Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum What If ??

Had an interesting conversation with a guy this morning
He was telling me that once you get past 50 you really need to consider things that can happen to you when you do things by yourself
Started by saying what if this, what if that happened to you when you were hunting or fishing by yourself and I had to stop him mid sentence which is unusual for me because I usually listen to someone when giving advice
I had to say hold that thought and listen…..I do not live life on the pretense of “what if” and any person that does will be held back from experiencing life at its fullest
I’m well aware that death can come for us at any time but to live in fear of “what if” is not how I will ever conduct my life
I’ve seen death and experienced the joys of living and the pleasure I’ve gotten from living far surpasses my fear of the unknown “ what if “
Gentlemen
Live life to its fullest and enjoy what God has given us
Never let fear control your desires to experience the greatness of creation
What If

Most fun things in life go hand in hand with a certain element of risk. I will be sensible about the risks we take but we’d never go anywhere if we worry about the “what ifs”.

I live as full a life as He let's me. I'm ready to go when He calls me.

I spend a good bit of time thinking about the what ifs. It doesn't stop me from doing anything, but it keeps me prepared when chit inevitably happens.

Life is basically a nice sunny day.....then storms...then storms and you're lost in th' Forest....then wondering if you'll EVER find daylight....then daylight.....then sunny/daylight.

REPEAT.......

Times I look back and wonder how I'm still alive.

But that’s the best part of it. Looking back and saying “how am I still alive”. The answer is because it’s Gods will.

The movie Second Hand Lions
At the end they were talking and the little boy said “so they really lived ?” And man they raise said They Really Lived !!
I want to be able to say this when my end comes

Thought I was bulletproof until the morning of November 8, 2009. If I hadn’t had a friend hunting with me that morning, I most likely wouldn’t be here today. I’m not scared to get out and do things on my own, but I do take precautions.

I’ve made a living dealing with people’s “what ifs”.

I can’t think of a time I’ve ever avoided doing something, but I do try to at least put some thought into “what if” and put a little effort accordingly.

I definitely think about what ifs but do not let them stop me from doing things, just plan better for possible problems.

I'm 75 and 90% of the time I hunt by myself and am the only person on our lease. I do just about all of tractor work by myself. I tell my wife where I'm going and if I don't come home, just wait a couple of days and look for buzzards. There's a lot worse ways to go out. When I get to the point that I can't do what I want, when I want, I'll be ready for the Lord to call me home

Irish Jr. is hiking a lot on the weekends in the Cascades and the Olympia Mountains. Let's just say that even though he's his own man now, I'm happy that he has convinced his nerdy network engineer buddies to for a hiking group and several of them are going out together.

When you are in the wilderness, there is a certain safety in numbers.

I crashed a dirt bike way back in the woods when I was about 15 years old. I was bleeding pretty bad. I'm glad some guys came along in a Toyota Land Cruiser or I might not have made it out.

I wrecked my mountain bike pretty bad at Oak Mountain State park many years ago and screwed myself up pretty bad, bleeding, broken ribs, etc. FOrtunately there were some other bikers on the trail to help me out.

Like M48Scout says. I do whatever I want, but I plan ahead and usually try to go out as a team. I don't get up on a ladder or use a chainsaw, unless Mrs. Irish is around the cabin.

I spend a lot of time in the swamp alone. I told them they could go to find my cell phone and that is where to look

Now that I have kids that depend on me I’ll think things through a little more or give a second thought to something. Perfect example is back when I was in my late teens and early 20’s, I’d take a climber and go up 25’ or better with no harness or anything to help me in a fall. It was stupid but my thought process didn’t extend too much in the forward direction at that age. Now, completely different. I’ve went back to my truck in a 2 mile ride to get my harness after leaving it. I’ve even sat on the ground and wouldn’t climb one time after realizing it wasn’t in my pack and didn’t have enough time before daylight to go back. I don’t live scared, but I do think about my kids when I go into the woods.

I figure I'll die someday. I dont take a 1436 jonboat with a 9.9 out on the mississippi anymore or dive off cliffs into unknown waters. But harnesses are still something I usually forget, I chainsaw miles from anyone else, and probably the worse thing is I usually dont tell anyone where I'm hunting on a 10+ square mile property.

“Get busy living or get busy dying”

I still do a bunch of stupid chit but nothing like when I was early 20s....I reckon I need to start telling someone where I plan on being

The what ifs drove me out of the swamp today. Heavy storms were coming, and I've almost died out there from flash flooding before. That was terrifying.