Growing up, we rarely think about the fact that as we are getting older, so are our parents. We can’t wait until we are old enough to drive a car, or old enough to move out of the house. As kids, we measure our lives based on what we can do at a certain age. Rarely do we stop to take the time to realize that while our lives are getting more exciting because of our age, our parents lives may be getting more restricted because of theirs. I was one of those kids who constantly set milestones for myself with each passing year.
When I was in high school, I remember setting a goal for myself to out-hike my dad. This may seem like a weird goal, but my dad is my hunting partner. We have spent a lot of time together in the field, and he always out-hiked me.
Ten years later, my dad is still out-hiking me, but not by as much as he used to. I first noticed this change during the fall of 2013 when I had drawn a bighorn sheep tag in Wyoming. We spent a total of 20 days in the field. Even though he beat me to the tops of the mountains every day, I noticed that he was getting slower and taking more breaks than usual. I never really put much thought into what this could mean until this last fall when my father went on his dream hunt -mountain goat hunting in Wyoming
On past hunts, either we both had a tag or I had a tag myself. This was the first time that we were pursuing an animal only for him. While we were in the field, I was just as, if not a little more excited, nervous, and anxious as I had been when I had been the one with the tag. Being there alongside my father, pursuing an animal that for the last 33 years he has been applying for, changed my feelings about hunting with my father.
I remember him telling a friend once that you never truly understand the meaning of hunting until you have taken one of your kids. He had said, “There’s just something about going hunting with your kid, I can’t describe it but it changes you”. I never really understood what he meant until I accompanied him on his mountain goat hunt.
This last year was one of my most memorable hunting seasons and I never even fired my rifle. Being alongside my dad, while he was still young and in good enough shape to pursue an animal that lives in some of the roughest country in Wyoming, made me realize that I need to take advantage of hunting with my father every chance I get. I am no longer looking forward to the day that I can out-hike my dad, because when that day comes, it will mean that we will no longer be able to pursue animals in the backcountry of Wyoming together.
Breanne Thiel 
Awesome article. Great writing. Good to see people enjoying the outdoors for what it is. Keep it up
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank You!!
LikeLike
I truly understand how you feel. My Dad first took me deer hunting when I was 12. We both were green as grass and I’m sure early on I was more of a hassle , or so it seems in hind sight, than anything. As time went on not only did we grow as hunters but our relationship grew as well. I remember the long drives home where we would often argue during my teen years about music or whatever radical concept I had bombarded him with. But the transformation over the years from boy to man is now crystal clear to me. I am now 40 and he’s 73. I find myself in a role reversal now with him when we hunt and while it is sad sometimes when I think about it, I also cherish it a feel privelaged that I have the opportunity to help him along in his twilight years and I cherish every moment. Now it all about the hunt, the laughter, and and the reminiscing about days past that I will always hold dear to my heart. Thank you God for blessing me with such a wonderful opportunity to share this journey with such an awesome man! Cherish your father and continue to make many more memories! Thanks for sharing! Remember, while his steps may grow slower and weaker yours will become stronger and faster. Time for us to carry the load.
LikeLike
Thank you Taylor! I enjoyed reading about your time spent hunting with your father. I really enjoyed your comment about music. When we are going hunting, my father won’t turn on the radio. Growing up, I would turn it on, but my dad would just turn it off a few minutes later. My dad doesn’t hear very good, so conversations in the car are not productive. About three ago my brother rode with my dad to come hunt me. The trip was about 6 hours one way. When they arrived my brother asked me if I had ever ridden that long without the radio or any kind of music. I just laughed and said yes. Thats normal I told him, and also said “But on the way back there will be music, but it’ll be nothing but Chris LeDoux.” When I was younger I thought the silence was awkward, but today I enjoy it. It is a part of the experience. And for several years growing up, I bought Chris LeDoux CDs for him for fathers day so the next fall I would have a different mixture of his songs to listen to. And today, when I am not with my dad and I hear certain Chris LeDoux songs, I’m brought back to coming back from a hunting trip with my dad. I am glad that you enjoyed the piece and thank you for telling me your dads age. That gives me a lot of hope that I have several years of hunting left with my father as he just turned 50. And thank you for your last two sentences. Those two sentences made me think of my dad’s response to this piece, which was, “I am not getting slower, you are getting faster.” 🙂 Thank you again!
LikeLike