Not Over Yet...

[nsmith253]

Original working title was "Over before it Started". Got off the phone with my Ortho MD a little bit ago and the results of an MRI on my knee show that I'll need surgery to repair my ACL and meniscus that I tore in an awkward landing playing volleyball 7 days ago. I'm obviously pretty gutted after putting more time than ever into my off-season scouting, and coming into my third season of Beast hunting I felt like I was ready to take a big step forward. Also feeling dumb for risking hunting time for bar league volleyball (retiring with an impressive pitchers of Lite to win ratio).

Meeting with a surgeon tomorrow to discuss timeline but ideally I can go under the knife sometime in the last two weeks of October. I have full extension and am able to walk and ride a stationary bike so I played around with the idea of delaying surgery to hunt with a brace from the ground but I know I will be tempted to push it, and I'd rather be as close to 100% as I can be by post-season scouting than wanting to push in deeper and potentially make things worse. I also will hit my deductible this year to have my insurance kick in to cover the majority of the surgery. At 31 and being a gym rat I'm great in shape now and I will be as aggressive in my prehab and rehab PT as my body will let me. If I'm hitting the post-op rehab goals there's a chance I can get out for the latter part of WI muzzleloader and late bow season and I will be out there in whatever capacity I can. In the meantime I'll be focused on recovering and continuing to shoot my bow as much as I can to stay tuned up.

How bad do you want it?

[Jackson Marsh]

Sorry to hear that. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Wihunter95]

Sorry to hear. As tough as it would be I'd probably get the surgery asap myself. Gun for hunting late season, would really suck to injure yourself more to the point that it affects your hunting in the future

[Groundhunter@1]

Hang tough

[thwack16]

Hate to hear that.

Been there done that unfortunately. Tore acl and meniscus playing basketball one March. Was getting married and switching jobs in June so I delayed surgery until the following January. By deer season I pretty much had worked up to where I could deal with it. Hunted elevated all season and relatively hard.

The big kicker with mine was that they weren’t able to repair the meniscus during the acl surgery. I thought we were just going to leave it torn but the following October the dr told me we needed to go on and do that surgery. It was worse than the acl. 6 weeks no weight bearing…. But I did kill my avatar buck two months after that surgery.

If it was me, I’d likely hunt on it this fall and then have the surgery in January but I certainly understand your thinking as well.

Hope you have a speedy recovery.

[brancher147]

I been there done that. Hope it all works out for you and healing goes as planned.

I had a couple meniscus surgeries on the same knee and I was a couple years before I could run around the mountains like normal again. Still have things that bother me from time to time. The silver lining was the ground skills I gained. Still hunt from the ground the vast majority of the time just because I like it

[nsmith253]

Appreciate the responses guys, good to hear from those who have been through it too. Sounds like I'll have some more questions when I meet with the surgeon tomorrow.

My concern is long term outcomes over everything, but if it's possible for me to still hunt hard without risking further injury or adding more time onto rehab or chance of developing arthritis or something I definitely would consider pushing until end of year and managing it.

[brancher147]

If it was me, I would try to schedule with a physical therapist now to get a second opinion on managing it without surgery. Surgeons want to cut and that’s usually all they know so that’s what they recommend. Sounds like you’re in shape and the recovery should be quick, but I am the same way and still in great shape but things can happen and people have complications from surgery that you can’t predict. If I have another injury surgery will be a last case scenario. But if it keeps me from doing something I love I would be looking at surgery. Just some things I learned and I wish someone had told me…although not likely I would have listened

[CTBuckHunterMH]

You’ll be back out there for late season, I have no doubt

[stash59]

[mspaci]

Im getting my knee done after the season, feel like I can be ok for season, Mike

[G-Patt]

Your thinking is right. You're a young man, and getting it repaired & rehab correctly is the right move that you won't regret. You have many happy hunting years ahead of you. Plus late muzzy and bow is kind of nice.

[nsmith253]

Just remember, whatever you are or aren't seeing from the stand right now it could be worse, this could be all you get to see for the foreseeable future!

[greenhorndave]

Just remember, whatever you are or aren't seeing from the stand right now it could be worse, this could be all you get to see for the foreseeable future!

Heal up fast, man.

You're doing the right thing, but don't rush the comeback either. You will come out of it on the good side, but don't push the envelope and do too much too soon. Know people that have and the setback was far worse and took way longer to finally heal.

[thwack16]

Were they able to repair both the ACL & Meniscus?