Now, I'm okay with being "That Guy"

It took a while, but I’ve finally turned into that guy.

My friends and I used to poke fun at older dudes who no longer hunted big game, didn’t care if they bagged a limit of birds, and were as pleased with the fluidity of their casts as they were with what was biting the end of their line.

I couldn’t imagine life without elk, a game bag full of birds, or a fishless outing.

I used to take great pride in harvesting an elk every fall. Back then I could walk forever, and I shot a lot of elk miles from the road, then spent days dragging them out of the mountains.

When someone told me they no longer hunted elk for one reason or another, I cut them no slack. Unless they were ancient or crippled I viewed their decision as simply weakness or the result of flawed character. I swore I’d hunt elk until I tipped over, but here I am, still standing, with an unused tag in my pocket.

It wasn’t too many years ago that shooting a limit of birds was the deciding factor in whether a hunt was successful or not. I hunted harder then and probably shot better, too, so there were a lot of limits. Now, while I hunt more than I used to, I rarely shoot more than a bird or two, and plenty of days I don’t even pop a cap.

Like those older guys my friends and I used to laugh about, I’m content to just watch the dogs work, what we called a euphemism for didn’t get any.

I’m not quite as content to cast a line that catches no fish, but I certainly have more of those days than I used to so finding solace in a well-placed fly is often as good as it gets.

Forty-fish days seem to be a thing of the past for me. A couple fish and no wind knots are about all it takes now to keep me happy.

I’m not sure when I became that guy. It’s taken some time. I tell myself I haven’t really changed, it’s just different choices I’m making. Then I catch my reflection in the mirror and wonder who that old dude is?

Hopefully there are some young folks out there still getting after it, shooting elk, limiting on birds, catching a lot of fish, and poking fun at me.

Parker Heinlein is at [email protected]