Healthy or Not Healthy

[SuperGoose75]

As per title' Is the Sport of Wildfowling good for your health or detrimental to your health?

 

Opinions please.

[Smokersmith]

There are arguments on both sides .....

 

When I have a few days consecutive fowling, I typically lose 1/2 a stone due to the long walks. Muscle tone improves and my heart gets a great workout, it all feels good.

 

I also feel the aches and pains of jumping creeks etc. Plus I'm not sure what the longer term effects of sitting in the cold will have on joints etc. in later life. I also suffer with reduced sleep during that time of the year due to the early starts, and lost sleep through the sheer excitement a lot of stuff in the media about how good sleep is good for you so I take that as a bit of a negative.

 

The one that swings it for me is the psychological benefit of being outdoors, doing something that you love! Walking info the office after a cheeky morning flight, knowing you've had your day's exercise already, have witnessed a magnificent sunrise, and have something for tea when you get home is a great feeling.

 

So on balance ... I'd argue that it's good for you.

[Big Mat]

I'd say it's healthy, the exercise does you good.

 

But the big thing for me, as Smoker says, it's the physiological side of it. After a real hard horrible week at work, sitting out on that foreshore, gun in hand, dog by my side really calms me.

 

I always book a week off once we've finish our real busy season at work. spend most of it wildfowling, it gets rid of that extra stress!

[panoma1]

Great for excercise and mental and physical wellbeing.........but at 67 years old, one ankle replaced last year the other pending, then a hip replacement seven weeks ago, ...........indicates it bolloxes your joints......lol!

[Saltings]

60% of blokes die in bed so stay out of your bed go wildfowling watch the sun rise and the marsh come alive and on the way home a heart attack breakfast life is good

[widgeon man]

Can't live for ever........

But you can enjoy yourself while your here.

[greenshank1]

 

It's got to be good for you. It's one of the last truly wild sports left. It takes you to places most people have never seen .

 

It gets you up and about into the Wild , well away from , work , calls , emails and gives you proper solitude , head space and time to yourself.

 

I don't mind if I get a shot or not it's great just to be out with the dog on the shore.

 

It gets you out in all weathers and is a good workout carrying the gun and all your gear over the shore to get set up.

 

You appreciate the wood burning stove more when you get back in and I sleep like a log after being out.

[marsh man]

I take it Supergoose75 you are referring to true coastal wildfowling and not a few evenings around a flight pond or decoying geese in the early part of the season , in there case , they don't really have to worry about health issues , apart from suffering a heart attack in excitement when a shot is taken .

 

Coastal fowling is a complete different ball game , out in all weathers , plenty of exercise and exposed to the elements for long periods of time .

 

When your young the sheer excitement of shooting some fowl will get you through any hardship that come your way , you don't notice the weather conditions , in fact the rougher the better and you will sit or lay there as long as there is chance in getting a shot , if you don't get a shot , no problem as there is another day tomorrow and we will do it all over again .

 

As the years roll into middle age or later , the mind is the same but the body is beginning to feel the effects of long periods out in the extreme cold and its the start of aches and pains in various parts of the body .

 

If you are keen you can shrug these off and continue fowling into old age and then your body will tell you to start being sensible ,

 

Most of my mates who I went fowling with are sadly no longer with us , although I am not saying wildfowling killed them all off , but later in life one or two of them suffered baldly with there joints .

 

In a way as far as health is concerned I have been lucky as this year I am 70 and up to now ( touch wood ) have never spent a night in hospital , and if I get through this coming season it will be my 56th on the trot and might well be my last , not through health as I still feel fine and I am currently pigeon shooting at least three times a week but the thrill of shooting fowl is no longer there like it once was , and I am getting just as much satisfaction with my binoculars as I now do with my gun .

 

As far as health and fowling goes , I would say listen to your body and don't push it more than you really have to .

[figgy]

It's good for your mind more than your body I find. As for jumping creeks not anymore my knees are shot. Dragging your joints through cold wet mud and sitting in cold damp isn't good for your joints. But I love doing it.

[SuperGoose75]

Firstly,thank's for all the replys. Much appreciated and some excellent input and much of it more or less similiar to my way of thinking.

Secondly, having been involved in coastal Wildfowling since a boy it is in my blood and I have no intention of giving it up anytime soon if at all possible.

 

Now for a right old moan and please excuse any Cliche's. I know there are a lot of experienced and dedicated fowlers on here who have been fowling longer than I and also share the same passion for all things Wildfowling and reading all the old classic books ect..!

 

Im sure most would have read things like "Wildflowers' never make Old Bones" The marsh gets in your bones, The father of rheumatism ' Punts layed up and guns sold by the time you reach Forty ect..

Of course these were warnings to would be Fowlers to take care of themselves and to try and prevent these things from happening.

Well unfortunantely' In my own case,I am finding these warnings to have been correct and at the Middle age stage of life I am struggling somewhat'

 

Now I am not laying all the blame on Wildfowling as I have abused my Body in other ways having Worked in heavy manual jobs most of my life from a young teenager and also played a lot of Sport and have picked up injuries such as Cruciate ligament rupture, had most of the cartlidge removed but never got the ligament fixed. Ankle injuries and involved in an RTA where I had my hip fractured. Hurt my back multiple times. My wrists and elbows are stiff with arhtritis which I put down to the years plastering. My neck plays up often. I am starting to really struggle in the winter months and have trouble getting out of the bed physically in the mornings although when I am up and about a while I tend to be not so bad but never moving totally pain free.

 

This past couple of years have been particulary bad. I tend to eat well and keep in reasonably good shape by being pretty active but as I say I am starting to struggle. I cant help but think that the years I have spent in dedicated Wildfowling,In all weathers, A lot in inappropriate clothing..Many wettings..laying out on Cold marshes. Going out in the middle of the night on the tide and spending all day in Freezing Fog on the Marsh and back in on the tide and dragging and heaving heavy boats and all the rest that goes with this wonderful sport. I have never regretted one moment of it but I feel it is catching up on me. I suppose I have been fool hardy a lot of the time spent Fowling. One thing is that weather never has put me off going out and I am not Claiming to be Super hard but I never used to feel the cold much no matter what the weather. But could that be the problem..? The fact that although i didnt feel it, It was still doing damage..?

 

I totally agree and understand the whole thing about the peace and tranquility and calming effect that is good for the mind.In fact that is probably the major appeal for me these days. However I think it can also have a draw back for the Mental well being..Well I am speaking from personal experience which probably will not have affected everyone and I will touch on it later if the interest in the thread continues.

 

Thanks again for the input and anyone with more thoughts on the matter would be welcomed.

[sitsinhedges]

So how old are you SuperGoose?

[greenshank1]

Supergoose75 it's only natural to feel your age if you have led an active life and been out in all weathers since you were a kid and your now in middle age.

 

I do think different people feel the cold , wet , weather differently . It doesn't make you hard or soft it's just your natural metabolism. And your tolerances to bad weather may change as we age. As our hardiness goes our wisdom and cunning are meant to compensate for this. I hope !!!

Look after yourself mate , take extra dry clothes with you and a warm drink they do help and if you get a soaking and are getting wet and cold come home. There is no shame in calling it a day and coming back early.

 

We also have the benefit now of understanding good clothing , layering , taking warm drinks , wearing gloves etc and going home to warm and dry houses with hot water a change of clothes and living in our modern homes. This has got to benefit us and prolong our wildfowling careers that the old guys didn't have.

[Grandalf]

I'm on my way to 79 and still at it. Don't do as much coastal these days but still some.

I never let the weather put me off and don't seem to have much problem getting out of bed at 3am for the pleasure of getting soaked and cold.

Nearly always fowl on my own. Don't like crowds. Carry two mobiles and a satnav.

East Anglian inland marshes are pretty exposed places to be... And big...

But if you love fowling as much as I do then the motivation is not a problem.

The body will tell me when it is time to quit.

 

Did give up my little boat after I nearly fell overboard at 4am on a flood tide though...

Got to be sensible I suppose - though it doesn't come easy...

 

Just keep going boy.

[marsh man]

Part of the trouble is supergoose not everyone is built the same , some people feel the cold and others don't , the ones who don't would normally feel it later on life and the ones who do would pack up fowling well before old age ,

 

I was employed as a jobbing bricklayer until I retired on my 60th birthday , one day I would be plastering ceilings , the next, floor tiling , laying drains , installing park rays and so on , from my mid 50s the hard work was taking its toll on my body more than what fowling ever did , and I then made up my mind I would call it a day when I turned 60 , looking back it was the best days work I ever done and haven't regretted a single day since , I haven't got much money coming in but my health has improved and I know what I would sooner have .

 

I would say fowling haven't left me with any medical problems and as you know I spent long periods of time in one of my gun punts going up and the estuary in all weather conditions including 1963 which was, and still is one of the coldest on record and many a time sitting out a tide for over six hours at a time and as far cold goes being out for long periods in a gun punt pushing on to fowl or laying in wait up one of the many drains ,( or creeks to some )must be one of the coldest forms of wildfowling there is .

 

So I would say , by the sound of it supergoose you have had some bad luck over the years with stresses and strains on your body , what with your manual work, sport injuries , having a rood traffic accident and your aches and pains, I think time is passing you by quicker than you realise and your mind is still very active and want you to do the things you enjoy but the body is telling you to be carful and not to put it through more hardship than is necessary .

 

I think you have to decide what is best for you , weather you give it a miss for a while , change jobs or carry on as you are , but I hope whatever you decide you make the right decision and can see an improvement in your health . All the best and .. GOOD LUCK.

[lancer425]

I think in the whole its healthy i am in my 40s now and been fowling since i was a kid all weathers i have problems with my back and a knee injury from falling off a bale trailer as a teenager on the family farm. nothing i can attribute to my wild fowling activities directly.

A few things i do try and do is keep my weight sensible if i dont i end up in big trouble with my knee its that simple. I am 5 10 and 13 stone if i get to 14 it starts to tell so if you are carnying some weight your first job is try and get advice to shed some soon as you can. I got up to 15 stone and with my knee i ended up in one of the worst periods if my life the weight was stopping my exercising i started to get heavier it was like a knock on effect so not knowing your size and weight this may or may be of use to you or not, but to anyone being overweight is seriously bad idea in my opinion.

Cold in fowling can be unpleasant i think if you put a bit of thought into what you do what you wear and when you wear it you can stay warm in virtually any conditions, without going into this jacket these waders and all that NO1 Breathable condensation is a killer, other advice if in doubt wool even when its wet it offers some warmth, don’t skimp on clothing you can shoot with a cheap gun but when you are out there you need warm gear dry gear and you do not want to be arriving at your position wrapped up like a mummy and everything wet through with perspiration, Look at the conditions decide what’s the minimum you need on for the walk in and the rest in a rucksack carry it in that way.

Try and walk in slow do not build perspiration if your shooting mates are sprinting on ahead let them go go in at a pace so you arive comfortable and put your jacket on when you are set up and starting to feel the cold. Of course you can not always do this, the extreme conditions might dictate you don your jacket from the off and rain is clearly a problem one for this but its far better to get to your position minus the sweat if you can.

The ground sucks heat out of you neoprenes on or not get off the ground if you can even if its just in the waiting times low seat or rubber pad are better than directly with the ground, wind try get out of it not always possible but even a bit of hide net with some old keep net mesh clipped to it is better than nothing. Just try and pay attention to these little details if you can it helps.

Warm drinks are good advice even on a short local trip a warm drink on a cold dark morning is never a waste of time.

In your case supergoose i do not know how old you are or weight anything like that, but sounds like you have been through the wringer, so its for you to decide the best option bassed on your health, but i feel if you can plan ahead pick the short walk pick those tides when you dont need to go quite so far, and i am sure you will benefit from your fowling trips and any toll the condition take on you at least will be compensated in your mental well being which i feel is so easily overlooked by us after all we are all macho mens men who dont consider such things .

[grahamch]

Most define try good for the health, both physical and mental. It does me a power of good to get a flight or two in. You're only here one so make the most of it. I waste too much time at a desk driving a computer doing point less tedious tasks

Edited July 31, 2017 by grahamch

[SuperGoose75]

Thank's for all the interesting input into the thread. Again' I have no intention of giving up Wildfowling any time soon. Believe me when I say I am no shrinking Violet and Im an not ready fo the knacker yard just yet. I just thought it would be an interesting topic and was curious of the overall opinion.

 

Possibly Marshman is correct in saying that Grafting has been a majot factor, and also Smokersmith's about sleep deprivation. I used to work ridiculous hours especially when laying Concrete. And that is one job I do not miss as it certainly ages You. I havent done much manual this past number of years because of the crash of the building trade crash and other commintments. This also could be a the problem with my joints ect. I recall two old fellas who used to Jog regulary and I often heard people remark that if the stopped they would 'Seize up' so to speak.

 

Very good points also lancer425, especially about the weight. If I do put on a few pounds I certainly feel it on my bad knee. Although I am kind of impervious to the cold it certainly affects my joints. I usually wear a knee support bandage when Shooting and always when I was working. Somtimes when i forget to wear it and strectch the bad knee I could be layed up in the house it gets that bad.I also used to take supplements like Cod liver oil which I think i will start up again.

 

Im also in my early forty's and about 14st which is too heavy for my height and would probably need to loose a stone or two. Im still be pretty active despite the pains and do a bit of boxing training and of course the shooting and the dogs be walked most nights. Hard as nails me lol

 

Of course I look after myself whilst Fowling with the modern gear ect and Wilfowling is a major part of my life and even when the day comes to pack it in I will still be on the shore birdwatching in the winter months.

 

As already stated I was just curious as to peoples thoughts on how years of dedicated fowling affected your health and I would agree that the health benifits b far outways any negatives.I love the winter and cold weather..Rain,hail or sleet doesnt usually deter me when Wildfowling but their is days I be as stiff as my old Chessie who also has had it it tough. He is retired but I will soldier on for nother 30rs or so..lol

 

Thanks again for all the interesting input.

 

SG

 

Verdict = Healthy - ish.

[lancer425]

If you are a stone over get it off it sounds insignificant but its like carrying a jack russel around in your rucksack every day every where, weight is a killer i am convinced of it. We are turning into a nation of fatties a little like the USA, i remember my dads mate always remember him being a fatish chubby sort of bloke, saw a photo of him other day back in the early 1980s i am guessing he looked if anything a little scrawny compared to the average 20s guy of today.

[greenshank1]

Glad your soldiering on with the fowling , there's plenty of time for pheasant shooting when your proper old and decrepit

 

If your old chessie is retired are you getting another and how did you find this one . Apologies for going off from original topic but always fancied one and wondered what they are like.

[SuperGoose75]

Lancer425- Yes I intend to lose a bit over the winter as that is when I suffer most with my Knee. Jogging is out because of the Knee but I have plenty of other options and will cut down on the Spuds lol, Im not terribly out of shape but just a bit heavy for my knee joint.

 

greenshank- If you put Wildfowling dogs into the search at the top of the page you should find a disscusion that pretty much covers your question.

Give me a PM if you need anymore advice or opinion.

[mudpatten]

Some interesting perspectives there. For me, at 63 I seem to have lived a charmed life having avoided hard physical work and the cumulative damage it can do to your body.

 

I don`t feel the cold and, having been built like a streak of pump water until comparatively recently I`m still fairly mobile. A rotator cuff injury to my left shoulder sustained when knocking down a door in 1976 has come back to haunt me and I can only shoot with a light gun.

 

Does wildfowling adversely affect your health? I don`t know. But I can tell you that Chesapeakes do! My only real complaint is from the surgical steel pin through my left knee where my Chessie ran into me at top speed from the front in about 1980. That is beginning to stiffen a bit.

 

I`ve been fortunate in growing up with a number of former professional fowlers. I must say that none of them seem to have suffered directly from the strains associated with fowling, most having died of plain old age, mostly in their eighties. One hard old gunner is still going strong at 96 and another, only recently deceased, finally kicked off at the ripe old age of 106!

[SuperGoose75]

Some interesting perspectives there. For me, at 63 I seem to have lived a charmed life having avoided hard physical work and the cumulative damage it can do to your body.

 

I don`t feel the cold and, having been built like a streak of pump water until comparatively recently I`m still fairly mobile. A rotator cuff injury to my left shoulder sustained when knocking down a door in 1976 has come back to haunt me and I can only shoot with a light gun.

 

Does wildfowling adversely affect your health? I don`t know. But I can tell you that Chesapeakes do! My only real complaint is from the surgical steel pin through my left knee where my Chessie ran into me at top speed from the front in about 1980. That is beginning to stiffen a bit.

 

I`ve been fortunate in growing up with a number of former professional fowlers. I must say that none of them seem to have suffered directly from the strains associated with fowling, most having died of plain old age, mostly in their eighties. One hard old gunner is still going strong at 96 and another, only recently deceased, finally kicked off at the ripe old age of 106!

 

That seem's to be the thing, old injuries seem to catch up with you especially when the temperatures drop.

I can visualise your accident with the Chessie. I have been left on my *** a few times in a similiar manner although at full speed from behind and not waiting on it.It seems to be a Trait the Brutes have.

 

Interesting about the Old time gunners and it seems to back up this quotation-

 

I think if one were to live in this wide and open country of great fields and great seascapes,where the horizons are as wide as the sea itself,where the wind sweeps and roars,where the snows come straight from the Artic,and the geese last saw land beneath the midnight sun.One might walk like a hero,Live like a fighting- cock and die at a Hundred.

Edited August 4, 2017 by SuperGoose75