I got close, but I am not entirely ready to go yet, and up here in AK I really don't want to take the first big step out being less than 100%.

So I will spend the next year and more $ investing in gear, recon, stamina, and networking. One thing I got worked out, I have recruited a couple naïve young men (a co-worker and my son in law) who are all gung ho but broke. I have the income to pay for what they can't, so it makes a good combination. Also, I have lots of practice dressing animals, them not so much. So I can cut the animal down, and their strong backs can pack it out. Ah, those were the days, long before my knees and lumbar started to complain.

Meanwhile, I put up 36 pints of ground beef today. Next weekend I will work on chicken breast, and this fall I will be putting up beef stew, corned beef hash, chili, and Turkey soup. If by chance someone is willing to share their game with me, I might put some of that in jars as well. You never know.

God, I love it up here. The wife and I can hardly wait for the snow to come again. We do enjoy the holidays.

Nice! What do you plan to hunt? I've long dreamed of getting the chance to hike, camp, hunt and fish in Alaska.

Ben, if I may make a suggestion. Stamina and skeleton (knees) will both be helped if you totally give up the tobacco. (I assume that's what I see in your avatar.) Smoking drives up the amount of carbon monoxide in your blood. That binds more or less permanently to hemoglobin in the red blood cells, rendering those blood cells incapable of carrying oxygen to the tissues. Bone is living tissue and has to have oxygen; but it's not as well vascularized as other tissues in the body. Blood with incapacitated RBC's can't deliver as much oxygen to your tissues. So cutting out the tobacco will make a difference in your stamina and post exercise recovery as well.

I might have a chance at some waterfowl here this year. Next year I would like to plan a moose hunt and maybe some caribou. There's all sorts of small game up here, like grouse, ptarmigan, squirrel, and various varmints and furbearers. Next year I will be able to get my resident license, and my tags will be a lot cheaper as well. There might be a chance at a local black bear hunt, but that will just depend on what opportunity comes up.

I got up here taking a job that was supposed to be a bit of a step down from my regular work. Funny how when folks find out what you can do they keep asking for more. Now I have to come in two weekends a month to meet deadlines, and that is going to end next February, one way or another. I am averaging about 60 hours a week, and I have done that too much of my life. Now that I am here and my kids are grown, I don't need to keep pushing such a big rock anymore.

My real vice is good eating. I smoke on average one cigar or a pipeful of tobacco about once every couple months. I gave up smoking cigarettes about 23 years ago. My guts can't take tobacco or hard liquor anyhow. I enjoy a beer every couple weeks, but I like to eat, and up till about 3 years ago that wasn't such a problem. But 50 years of hard playing are catching up to me. I've broke bones in my feet and hands that have never healed up proper, and I am looking at MANDATORY neck surgery before too long. I asked the doctor when I would have to have it, and he gave me a flat look and said "You will know when it is time". That wasn't too comforting. For most of last year I was taking massive anti-inflammatory doses, and at one point they put me on fentanyl patchs. Those laid me out on a slab so bad I quit after the 2nd one.

I try to manage the pain nowadays using ergonomics, and paying attention to the warning signs. The nsaids are bad ju ju on the stomach and the heart. When things get wonky it is 3 or 4 nights of limited sleep while I sit erect in a chair with my head in a neutral position.

I enjoy a good chew on the trail sometimes. I use Smoky mountain tobaccoless chew, usually in wintergreen packets, though occasionally their tea leaf I think is close to Copenhagen in flavor. Sometimes I can enjoy that flavor, sometimes it turns my stomach.

I tore the inner meniscus in my right knee a couple years ago, bad enough that it hasn't really healed up. I suspect because I haven't treated it properly it hasn't healed right. The doc said it was a moderate tear.

Then there's the osteoarthritis in my hands. Every year it aches a little more. When they get real cold, I tell people it feels like an ice cream headache in my hands. They get stiff in the mornings sometimes.

So with all that I've had to cut back on the physical stuff a bit, and unfortunately my appetite is still healthy. So I have packed on a few more pounds than I would care for. 30 lbs in fact. That is not a good thing to take with you into the bush for a hunt, though it might have a few benefits in a survival situation.

So I am going to work on that. I may get that knee looked at again and see if they can do anything with that. The neck and the feet and hands will just have to find a way to deal with I guess. The arthritis is already starting to mess up my shooting a bit.

Sorry to hear of your arthritis and other problems. One thing both I and my son have found useful is supplements of omega-3 fatty acids; the kind found in fatty fish like salmon and tuna, and vegetable sources like flaxseed. I have "arthritic changes" in both hands and I've found 4 grams of fish-oil supplements and a couple of tablespoons of milled flaxseed daily help the pain and stiffness quite a bit. My son has knee and shoulder problems related to high-school football and he relies on 6 grams of fish-oil daily. As far as I know, the most worrisome side effect to watch for is bleeding under the skin. That's a sign you're getting too much and need to back off some. Also it's wise to stop taking the supplements two weeks or so before scheduled surgery. fish-oil has a marked effect on blood platelets, making them less reactive so you may not heal as quickly after an operation. I had a small carcinoma taken from my chest a couple years ago and when the dermatologist removed the stitches, the wound opened. She was quite shaken. Next time I had scheduled surgery I stopped the fish-oil 2 weeks before and healed normally.

We mourn with you the passing of your youth, colleague: you have paid the price of an active life, and of insisting upon walking on your hind legs. Now is the time to pass along accumulated wisdom to younger fellows, known in some settings as mentoring; in others, as hazing.

Pain related to spinal issues is tough, but you have borne it well. Beware the transition to numbness in the affected part: I failed to do so, and have areas on my left arm and leg that have no sensation, no proprioception, and considerable muscle wasting.

We wish you well.

I take 2 megared pills daily. I don't think it is as much as you are taking. However, in the past I have experienced nosebleeds if I increase it much more than that, combined with the vitamin E I take.

I incurred a brachial plexus traction injury in 1992 and lost most of the feeling and use of my left hand for about a year. With therapy I was able to recover most of the use, including typing, though at a markedly slower rate. I have trouble sensing temperature and pressure in that hand still. If I am not watching what I am doing, I tend to drop some things. Other times the wife will tell me I am squeezing her hand too hard when I hold it on our walks and such. It took them the better part of that year to finally diagnose it. I had to have a nerve probe done from the base of my skull down my left shoulder, which made me want to peel my skin off before they were done. After that, my indifference to needles diminished greatly.

My whiskers and temples are turning white more and more. I guess my youth is pretty much used up, so time to just go with whatever smarts I learnt on the way here. I can still cook a tasty pot of grub, though. We had a young couple over this weekend and I put 40 lbs of moose meat through the grinder from hell that I bought for them. Took us about 15 minutes to process it all; we couldn't keep it fed as fast as it was grinding it. When we were done, they said I could keep 5 lbs. So I made a batch of moose meat stroganoff and a loaf of bread, and we feasted.

I reckon I have earned the title "Cookie" by now. Maybe I can back off a string bean or so and let the young pups do the harder work.

Sounds like a good plan. It's always better to be the brains of an outfit rather than the brawn!
-Blast