Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting How old can you go.....

How old are the active deer hunters here who go out hunting deer solo.....and still dragging and loading their kills unassisted if need be.

By the time next season opens I'll be 67.

I will be 70 In early March, still doing my own thing.


You are a young whippersnapper

Turned 74 last month. Hunt by myself. Ain't about to give up now!

I did that for the last time when I was 66...course in Montucky are distance for drags etc might be a tad longer, dragged that one( in a sled) 1.5 miles before loading up.

I'm 66 y/o. I always do my own thing. However, this year I shot a deer way down in a steep, nasty hellhole. I was glad one of the young blood were in camp. He helped pull it outta there, up to the skid road, and I took it from there. I probably would have managed it all myself, but I was grateful for the help.

I'm 66 this year as well. Still hunt by myself but am able to get what we want or need from our small farm. SIL gave me a 95 Honda 4 wheeler 2 years ago that needed some work. Dont drag deer anymore since I got it running! Drag them right up to the barn and winch them up!
Mickey

I am 61 and hunt and stay by myself and hunt alone. I had a health scare a couple of days ago and may rethink hunting alone depending on how my treatment goes. I do shoot them with equipment and shot placement so they drop dead most of the time. And I can drive to where they fall. I use a tilt trailer to haul them one so there isn't much straining or dragging involved.

I'll be 70 this week. Took care of 3 whitetails by myself this year.

I am 72 and still can but with 4 shoulder surgeries and 3 back, try not to. Our old phart club has put winches in all the pickups, side by sides, etc... Have winches on the meat pole and in the cooler too. Makes it a lot easier to handle deer. And we kill a lot. Place is overpopulated and we take 60 to 80 does per year. Should take more but you just get tired of it after a while.

Even when young and in good shape…..”dragging” a deer isn’t easy! Extend your hunting another decade or two by quartering-out or even boning-out your deer and taking them out on a backpack/freighter frame! Most, at least those in the lower 48, Whitetails, boned-out could be carried out in one trip…..unless it’s a long trip in difficult terrain! memtb

It’s not just the age, it’s also the miles. I wore out my knees by the time I was 70, now they are steel. Had back surgery last year. Doctors are suggesting that I’ll have heart surgery in a couple months (enlarged aorta). I’ve had close to 50 surgeries so far and have spent nearly two years total in hospitals. Two hospitals which I spent a half a year in apiece was Bal Boa Naval hospital and Camp Pendleton Naval hospital.
I still can pretty much do it all by myself, but I very much appreciate when partners help me drag, throw in the back of my pickup, help hang, skin and butcher. I went and retrieved one of my sons to help with a cow a couple years ago. I’m pretty careful when it comes to shooting game where I can drive close to pick the game up any more.

At 73 I still hunt alone, once the deer is on the ground I call for the younger guys with the 4 wheelers to get them out.

Those strong young bucks sure come in handy for a multitude of tasks around deer camp.

73 and a 1/2 here. Though, I always let my wife know where, I hunt alone, and enjoy it if the weather is reasonable (which my non-hunting brother says is about 10 days a year 😉). I carry a day pack with knife and heavy canvas game bags, and some other items. Though I didn’t get out too much this year (the weather) and didn’t get a deer, I generally bone the deer out, bag it in a couple bags, carry one if I can and head back to the truck. There, I have a freighter frame to go back and get the rest if need be.

Where I hunt, I’m rarely more than 3/4 mile from the truck. I’m getting a new knee in a couple weeks, so I hope I can be ready for next fall.

I turn 72 in June and I still hunt by myself. I did have to call for help with getting this years deer out of a steep hollow that I would have needed help with if I was 25, but typically I can handle the deer myself with the aid of an ATV.

If you can use an ATV there's no limit. I have a winch on mine so there's no dragging or loading problems.

My last two solo hunts. 2018, I was 75, 6X bull elk. 2021, solo hunt, I was 78, small mulie buck. I missed 2022 season but will try to be back out there this coming year. I sure wish I was only 67

I still hunt alone in steep country, but at 77 the rules have been changed...I never go below the elevation at which the pickup is parked. I never take a risky shot, last thing I need is a wounded buck heading down in the canyons. I carry enough stuff to completely bone out and carry the meat in case Murphy's Law takes over. I carry just enough stuff to survive a night, not comfortably, just survive, in case of a broken bone. I only spend 50% of my time hunting...the other 50% is spent looking at foot placement, so I don't have to spend the night. Easier to stay out of trouble...than to get out of trouble. And, if it all goes to schidt, I can't think of a better place to croak out.

At 73 now, I still hunt most of the time by myself, though the last three years I've spent a few days with a youngster who is just getting started. No luck with him yet. After shooting a buck this year, I sent pics to friends and family. My wife responded "what do need". I replied "the truck, the toboggan and some assistance". She showed up an hour later. I could have made the drag myself since it wasn't too far to the cabin but the help was definitely appreciated! I don't hunt in northern Maine much anymore since the distances and terrain where I used to hunt would be impossible to deal with now by myself.

Take care of yourself and with a little luck you should last a long time. If you want too. I am 76 and hunt alone. Its no different then it ever was except I don't go where I have to make long drags or packs. I expect to do it until at least into my 80's.