Time to hang it up.

[clangerman]

left your mark denny I couldn’t make it to the right spot yesterday but still shot couple for the dog seen plenty of wildlife and got a tan what more could we want 

[marsh man]

10 hours ago, Bobba said:

Good Luck Denny. Sorry to see you go.

Yes, arthritis is a bug err. Aged 78 I’ve had both hips replaced. My knees are knackered  and some degeneration of the lower spine. Fortunately I can still get out there on the easier shoots with work around solutions. For example I now take a garden kneeler for getting up and down and a pick-up stick to minimise the bending. There will come a day when I have to say no more but with a careful approach I hopefully I’ve a few more years left.

A nice way of expressing it , a careful approach .

To be honest by the time you reach three score year and ten full time work should just be a memory , if it isn't then it should be 

With not worrying about work your time should be your own and there shouldn't be any need to over do it when carting your gear to your hide position , far better to make two trips than to do yourself a injury by trying to do it in one .

Yesterday I went on some Peas , as the Peas were short I didn't take a magnet and a battery , I have got a lightweight directors chair so I can rest my back while sitting down , so the first trip was the chair over my shoulders , the pole bag with five poles and two floaters stuck inside , the cartridge bag and the sack with the decoys in , the walk was quite easy by sticking to the tramlines , dropped that off under the tree so I could get some shade from the sun and then went back for the second load , this was two lightweight nets , a couple of dead Pigeons to put on the floaters and my drink and the dogs water and off we go again , all this took around half an hour which is nothing if you have got the time , this was now 1 . 30, time I set up and sat in the hide waiting for the first shot it was just short of 2pm , two and a half hours later I had 14 and couldn't see a lot of point waiting much longer for another shot so it was now the reverse in carting the gear back , even with the extra weight of the Pigeons I did manage to get back in two trips , time I got through the town traffic on the way home I  had been out of my house for around 5 hours which is now about my maximum for a bit of decoying , like you say , it all about a careful approach   

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by marsh man

[7daysinaweek]

Well said marsh man.  👍

[mossy835]

well MM your doing very well.

[Grandalf]

I'm knocking on the door of 83.   (This June).   Can't do what I used to do but I'll keep trying.   I get out for a gentle bit of fowling, foxing and stalking - mostly from high seats these days.   But I get there.   It takes longer.   I have to get up earlier.   I have to work out my moves in advance.   No good shooting a deer with a mile drag if I can't get the Landy there.   That sort of thing.   The landy is a mibile high seat.   Heavily modified to suit me.   Also I have lost half the sight in my right eye so I now have to shoot left handed.   Rifle is ok but the shotgun is a bit hit and miss.   Well a lot of miss to be exact.   But I get out there.   That's the main thing.   I know that if I have to give it up then I will never be able to start it again.   So far I am clear of arthritis and similar ailments.   Last Friday morning - For example.   Relief carer for my wife stayed overnight so reveille for me and my dog was at 0300 hrs.   Woke at 0250 after going to bed at 7pm.  (I sleep well anytime).   Away by 0330.   At the permission at 0350.   Roof hatch off landrover and gun set up etc.   Drive into position on the ride in one of the woods.   1 munty at 0510 and another at 0720.   Packed up at 0800.   Gralloch x two.   Home by 0930 for breakfast.   Out for the day with my dog.   Went to the coast for a walk and fish and chips for lunch.   Relief carer departed at  1700 hrs.   I then have to take over looking after my disabled wife - Alzheimers too I'm afraid.   She went to bed at 2000 hrs.   (8pm for the non military). Then on my own until I could give the dogs their last pee and go to bed at ten pm.   Yes that's a long day and I was knackered by bed time.   But if you want to do it badly enough then that's what you have got to do.   Super morning.   Lovely sunrise.   Three hedgehogs ferretting around the truck in the early dawn.   Geese over head.   Several roe does seen.   Absolutely marvellous.   Had to set the alarm on my phone to make sure I actually got out of my chair to put the dogs to bed and go myself.   Got the next one booked already.   Just have to keep pushing.   It doesn't get any easier and that's for sure.   Sorry to hear of your arthritis Denny.   That is a murderous disease.   Wife has that too.   As I said earlier I have been lucky in that department.   Still fairly mobile.   Still I hope you have lots of lovely memories and no one or thing ever takes them away.   May good luck follow you always.   

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, 7daysinaweek said:

Well said marsh man.  👍

THANKS 

 

41 minutes ago, mossy835 said:

well MM your doing very well.

By the sound of it mossy, health wise you are not doing to bad yourself , they say , hard work never hurt you , but being a brick layer most of my working life take it's toll , it might not hurt you but it certainly wear you out.

Apart from my back I am reasonably fit and touch wood have never spent a night in hospital , to help me pick the decoys up I use a long litter picker which is worth it's weight in gold , well not quite but you know what I mean , I now let my dog pick up each Pigeon as I shoot them and they go in a sack to stop the flies going on them and easy to pick up when the day is finished .

There isn't now much point in saying what you could used to do , it is what you can still do now and there is normally a way round things that you think you can't do , I don't worry about what I haven't got , all it means is about making more use of the parts that you still have in use 

 

[worrall26]

On 07/05/2022 at 19:40, pigeon controller said:

I’m 74 in a couple of weeks and hope to keep going as long as I can, a Carp Trolley helped with the weights and distances over the winter when I could not drive the land. The next day required a complete rest day to recover but I do still enjoy it to the full.

Denny look after yourself and keep on the forum as your input is very valid and appreciated, you can always comment on where we are going wrong!!

Yes agree. Keep going if you can. 

There comes a time though.

Keep posting with your knowledge.

 

[pigeon controller]

10 hours ago, Grandalf said:

I'm knocking on the door of 83.   (This June).   Can't do what I used to do but I'll keep trying.   I get out for a gentle bit of fowling, foxing and stalking - mostly from high seats these days.   But I get there.   It takes longer.   I have to get up earlier.   I have to work out my moves in advance.   No good shooting a deer with a mile drag if I can't get the Landy there.   That sort of thing.   The landy is a mibile high seat.   Heavily modified to suit me.   Also I have lost half the sight in my right eye so I now have to shoot left handed.   Rifle is ok but the shotgun is a bit hit and miss.   Well a lot of miss to be exact.   But I get out there.   That's the main thing.   I know that if I have to give it up then I will never be able to start it again.   So far I am clear of arthritis and similar ailments.   Last Friday morning - For example.   Relief carer for my wife stayed overnight so reveille for me and my dog was at 0300 hrs.   Woke at 0250 after going to bed at 7pm.  (I sleep well anytime).   Away by 0330.   At the permission at 0350.   Roof hatch off landrover and gun set up etc.   Drive into position on the ride in one of the woods.   1 munty at 0510 and another at 0720.   Packed up at 0800.   Gralloch x two.   Home by 0930 for breakfast.   Out for the day with my dog.   Went to the coast for a walk and fish and chips for lunch.   Relief carer departed at  1700 hrs.   I then have to take over looking after my disabled wife - Alzheimers too I'm afraid.   She went to bed at 2000 hrs.   (8pm for the non military). Then on my own until I could give the dogs their last pee and go to bed at ten pm.   Yes that's a long day and I was knackered by bed time.   But if you want to do it badly enough then that's what you have got to do.   Super morning.   Lovely sunrise.   Three hedgehogs ferretting around the truck in the early dawn.   Geese over head.   Several roe does seen.   Absolutely marvellous.   Had to set the alarm on my phone to make sure I actually got out of my chair to put the dogs to bed and go myself.   Got the next one booked already.   Just have to keep pushing.   It doesn't get any easier and that's for sure.   Sorry to hear of your arthritis Denny.   That is a murderous disease.   Wife has that too.   As I said earlier I have been lucky in that department.   Still fairly mobile.   Still I hope you have lots of lovely memories and no one or thing ever takes them away.   May good luck follow you always.   

That’s an inspiration to us all and long may you keep going, well done.

[deny essex]

On 07/05/2022 at 09:11, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, sorry to hear this deny , getting old myself now but can get about still, keep on PW as your posts are always interesting, , 👍

Have done that so many times  to no avail.  its the walking , lower back down ,

[oldypigeonpopper]

2 minutes ago, deny essex said:

Have done that so many times  to no avail.  its the walking , lower back down ,

Hello, I'm getting the same , mine was a work accident in the 1980s, I don't do much decoying but most times I can drive around the fields, set up and hide the motor, to me now it's all about getting out to the countryside, now living in a town 🤔🙄

[deny essex]

Thanks for all your replies lads, some encouraging thoughts in them , but years of walking Essex sticky clay ground I think has taken its toll from toes to hips n spine.

I will be moving my kit on and with so much of it taking up cupboard and shed space (she says) I will make up a small kit (hopefully) for a local youngster to take my place.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

24 minutes ago, deny essex said:

Thanks for all your replies lads, some encouraging thoughts in them , but years of walking Essex sticky clay ground I think has taken its toll from toes to hips n spine.

I will be moving my kit on and with so much of it taking up cupboard and shed space (she says) I will make up a small kit (hopefully) for a local youngster to take my place.

Good on you!  

[Grandalf]

2 hours ago, pigeon controller said:

That’s an inspiration to us all and long may you keep going, well done.

 

I will PC.   I never asked to become a carer.   It just happened.   Life is like that.   But having your leisure time suddenly restricted makes you enjoy what you do get.

[ditchman]

2 hours ago, Grandalf said:

 

I will PC.   I never asked to become a carer.   It just happened.   Life is like that.   But having your leisure time suddenly restricted makes you enjoy what you do get.

the govt really dont understand what it is like to be a carer.....it saves them hundreds of thousand s of pounds / person...but they dont care.....idid it for 13 years and it destroyed me physically and mentally...eventually she died at xmas...and that was that...all that was left was a mess ..me....

life is so unfair.......im sort of getting my life back together..but its not the same

[Grandalf]

3 hours ago, ditchman said:

the govt really dont understand what it is like to be a carer.....it saves them hundreds of thousand s of pounds / person...but they dont care.....idid it for 13 years and it destroyed me physically and mentally...eventually she died at xmas...and that was that...all that was left was a mess ..me....

life is so unfair.......im sort of getting my life back together..but its not the same

I think I know how you feel about it Ditchman.   I have now been playing the game for nearly ten years.   The novelty wears off.   What started off as a marriage with close attachment in both directions has now come down to a patient and nurse situation.   Alzheimers has taken away her memory so we have very little to talk about.   Not a pleasant situation to find yourself in when you should be enjoying your retirement and old age.   Don't get me wound up about the government...   Look after yourself mate - You have earned quite a lot of being selfish time without any feeling of guilt.   Just do whatever makes you feel happier.

Edited May 9, 2022 by Grandalf

[Morkin]

Sorry you have to give up Deny , but this forum gives me lots of enjoyment when I can't get out so like you say I hope it does the same for you , take care mate and sit back in the chair and let the old mind think of them good old days you had out . All the best👍👍

[WalkedUp]

Good reads but sad you boys can’t get out. Should try to find young local lads in your area to do the grunt work and share your permissions under supervision. Win win hopefully. I’m neither young or in your area so not angling for an invite 🤣