Im only 46...but I have also reached a point that I no longer have as much blood lust as I used to have. There was a time when I lived by the silly mantra if it flies it dies. Obviously I still enjoy hunting. Ive just become pretty selective about it. Hunting company included. If I cant enjoy the company of hunting partners, I dont want them around. Its about the experience for me nowadays.
Theres things I just wont pull a trigger on....swans, sandhill cranes, birds on the water, birds on the road, birds that are out of range, hens....theres more stuff, but I think that covers most of it.
The absolute worst is wounding game. I dont care what the species is. I hate it. I hate having to deliver a coup de gras, or having an injured animal crawl or fly off to die in agony. It never really bothered me before....but these days it does. I dont know why. I get pissed at myself for not delivering the decisive blow the first time. Sometimes its not my fault...the other day I took a pair a drake mallards at 15 yards, right in the landing zone...the steel shot went right through both of them and they writhed on the water for 5 minutes, they were both still alive when I got to them and I had to finish them off by hand. I hated every damn second of it.
