Man, I get it. At 71 I've had to come to that same reckoning. There's hunts I just can't do anymore, namely mountain hunts. The pain is just not worth it and the doubt of being able to pull it off start to finish. I'm getting priced out anyway. But there's some I can do to keep going and will...
I've seen baseball sized lumps under the hide but never anything like that. Some of the lumps would burst or drain and there would be a wet spot next time the deer came around.
I took the shotgun along today and got a chukar from the boat. Cold morning. Fished about 3 hours. With the time change I have to get off the water pretty early to get the fish processed and the fish house drained.