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.

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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!

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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!

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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

Sometimes id be walking to super market at 5.15pm near church corner CHCH.Could hear my knees clicking over the 5pm traffic noise beside me.Had no ACLs left.Knees fkd.

Jeeze were a bunch of broken buggers! Must have something to do with our lifestyle;)

Fused foot already, and I'm putting off a replacement knee as long as possible. No cartilidge left inside, so long hauls are drugs territory. Brufin seems best, but if I fall or tweak it badly then out come the codein tablets.

Like others I try to use motorised means to get as close to game as possible. Then hunt a 1-ish k radius area and will then go back and grab the bike to go pick up the meat. Never skin or bone...just the meat these days.

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Originally Posted by hotbarrels

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

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Old age? You're only 1 year older than me, and I'm still in denial!!

But now I think about it I go down hill a lot slower than uphill these days.... and not because I'm super fit (because it's been 30 years since I could say that)....

Firstly i'd say don't trust us on the forum. Listen to your doctor/physio/specialist first and foremost! The specialist/surgeon will give the best info specific to your injury, and your situation.

In my experience (lots of injuries!), doctors and physios are more generalised so more often than not tend to air on the side of caution.

Also i'd say in my experience, lot's of GP's are useless, some are awesome. Most physios are useless imo and a good one is hard to find. Hence i'd talk to and listen to a specialist specific to your injury any day of the week.


Other than that I can say i don't have an ACL, tore the collateral and pulled some of the hammy from the bone all on the same side at the same time. No surgery and i hunt almost weekly and train daily. Hence, longer term you can certainly make things happen.

Once everything is all sorted i'd suggest getting stuck into a solid strength regime with a strong focus on the legs, especially the glutes (hand brake and stabiliser for the knee). Obvilously including quads, hammys and calves. Maintain good flexibility to improve movement performance when out on the hill and its also a major insurance against injury.

Prior to your op, the stronger your legs are and the more muscle development you have the quicker you'll bounce back from surgery.

For cardio and joint health going forward, a push bike/stationary spin bike will be your friend. Think cardio without knee joint impact....


For longer term management i'd also suggest supplementing any or all of the following:

Glucosamine
Fish oil
Green lip mussel extract
Shark cartilage or similar collagen type product
Magnesium

At least the top two anyhow. IMO the best manufacture in NZ is https://www.o2bhealthy.co.nz/ . They're fully NZ owned and all produced locally in Nelson, there pricing is also good.

This will further help with your joint health long term as the weakness is now there and will never go away. But hopefully you won't need a full knee replacement later on as that can often lead to further issues with hips then going and then both on the other side etc...

Lastly, with any supplement use, always read up on them to ensure they're good for you. Monitor how they affect you as what works for one may not work for another.

All the best!

:cool:

I did ACL when I was 18, had a small key hole to trim up a frayed ligament from where it had stretched. Post visits to Dr confirmed it had then snapped. Although I’m probably due a reconstruction, Ive never done it.After talking to quite a few sports doctors and physios, majority have said if you can strengthen all the muscles around it and avoid the knife you’ll be a lot better off. Obviously dependent on injury. I hit the gym regularly and have spent a lot of time building up legs and also stretching regularly to make sure the rest of my body is functioning properly ie. get rid of any imbalances so any lagging muscles or joints aren’t causing strain on the rest of the body.
It’s not for everyone, but I went from a joint that used to collapse and lock to what I would say is close to 100% and very rarely have any trouble. There are plenty of pro sports players with bugger all left inside their knees and still do fine.

Two years back, my new dog that had been trained to walk on RHS decided to revert from my LHS control to RHS - on a tight lead and she spun me round as my knee was hitting the ground - ripped an ACL, but not a total disconnect – could only limp on a support stick – very painful
Many weeks of Physio – imaging confirmed the ACL damage – Physio got me into a sports medicine specialist doctor – confirmed a tear and agreed to give me a steroid injection – two days later she put a long needle through to the center of the knee. Had to promise to keep it immobile for several days to keep the fluid in the joint area and take it very easy for seven days. Like magic, it began to improve, and pain subsided. Used a support strap for a while like used by @Cordite and six months later I was back up the Mount and doing all the other hill work that I do. I do plenty of hill work now – up and down with no support and its fine. Back to the gym again for some rebuilding – squats are high on the list.
I have had several joint injuries that Physio’ s gave up on - they finally got me into sports medicine doctors - required steroid injections – magic stuff!

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Originally Posted by poc30

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 ruptured mine playing sport after surgery it was a good 4-5 months of physio and strengthening before I could confidently get out again. Get yourself the best brace you can find to hold it don’t skimp on price and buy a cheap one you think will do. Get out try it your body will tell you if you can do it or not

Thanks for all the comments and stories guys, I'm definitely not alone in my situation! Will keep working on my leg strength and see how I get on once calving has finished on the farm [emoji106]

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I tore my quad tendon to a point after I slipped on a bluff on LBI at 22. I couldn’t get off the island for 2 months and had to work and then would limp around with a stick for the weekend/during the week. The knee would lock and flex awkwardly most of the time.

When I got off the island, the physio found out what was going on and had to break down the healed scar tissue by hand and use infrared.I got a shitload of exercises to do around strengthening my quads and hips to try keep that knee more stable.

I tried hunting a couple of times while I was recovering and it was not easy and actually set me back a bit. If a doc or physio gives you exercises to do, don’t skimp and carry on doing them after you think you’re healed. Get a good brace as well. My knees are better than before and I attribute that almost entirely to carrying on those exercises.