches as neighborhoods are

I feel the same way. Started deer hunting with my dad in 1971 when I was 11 yrs old. I immediately fell in love with it, and to this day I can't wait til opening weekend every year. My [censored] buddies have been meeting me in the TX Panhandle to hunt whitetails for 25 years, and I've continued to hunt muleys somewhere every year since 1971. I will say I don't have to kill a big buck to be 100% happy and satisfied, but big bucks still turn my crank.

My uncle hunted from the age of 25 until about 60 or so. He would still go and sit and shoot a hog, but I can’t remember him ever killing a decent deer past that other than an axis that he shot when he was about 70 or so. When he was about 75 I finally convinced him to shoot a couple of deer just cause and he ended up killing a few does and a fork horn.

We hunted together for 28 years….I killed my first deer when I was 10 sitting on his lap. Sold what was left of the original ranch in late 2020 and he had hung it up, he is now 80 and I hope to have him out to my place for a hunt or two, probably don’t have many opportunities left.

My own kids are busy with their teenage lives and don’t hunt much anymore….kinda depressing when you think about it.

Getting to the Panhandle 10 years ago did a lot for my enthusiasm. Bigger deer, bigger hogs, country you can see in, elevation changes, colder weather, a very predictable rut that changes everything.......no place like it. Hunting that big country is nothing like what I did growing up.

as my wife says, I am eaten up with hunting ... always have been since the early age of 4 (almost 5) when I shot my first deer. I haven't missed an opening weekend in 60 years (almost missed one but got a late Sunday afternoon hunt in on my way back from CO). But my actions these days are completely different than 60 years ago when it was "if it's brown, it's down). I sat all last weekend, saw some beautiful animals but just enjoyed my time out in the woods. I will be out again the next 2 weekends as well, with the same vigor (hopefully a bit cooler) and energy.

My dad taught me the love of nature and all things in it, totally respect what God has given us. I hunted with dad until his last season when he was 87 years old, helped him up into a tripod several times that last season, great conversations between his house, the lease and back to his house. He and I raised my son with these same passions and we are now flowing that down to my grandkids.

I know that our time here on earth is not guaranteed, so I try to enjoy things while I still can ...

Before this season ends i will have reached 82 years. Will hunt most weekends during the season and still enjoy it very much. A highlight is seeing the younger hunters have success. I enjoy all of it, the preparation, the work on feeders and pens, and the hunt. Fortunately, I can still do it all however those 50 lb. bags of corn do seem to be a little heavier. It is good for me.

I'm to the lease Friday, home early Monday morning. Back the next Friday, Saturday and Sunday for my annual take my wife hunting weekend. Then, it's just me and my hunting partners the 17th through the 22nd for the peak of the rut. Mule deer also, so I need to kill a good whitetail early that hunt. Yeah, I'm still fired up about hunting.

I Will hunt opening weekend then mostly weekdays during the season I still enjoy it very much. I enjoy the camaraderie the preparation, the work on feeders and pens, and the hunt. Even though 50 lb. bags of corn seem to be a little heavier. I am in my 70s and I still enjoy it all

Still better than a great day at work... And I'm retiring next week...