Star Tribune’s Anderson: More in Minnesota Keep Hunting Into Their Golden Years

The number of elder Minnesotans who are still active soars in 10 years. In hunting, is 80 the new 60?

Article by Dennis Anderson, Star Tribune

The number of elder Minnesotans who are still active soars in 10 years.

In hunting, is 80 the new 60?

Meaning, are more octogenarian Minnesotans healthy enough these days, and spry enough, to continue hunting, whereas in the past, they might have dropped out?

License-sales data collected by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) aren’t definitive on the subject. But indications are that older Minnesota hunters, say, those north of 70, are enjoying the sport in numbers unseen before.

In fact, license sales during the past 10 years show that the number of hunters age 80 and older have nearly doubled in Minnesota, while those older than 70 have increased by about 75 percent.

Retired Minnesota Vikings coach Bud Grant, 87, is among those still in the field.

Read the full article online in the Outdoors section of the Star Tribune.

Former Vikings coach Bud Grant, left, and retired state Sen. Bob Lessard are among the Minnesotans in their 80s who still actively hunt. Here, the two were in Montana hunting for mule deer.

Star Tribune photo courtesy of Bud Grant.