© 2016 -2021 Copyright by P. K. H. Groth, Denver, Colorado, USA All rights reserved -
See contact page for for permission to republish article excerpts.
Hunter
Health
Poster
Child - Still Strong at 80 !
Keep In Shape for a Lifetime Like Paul! These
photos are of a 80 year-old archer friend who is in
amazing physical, mental and emotional condition.
His zeal and enthusiasm for outdoor life challenges
is unbounded. No grass grows under his butt. His
attention to physical condition allows him to go
hunting or fishing whenever there is an opportunity -
and he takes all of them - WITH GUSTO! Please,
become determined to enjoy a lifetime of health
when your read the following “Hunter Health and
Welfare” pages. Be able to join Paul and I in the “ 75+
Young Coots Hunt Club.”
Paul uses bows with great success. These are photos
of him hunting and fishing in the extremes of
backcountry wilderness and local “sweet spot” hunts.
This is his 2015 tally of hunt outings success. In
August, he felled an antelope and a nice mule deer
buck. He spent three solo weeks in the Flat Tops
Wilderness photographing, scouting game and
hunting alone where he bagged an elk with his trusty
bow. In turkey seasons, his long bow harvested three
toms. Five of six arrows released netted geese. Paul
got a nice 5 X 5 white tailed buck closing out his
seasons in November. Yes, his understanding and
charming wife permitted a new freezer. The there
were the fish stories. I imagine Paul revels in
preparing a year of game meals - and constantly
dreaming of the next scouting and hunt seasons.
(Photos by P. N.)
2021
Update:
Paul
is
not
eighty
years
old.
He
remains
a
very
active
hunter
in
Colorado
and
where
ever
he
wanders
to
hunt,
with
this
acronym
moniker
of
“hittheroad”.
He
got
his
13th
Flat
Tops
archery
elk
last
year,
AND
packed
it
out
as
this
photo
shows.
His
prowess
and
physical
abilities
earned
him
the
cover
story.
Paul
notched
his
100th
goose;
his wife reports they eat a lot of goose jerky.
Bow Hunters Reunion
We abhor going to camp grounds when the sheep
herder wagon can be located in remote places.
Trappers Lake on the northern boundary of the Flat
Tops does not permit outlying camping. In July 2014,
we pulled toward our favorite camp site there and
were hailed to a stop by a surprised grizzled face -
Paul! I met him three years previously along a trail
while we were independently bow hunting deer in a
different part of Colorado. Paul had tried to describe
our magical wagon just the night before to a friend,
who now stood dumbfounded in the road beside
Paul. Talk about serendipity meetings!
Paul is a very avid hunter and fisherman. He spent
most of his youth outside and learned the intimacies
of nature and animal habits. He learned to equate
observing nature with hard work to get deep hunting
knowledge. Paul is a past Board Member of the
Colorado Bow Hunter's Association. He and his wife
Trisha used to own and operate a Lodge on Grand
Lake. He is an alert, trim, 80 year old model of
personal vigor, stamina and outdoor excitability. He
is also my poster "boy" for retaining youth by
exercising in the backcountry. And he is an example
of what children can become if they are introduced
nature, outdoor challenges, and happy comraderie
at an early age.
By chance, Paul
and his wife had
the adjoining
camp site. Each
morning we
heard his truck
leave at early
dawn. He would
solo hike to
remote lakes and be home with his guaranteed limit
catch by two. If you have ever hiked up into the Flat
Tops from the valley bottom, you can appreciate that
Paul was in excellent physical and mental shape, in
spite of the past health problems all us old gents can
get.
The photographs
show Paul with
Paul’s Colorado
cutthroat and brook
trout catches. We
dined on some of
his cutthroats and
socialized in our
sheep wagon.
Hunters bond with their love of outdoors. Try it. PS -
Sometimes names are complete misnomers, like
Skinny Fish Lake. Fishermen and map makers can be
deviously misleading.