Knees are easy replace, up and walking within hours. At least it's not your heart, lungs or something critical!
As for the hunting, I would think you would be happy for some young kids to be able to participate in something like that. I've pretty much handed over the shooting to my kids and when they get older I'm thinking of finding nephews, nieces, neighbors kids, etc that I could mentor. Way more fun when kids shoot the deer than when I do.
Sounds like you will still get some permits. How many deer does a guy need?