A little depressed, overwhelmed, questioning elk hunting future

[pianoman9701]

Yeah, Grit, the money is secondary to my wife's hurting. I know what you mean there. Handy? Oh yeah. I've changed light bulbs in both the house and autos! And am a master at construction. I built a raised flower bed using angle irons and wood screws this year. Quality stuff, man!  No, not much for being very handy I'm afraid.

Ok lol. Well if you need something done around the house, if I can't be there to help you I'll totally try to walk you thru it. Seriously, just hit me up.
Look into Uber then. Seems like the perfect balance of side $ and flexible hours. Only problem is the pianoman would have to report it to the tax man!

Not to mention having to buy a new car.

[syoungs]

Sounds like a bad year for sure  hopefully things turn around.

I have a CPAP as well ii run it off my trucks batteries, with either a inverter, or a 12vdc cable I bought from the manufacture, that plugs into my lighter.

I don't have a serious elk camp just yet. But your more then willing to join us in rimrock anytime!

[WildBear]

It's a tough year for sure. Seams as though your doing what you can takin' it all head on. Keep pushin' through it with your chin high! Surely there's a camp to join. Being out in the woods is just down right good for a person! Best wishes!

[Karl Blanchard]

There is no other option in lif but grinding it out.  It does a man no good to stress about things that may or may not happen.  Tackle the day ahead of you, give it everything you have, then wake up and do it again.  Like has been said before, you have lots of elk seasons ahead of you, so worry about them as they come.  Your struggles will eventually become memories so keep stepping my friend.  My offer of game meat still stands as well.  We are all here for you brother

[pianoman9701]

There shouldn't be any health insurance plans that result in $40k out of pocket.  Unless a lot of that was for things that just aren't covered at all.  I'd suggest you look carefully at your plan and see what you put back on the insurance company.

I hear you on the difficulty in missing hunting seasons.  Last year I had a hall pass for deer season that I couldn't use when I needed hernia surgery.  Wrote off all of the 2011 season due to the birth of kid #3 in the middle of deer hunting season.  SWMBO requested demanded about that same time that I pick one species to hunt as I was gone too much otherwise.  I chose elk, which means I haven't hunted deer since then. 

But, now my oldest kid is old enough to go hunting, and the second kid is getting close to old enough.  So deer hunting is coming back into the realm of the possible. 

Point being is, get through this current tough time, get you and your wife healed up and healthy, and you'll get out hunting again.  60 is not too old to find a new hunting partner.  Enjoy the disabled hunts with your long time hunting partner, and start looking for other guys you can convince to go out with you.

My elk hunting partner snores really bad.  It was miserable trying to sleep until he got a CPAP.  Now, no worries.  Where we hunt he can plug it in to the cabin wall for power.  If you can't find a place to camp with power, if you're able to bring a generator, you could also bring several 12V car batteries instead of the generator.  If the CPAP runs on 12VDC you can wire it directly to the battery, if it requires 110VAC just use an inverter.  Rig up a solar charger to recharge the batteries if you need more battery life than the number of batteries you can bring would otherwise allow (assuming it's sunny enough to be effective).  That would eliminate the noise problem.

Premium - $1/Mo. - 12,000.00
Meds (no coverage) - $600/mo total - 7,200.00
Deductible is 12,700.00 + 20% of everything thereafter or 50% non-network
$10,000 out of pocket for the hip, $6,000 out of pocket for cellulitis back in March in Maine (non-network with no network providers in ME, so half of the bills didn't count toward the deductible).
$3,000 out of pocket so far for the wife

It'll be over $40K when we're done. Obamacare's not really working for us.

I appreciate the encouragement and the info on the CPAP power. We've been using an RV with an internal generator and that's been working fine but it's no longer available to us, so I have to use an outside one which is louder. It just means digging a hole away from camp for it and insulating, then walking out into the woods each night to start it. No great but works.

[pianoman9701]

Now is not the time to make any decisions on your hunting future.

Focus on your rehab and dealing with your wife's health.

After your hip is doing betting and your wife has stabilized and you have a plan for dealing with that things will be clearer about what your hunting future holds.

Good advice. Thanks.

[pianoman9701]

Keep pushing buddy , the best day of work isn't as good as the worst day of elk hunting . positive energy is your best cure ! in the worst case with a loss of vision the sounds of elk woods can be amazing . I'm truly hoping for a full recovery for both of you . Corey

I believe you have intimate knowledge of fungi, is that right?

I don't know about others, but I would pay good money for a book or an e-book that was highly specific to the various WA specific edibles available in the backcountry, what to look out for, regions, times, etc.  The problems with other resources is that they always seem to be not very accessible regarding how to apply the information to WA, in particular.

And fungi are scary to me, given their possible side effects if you get it wrong.

With speech to text software, self-publishing, and the availability of public domain information, you could probably cobble something together pretty decent, assuming I am right about your background.  You could probably even get Hunt-WA guys to submit photos from the back country and/or provide notes on region and timing to help out.

Just an idea.

Interesting Idea. Thanks.

[pianoman9701]

Sounds like a bad year for sure  hopefully things turn around.

I have a CPAP as well ii run it off my trucks batteries, with either a inverter, or a 12vdc cable I bought from the manufacture, that plugs into my lighter.

I don't have a serious elk camp just yet. But your more then willing to join us in rimrock anytime!

It doesn't drain the truck battery overnight? Thanks for the partner offer. I will probably be taking up someone on one of these. I appreciate it so much.

[pianoman9701]

There is no other option in lif but grinding it out.  It does a man no good to stress about things that may or may not happen.  Tackle the day ahead of you, give it everything you have, then wake up and do it again.  Like has been said before, you have lots of elk seasons ahead of you, so worry about them as they come.  Your struggles will eventually become memories so keep stepping my friend.  My offer of game meat still stands as well.  We are all here for you brother

I know, Karl, and that's why I put it out there for all to see. I appreciate the encouragement, especially from someone who's no stranger to adversity.  Thank you.

[pianoman9701]

GET BACK ON THAT HORSE AND RIDE THE SOB!!!  Your welcome in my camp anytime anywhere!

After my two point mess I damn near quit hunting! 2 turkeys, 1 bull, 1 buck with my bow! Thank god I didnt give up... 

Keep charging my friend, its life..   Sounds like your at bottom so the only way to go is up...   Do not give up!

GETSUM

I made up the whole story just to get to hunt with you RT. Sold!  Just kidding but it would be an honor to share a camp with such a great hunter as you, even if you are a squid.  Thank you from the Dogface Medic.

[sumpnz]

Wasn't figuring on including premiums but ouch.  Obummercare does suck monkey balls.  I have an employer sponsored plan, and tore through the large deductible even before the hernia surgery.  That was bad enough.

[pianoman9701]

Wasn't figuring on including premiums but ouch.  Obummercare does suck monkey balls.  I have an employer sponsored plan, and tore through the large deductible even before the hernia surgery.  That was bad enough.

Yeah, that healthcare should cost me 60% of my take home pay and someone who doesn't work gets it for free - something's wrong.

[pianoman9701]

Anyway, I so appreciate all of the moral support from you guys. I needed that shot in the arm. It's really helped already. I just got a call from fishnmike because he was concerned. Mike took my daughter and me out on the Snake a couple of years ago when she was going through a bad spell and helped us both. This is why I come to you guys. I always feel uplifted by your kicks in the butt and your hand outreached with help.

[elkfins]

The last thing you should do is give up on something you love because other, non-related life circumstances have you down.  I have found that things have a way of working out as long as I don't give up.
I like to think that I'll be hunting till the day I die... even if I can't spend the full season in the woods or even walk.  Where there's a will, there's a way.  Adapt, overcome and get it done.

[elkboy]

Don't give up, Piano!  We're here for you!  You and your wife will be in my thoughts and prayers for sure.  Let me know if I can do anything. 

As for future hunting, don't make any big decisions now.  Handle the health issues, and the woods and waters will be waiting for you in the future!