what to do? Can't hunt anymore

[ID_shooting]

Sorry, this is going to be a bit of a rant but there is also feedback requested.

The last month or so the knee I injured in the Army has been getting more and more painfull. It is now to the point that I can not even get out of a chair or walk down the hall without cringing in severe pain. The doctors at the VA say there is nothing they can do except dope me up more. They say is part of my injury and will only get worse with age. Stupid VA! I am seeking a second opinion, but am not too opticmistic.

Anyway, now I feel I may be facing a dilema, I have several guns that are for hunting only. My 12, 20 and 410 ga shotguns and my Win 30-06 and 30-30 to name a few. If you knew your hunting days were over, would you keep the guns and give em to your kids or younger family members or would you sell them and get more recreational type guns?

 

[keyhole]

Not stop is one thought. I know of several hunters, who cannot get around,and hunt either on a 4 wheeler, or wheelchair. Just because you can't walk, doesn't mean that you have to stop.
I heard of one hunter who was shooting rabbits from his car, and the game warden stopped him, and started to write him a ticket. He showed him his diabled hunting license, and the warden just walked off. Wouldn't even go retrieve the rabbit for him!
Good luck.

jmho

 

[pax]

Don't admit your hunting days are over, unless you want to do that.

Instead, get yourself a disabled access hunting permit, which will allow you to hunt from the truck, and take some youngsters along with you to do the grunt work. You can teach them how to hunt and they can drag your deer for you.

Or invest in an ATV and a tree stand. Again, with some buddies to do the grunt work.

But maybe you really are ready to admit it's all over. In which case, hold onto the guns to pass along to your kids -- they'll thank you for it. And if they don't, there should be grandkids or nieces/nephews or close friends' kids who would. The young folks are the future of RKBA in this country, after all! So I'd hold them and pass them along when it's appropriate to do so. Of course, that's assuming that you already have a decent carry gun, and at least a couple of range toys.

pax

 

[V4Vendetta]

My dad is in the same boat as you. He was very tough & active in his youth. Now his back is in horrible shape. The cartilage that's supposed to be in his spine isn't there anymore. It's just bone rubbing against bone. He doesn't shoot but he did like to ride horses which he can't do now without intense pain. I'd reccomend a .22LR for plinking. I've never been hunting anything except empty 12oz cans. If you want, I'll give you the name & number of my dad's doctor. He's very smart. Just PM me & I'll get you the name, number & address. He is in NC though.

 

[Navy joe]

Don't sell the guns, Don't give up hunting, get a real doc. I think that once you give up what you love, what is the point of life? Now granted, my dad has what some would term an under developed pain receptor or two in the brain, but he has gotten around for 20 years on a 3 piece kneecap because he wouldn't accept being away from what he wanted to do for the length of time surgery and healing would take. Of course what he loved to do was what got his knee broke, that's another story. He walked for a year or two without bending his knee. Try to find a way to get out there, even if it means hunting from the truck.

 

[Taurus 66]

If I had a knee injury and it was 'tryin'' to prevent me from ever hunting again, Heh heh heh ell NO! I would not give in. If I wanted to go hunting and the doctors couldn't do any more for me other than turn me into a junky and dull my senses with dope, I'd take matters into my own hands, beginning with making my own leg cast and isolating the knee. The joint is painful only when it has a free range of movement. ' Keep it from moving and just learn to walk with a bit of a limp - a slight handicap, but eventually I'd overcome it.

 

[Ares45]

Don't sell the guns, Don't give up hunting, get a real doc.

I'm thinking along the same lines. Hang on to the guns, maybe a yougster will enjoy them in the future. I've got a buddy who was severly injured in a car wreck a decade ago. Shortly after the accident the doctors told him he'd never walk again. I spent a week last October with him, walking corn fields in SD hunting pheasants. Seek a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th opinion.

 

[ID_shooting]

I allready have a disabled hunting permit, problem is, there is no access, the forrest service roads are all locked suring hunting season and I can not get in with even my ATV. As for upland game, no access for that, all the state land is walk in only. I have had the permit for 5 years, I have yet to use it on anything but squirrels.

I will probably still road hunt for deer and such, but I know I will no longer be pushing corn fields for roosters or humping up and down hillsides for chuckars. Mayby the occasional quail or dove hunt, but not much more

 

[AJ Dual]

Sorry, this is going to be a bit of a rant but there is also feedback requested.

The last month or so the knee I injured in the Army has been getting more and more painfull. It is now to the point that I can not even get out of a chair or walk down the hall without cringing in severe pain. The doctors at the VA say there is nothing they can do except dope me up more. They say is part of my injury and will only get worse with age. Stupid VA! I am seeking a second opinion, but am not too opticmistic.

I think you've got some reason right there to be a bit more optimistic.

I obviously have no idea exactly what kind of knee injury you've sustained, or how long you've suffered with it.

There are "good VA's" and "bad VA's" across the nation, but as compared to the rest of the private medical system, they ALL seem to still have this 1800's "Here's a leather belt for you to bite on" Civil War battlefield surgeon mentality, to some degree or another.

If you've got private insurance, or medicare + supplimental, I'd only go to the VA for stuff like getting Rx's refilled. There is so much they can do with knee and joint surgery these days. Laproscopic surgery, tendon re-threading, all the CAT and MRI stuff they can do... Up to and including a knee replacment. (Obviously a last resort.)

Has the VA done any of that? Dye injection contrast enhanced X-rays? Physical therapy?

It sounds like they've just said "Yep, it's busted, here's some pain pills." Which wouldn't surprise me.

 

[exoduster18]

No one ever said that you couldn't shoot sitting down. Keep the guns unless you feel that the youngsters will enjoy them more. We always need new youngsters to help replace the fallen/eldest people in our sport.

 

[22-rimfire]

Knee Replacement surgery; Done all the time. The VA probably doesn't perform that surgery, at least not years after an injury. I would certainly get other opinions on the knee and what effects the injury is likely to have in the future.

 

[HankB]

. . . there is no access, the forrest service roads are all locked suring hunting season and I can not get in with even my ATV. As for upland game, no access for that, all the state land is walk in only.

I can't believe I'm going to write this, but have you considered calling the ACLU? Maybe, just maybe, the Americans with Disabilities Act is being violated here.

And by all means, look for a second - or even third or fourth - opinion on your knee. I'm no doctor, but I've met a number of people who have had MASSIVE amounts of knee surgery done - it's hard to believe there's "nothing they can do" for you.

 

[ID_shooting]

A little history, This is the knee that put me out of the Army, the condition is Chondromalacia induced by trauma in a truck crash. It has been scoped but in the infinite wisdom of the Army, it was right back to full blown PT as soon as my profile expired, that put me right back into the hospital and scoped again, this time I got a permanent profile and sent home on a disability, over 10 years ago.

 

[oldfart]

I had to retire when my knees gave out so it followed that I wouldn't be able to do much walking around in rough terrain. I found other ways to enjoy my guns and hunting. For one thing, I scoped out places where I could see wide areas without moving around. Some shots were pretty long but it just made me more careful.
After awhile other things reduced my hunting abilities until I finally just gave it up. Now I enjoy long-range target shooting. As a young man I thought all those old fogies that shot at paper were just putting off the inevitable as long as they could. Now that I'm staring down the bore at 'the inevitable', I find that poking holes in paper is a whole lot more demanding than I thought.
We all change. Sometimes it's a natural change and we hardly notice it. Other times it's forced on us and we find ourselves in the position of having to make a sudden decision. It sounds like you might be there. My advice: Don't make a decision now. It isn't like your guns will whither away if you don't use them and you just might find a way to use them even if you can't walk as well as you'd like.
My wife's pastor was an avid hunter and fisherman until he had a car accident that screwed up his back. After numerous surgeries he is just barely able to walk and then only with great pain. I once asked him why he lives in an upstairs apartment when a ground-floor arrangement would make life so much easier. He said he had to either "use it or lose it" so he climbs the stairs several times a day. And he still shoots, though only at ranges with trolley-type target carriers.

 

[pete f]

Get a second opinion

Find a really good athletic medicine clinic and bring him there. What the VA doc is telling you may not be the latest. I just went sking with two friends who are EX NFL players and both had knee replacements in sept and were able to ski by christmas. Both say they would have done it years ago as the pain is GONE> The advances in replacement prosthetics and techniques are out of this world I know it is is a bit bit of a d rive but VAIL has one of the best knee places inthe world (that is why Kobe was there) ask around and find out who works on skiers in your area. I think Picabo had her work done in Boise.

re selling or keeping. i might sell one or two now and then but only in the pursuit of something better. I might sell a mossy or express pump but only in the plan of using that to finance another RKLT superposed or 71 delux

If i started to sell off my guns, my kids would do like the eskimos and leave me out in the snow as i would have clearly lost my mind...

 

[beaucoup ammo]

Regardless, Save The Guns

You've enjoyed years of hunting with these, ID.. and, IMO, they should stay in the family so other members (generations) can use the same ones "Gramps" did.

As for the physical act of hunting, I can relate. I've pretty well resigned myself to the occasional dove hunt (sitting and shooting is no problem..have a dog or some buds along to retrieve) and deer hunting is doable from a blind.

If you WANT to keep hunting..you probably can (I'm not in your shoes, so I can only speak for myself) with some cut backs in frequency and types of trips.

Hang in there and best of luck!

 

[md2lgyk]

Knee Replacement surgery; Done all the time. The VA probably doesn't perform that surgery, at least not years after an injury. I would certainly get other opinions on the knee and what effects the injury is likely to have in the future.

I second that. My father-in-law recently had one of his knees replaced. His only comment was that he should've done it years ago.

 

[f4t9r]

to many options to give up and do not sell the guns

 

[Nicky Santoro]

Find a good GP then get a referral to a good orthopedic surgeon. My experience with the VA was not stellar either.

 

[Lobotomy Boy]

My mother-in-law has been on several wilderness trips through Africa after having both hips and a knee replaced. She's gone parasailing, ridden an elephant, and hiked through the rainforest by Victoria Falls, all done using a pile of stainless-steel parts. If this is an option, it beats quitting hunting.

I have a bit more severe a problem. I have a disintegrating ankle. I shattered my tallar dome about three years ago and it's now held together by five pins. I have limited mobility, severe arthritis, and bone spurs, yet I continue to hunt as much as possible. Sometimes I have trouble getting through thick underbrush and over deadfall, but mostly I just eat a lot of ibuprofin and suck it up.

Until recently my options were to either fuse the ankle when the pain became too severe or amputate my foot and get a prosthetic, but now there has been some good results with ankle transplants from cadavers. So far the joint is far too complex for an artificial ankle. I found out about the transplant option via my own research. Had I just taken my doctor's word, I'd have a fused ankle by now and would probably be considering giving up hunting myself. The moral of the story? Always get a second opinion.

 

[bakert]

Anther "old fart" here. Had to retire early due hip joint replacement and a left leg that had atrophied to about 2/3 the size of the other plus flattened disks in my back. Also I have severe COPD. An occasional squirrel or dove hunt is it nowadays. Walk pretty well on level ground but have trouble wtith those hills and hollers. Use a cane or walking stick if I'm going to be on my feet for a good while. Like the other OLD FART I punch a lot of holes in paper. Procedures for joint replacement have really improved since 10 yrs ago when I had mine done. Don't give up. Hell, it took a number of doctors and almost a year to find exactly what my problem was.

 

[PlayboyPenguin]

Sorry, this is going to be a bit of a rant but there is also feedback requested.

The last month or so the knee I injured in the Army has been getting more and more painfull. It is now to the point that I can not even get out of a chair or walk down the hall without cringing in severe pain. The doctors at the VA say there is nothing they can do except dope me up more. They say is part of my injury and will only get worse with age. Stupid VA! I am seeking a second opinion, but am not too opticmistic.

Anyway, now I feel I may be facing a dilema, I have several guns that are for hunting only. My 12, 20 and 410 ga shotguns and my Win 30-06 and 30-30 to name a few. If you knew your hunting days were over, would you keep the guns and give em to your kids or younger family members or would you sell them and get more recreational type guns?

Is knee replacement an option in the future? Would hate to see you get rid of the guns then be mobile again. I also have knee problems due to a motorcycle accident that the ARMY made worse. I am considering a replacement knee.

 

[Ala Dan]

Well, I Don't Hunt But-

I haven't stopped shooting (or buying) handguns. I was seriously injured in
a motor vechile accident back in March of '98. I thought life was over as I
knew it, due to a broken neck. Then I realized that I was blessed,
just too be alive, and able too walk and talk; things we take for granted.
I even have a PT job, something else I'm thankful for. This near death
experience is really what got me into the firearms business. As long as
the Good Lord lets me stand, walk, and talk I can't see myself rolling
over and quitting. Yes, the pain is tremendous and I have good days
mixed in with very bad days. Sometimes, it even hurts to lift a weapon
shoulder high; but I haven't stopped shooting due to the injury. So, in
closing "don't give up the ship"; hang in there and teach others the
enjoyment that we all share~!

 

[TallPine]

Never give up .....

 

[PinnedAndRecessed]

Sorry, this is going to be a bit of a rant but there is also feedback requested.

The last month or so the knee I injured in the Army has been getting more and more painfull. It is now to the point that I can not even get out of a chair or walk down the hall without cringing in severe pain. The doctors at the VA say there is nothing they can do except dope me up more. They say is part of my injury and will only get worse with age. Stupid VA! I am seeking a second opinion, but am not too opticmistic.

Anyway, now I feel I may be facing a dilema, I have several guns that are for hunting only. My 12, 20 and 410 ga shotguns and my Win 30-06 and 30-30 to name a few. If you knew your hunting days were over, would you keep the guns and give em to your kids or younger family members or would you sell them and get more recreational type guns?

Have you consulted an orthopedist about knee replacement surgery?