I feel for anyone who' s having back problems, been there done that. I had a ruptured disc (L4) in my lower back several years ago and after trying everything there was i ended up having back surgery. I had surgery right at the beginning of bow season so that pretty much took care of my year of hunting. As for my back after surgery i do pretty much anything i want to do but i know my limits and i do ok as long as i don' t do something stupid like trying to pick up something really heavy. I do stretch excercises in the mornings when i get up that seem to help alot but i still have my good days and bad days. God Bless!