Thread: Hunting with a knee injury

A couple of months ago I ruptured my ACL playing hockey and am planning to have surgery in January when its a bit quieter on the farm. Just wondering how people approach hunting when they set out knowing they aren't 100%? I obviously carry a plb and go with someone else and the surgeon said the odd hunt would probablybe ok. Wanting to see if many people have experienced problems with existing injuries and what they did about them, because let's face it who wants to wait for a year to get fully recovered to go hunting again

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I go on my own but mostly in goat country which is rough farmland/steep scrub, remote and off grid. i take a PLB. I go slow there and back and tend to either stay on some form of track whether farm or cattle. I pass up shots where recovery requires a death-wish. I know how much I can carry and don't compromise. I take as light a rifle as poss, Ruger Ranch II in 223 or Rossi Puma 92 in various calibers. I carry water and modest amount of food and dress in layers that will allow for a night out or bad weather. Have had 3 ops over two knees over 4 decades, am fat and old and cantankerous. Still manage to put meat on the table.

Bad luck with your knee,as my knees got worse i learnt more about where deer live and feed.Now iv had 2 knee replacements and can be with in k or 2 of deer,river flats are best.I use to do big walks yrs ago but my knees were telling me different.Try to look after my new knees now,hunt smarter is best when you near the 70s i reckn or when your knees tell you to slow down.

I've had Both ACL done. I would'nt reccomend going for a hunt, one small stumble or trip and the knee will give way again. Itll swell up like a balloon, be incredibly painful and depending where you are, leave you stuck out there.

Recovery time once OP is done is 6months, until back to normal. Maybe able to do light stuff at 3months.

After three knee surgeries, two back surgeries and a foot fusion, I have resided myself to using a quad bike for all the hard graft. Shot a hind a few months back and in the process she jumped off a cliff and went to the bottom of a shitty gulley. Bloody near killed me humping her back out to the quad. Made the decision that day that if I cannot drive the quad to the animal, I'm not shooting it.

Old age sucks, your injuries never so away, look after your body while you are young.

Wear a proper hinged knee brace and your knee is as stable as with an intact ACL, I'd say that's a bare minimum before you set out.

You'll need to buy a decent one for post-op ACL reconstruction anyway.



Add a decent pair of trekking poles for extra stability, and they will come in handy if you get to carry out meat.

Not far from knee replacement myself, I'm on slow release ibuprofen (brufin sr 800) twice a day which helps but also this brace which stableises the knee. It was custom made after referral from the specialist but similar off the shelf ones are available. The two pockets each side of the knee hole contain hinged stainless bars which prevent sideways movement.
I wear it if a bit of hill walking is on the cards along with carrying a hill stick which doubles as a shooting stick.
I have to dab a little Vaseline on the hinges occasionally as they tend to squeak otherwise. Still squeaking sounds better than the crack, pop, graunch if I don't wear it,

I’ve busted both my ACLs and continued hunting but have since operated on the worst as things were floating around and jamming up. I was tapeing up hard (and shaving first after learning the hard way).

If you have the operation you definitely want to keep it easy and rehab properly otherwise you waste 6 months of your life again if you bust it (and taxpayer $$)

Good luck you will be back

I have 1 knee with reconstructed acl, the other knee has no acl. I dont wear any form of brace and rely on a good sturdy pair of boots with good grip. To be honest the exercises they gave you for your knee before reconstructions were available make all the difference. Wall squats is where its at. I still jump on my skateboard occasionally too

https://www.saintlukeskc.org/health-...ts-acl-healing

Appreciate the feedback from everyone, theres a bit of a range of opinion which I guess I expected. I'm feeling like when/if I go for a walk I probably want to pick my spot wisely.

Here's a couple more details, I have already had my other ACL reconstructed about 6 years ago so know what to expect in terms of surgery and recovery. I'm wearing a knee brace for work that the physio gave me so I'd naturally wear that if I went for a hunt and have been given exercises to do (including wall squats @Gibo ) and told to go biking everyday for 20 mins so in theory my knee is hopefully supported quite well by the muscles around it even with no ACL.

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Yeah mate, it pretty much depends on the user. My wife had key hole to remove meniscus on her knee last week, big tag hanging off and that is on the knee she has had acl reconstruction. She created the tag/tear by sliding across the floor on the fly bridge of a boat on her knee. Not something I thought would have done it but there you go.
Knees would have to be up there with the worst designed joint imo.

After knee one replacement,hospital and surgeon gave me tramadol?for pain killers when i got home.Never worked i had to sleep in a easyboy chair for 3 nights,the pain sent me thru the roof sometimes.Got sent down a few pkts of Brufen sr 800.Took 2 in the morning,2 in the evening for a few weeks.Sleeped all night every night,best pain killers ever i reckon.With knee replacements,get walking asap,up down stairs,week later,few 100mtrs walks,then increase.6 weeks later i walked 8 ks down a river bed to get help.My truck got a flat battery.
After knee replacements,DONT sit around for months waiting for them to heal,they will just about seize up and make it very hard for you to walk at all.
I didnt have health insurance and i wasnt waitn 3 or 4 yrs for surgery.So i payed for them which didnt please the misses much.About 20k each over 18months between knee ops.Oh well some people spend 40k on hunting trucks,i better keep mind another 10 yrs and look after my 8k joints.Knees been going well after 5 yrs now.

Geez Trout we are talking acl recon not full knee! My old boy had one a while back, poor bugger got hooked on tramadol for a while, shit stuff!

Originally Posted by Gibo

Geez Trout we are talking acl recon not full knee! My old boy had one a while back, poor bugger got hooked on tramadol for a while, shit stuff!

Although from what I've been told having ACL and especially meniscus trouble predisposes you to needing a knee replacement later on down the track

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this is true