Bear Kodiak. 64 years old and still out in the woods making venison. #graylingmichigan #1957bearkodiak #traditionalbowhunting #bearrecurve https://www.instagram.com/p/CXP-j9FLazi/?utm_medium=tumblr

One time, a long time ago, I could’ve been filmed standing in this exact same spot. I had a dirty, freckled, smiling face and I would’ve been carrying a bow. I’ve spent more than 40 years in these exact woods. I grew up here. I lived in a time when there were no geese in the fields and certainly no moose or mule deer in the bush. I remember seeing my first moose on the property’s wetland when I was around 9 or 10 and my Dad called me a liar. There were no canada goose shoots here in the 70’s, just ducks. And for the first time ever this past fall, I had mule deer walk past my tree stand, on more than one occasion. I now hunt in trees within a woodlot that were once fields where my Father and Grandfather combined grain; and, I can recall the changes to the property throughout the years. Spruce trees that I planted in my 20’s are now 40 feet tall and big enough to hang a treestand in. All of this is to say that although I don’t think that I am all that old, I really am. Things that seem so constant and familiar, that haven’t changed a bit in all this time, certainly have. The woods around us are alive; and dead, in roughly a 50/50 mix overall. It’s good, and healthy, to think about how time passes every now and then and be grateful. . #traditionalbowhunter #tradlife #traditionalbowhunting #vintagearchery #bearrecurve #homeiswheretheheartis #farmlife (at Sturgeon County) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNdSKu_llx4/?igshid=j59ptvyj6tdz

Not sure how it’s possible for my shoulders to ache more than they did last fall when shooting...but they do. Maybe a doctor visit so he can tell me it is called getting old. Powering through to get ready for May. Actually, after all of these decades of shooting, it doesn’t take a lot of arrows anymore. Just tuning some muscle memory and making sure that nothing blows up (me, not the gear). I wish I could say what everyone else says...that it feels good to fling some arrows again. It doesn’t feel good, but it still makes me smile...after the grimace. . #traditionalbowhunting #traditionalbowhunter #vintagearchery #vintagearcheryequipment #bearrecurve #bearkodiak #1957bearkodiak #1950sbearkodiak #recurvehunting #archery #traditionalbowhuntingcanada #wildfoodmaking #foodafieldpodcast #bigbillarcheryjacket #merinowool #archerypractice #woodarrows #addictivearchery (at Alberta Prairies) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNN_bvWl652/?igshid=4x65kgpcauf6