Hunting Questions

Hi there, I received a pacemaker in January of this year and I am requesting information on hunting and the pacemaker. I usually hunt with a bow and a rifle, does having a pacemaker limit hunting with any of these? Approximately a month ago, I also had an AV Node Ablation and I am not sure if this will prevent me from doing any hunting. I appreciate all of you out there, I read all of the postings on a daily basis, learning from all of you. Thank you, Jake

4 Comments

Hunting

by SMITTY - 2007-08-20 04:08:51

Hello Jake,

Welcome to the PM Club. As for your hunting questions, the pacemaker will cerainly not limit your bow hunting. Gun hunting will not harm the pacemaker so long as you do not have the gun stock directly over the pacemaker when you shoot. Even that probably would not harm the pacemaker as it is housed in a tough titanium case. However, the impact from the gun kick could damage the fragile leads if the butt plate was directly over them when you shoot.

The ablation was a procedure where the hearts natural pacemaker is partially or totally “deactivated.” An ablation is done for any of several reasons and the result is your heart beat is probably more dependant on the pacemaker now than before the ablation. To find out why and just what the ablation means to you, you will need to ask you doctor.

So good hunting and please don’t shoot Bambi. My little great granddaughters would never forgive you. I’m just kidding. We have a couple of dear hunters in the family and any time they get ready to go on a hunt probably the last thing they will hear is please don’t shoot Bambi because that will make the girls cry.

Best regards,

Smitty

hello

by randrews - 2007-08-20 11:08:18

Just to toss my 2 cents in. I did archery for a while this summer and never gave my pm a second thought. No problem what so ever. Hunting should be fine with the precautions Smitty mentioned. Good luck on the hunt, Deer season is around the corner,
Rusty

Thank you

by JNJacobson - 2007-08-21 07:08:13

Good morning, I want to thank Smitty and Rusty for their information on hunting, it sure calmed some fears. Also, I want to thank all of you again for all of your postings, When all of this started in December 2006, with my heart, I was very unsure of what to expect and what was going to happen, becoming a member of this club and reading about the experiences of the other club members really helped and even knowing that all of you were out there, alleviated the fear of being alone. Thank you again and have a great day, I appreciate all of you, Jake

Weird huh,

by randrews - 2007-08-21 10:08:51

This heart stuff can be scary and unnerving. I never knew it would be so helpful to to have other people to encourage me and let me know I wasn't alone. I've never met any of these people in person but I have no doubt they care.
Take care, God bless you, and pass it on,
Rusty

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Member Quotes

I just want to share about the quality of life after my pacemaker, and hopefully increase awareness that lifestyles do not have to be drastically modified just because we are pacemaker recipients.