How did we ever do it? Hunting years back.

For warmer winter wear someone mentioned the terrible, heavy boots we had. Well I can tell you that from the late 1940s for about twenty years, we had a very neat boot of rubber bottoms and leather tops. They were neat, light and quite pliable. Warm enough for quite cold weather and dry enough for wet snow conditions. Far supperior to anything I can find today that would take their place.



My dad had a pair of Mickey Mouse boots; actually Surplus Air Force boots.
They were quite bulky but didn't weight much at all. He said when he worked Rigs in the '60's he'd get a boot full of water at minus stupid cold. In several minutes the water inside the boot would be at body temp.
 
Hunting was simple and fun back then. Too much crap and drama now. We are too busy to enjoy it and can never really leave our other way of life behind.V:I:
 
My friend and I try and have a nostalgia hunt every year. We wear our Grandfathers wool hunting coats(mine was made in St John NB) and carry their 30-30's with iron sights. His is a Model 94 and mine is a Model 55. I have the old knife and drag rope still in my coats pockets. Grandad made the knife out of a sawblade and the handle is bone of some sort that is faded and stained to a great finish. The knife case rotted away so I had a replica made. No GPS or Goretex for us that day. We walk and stop and rattle and have a fire at lunch to make tea. I will try and take some pictures this year and post them.
 
Yes the good times are now. Especially when you are young because you have no previous times to compare it to. You are making your own history in everything you do. Do not wait for the golden years to anything, for two big reasons. 1. you may not be here. 2. the golden years are not that golden. By the time you get old enough to have gained wisdom through experince you no longer have the youthful healthy body to take advantage of the knowledge.

Wise words, my friend, wise words. I am a prime example of your thoughts. Last summer, I started experiencing a plugged nose, etc. Eventually, the doc diagnosed asthma, for pete's sake! I have to be careful when I go walking now and pace myself or I get so winded and start coughing. Jeez! The year before, I could walk at a good pace for miles. I like to think I have gained a bit of wisdom, but am seeing a difference in the old carcass. Not that I am going to give up and park my butt on a pity pot!!
 
kjohn

I hear yeh' I got pneumonia a few years back, the virus the docs figure settled in my heart, weakened beyond repair. Pacemaker and meds help alot. But I sure don't have the cardio stamina I had say 5 years ago. Sure glad I did alot of stuff I did and not waited. My bucket list is still extensive, I'll just have to pick them off at a slower pace.
 
There were no cell phones, no games to play while you are "hunting', no texting constantly.
We didn't even have GPS.
We just enjoyed the outdoors, learned from our surroundings, and hunted.
Without distractions, you can become part of the bush, you see and hear things that a non-hunter would never see.

Leave ALL that electronic crap at home. Well, ok, you can take your GPS, BUT NO GAMES!

Navigating with a compass in virgin territory. That's something every hunter should do at least once.
Want to be safe, bring your GPS, just don't use it. Experience the wild country.
You may find you don't even need the compass (But always bring it!)
 
H4831-- I would welcome the opportunity to have a coffee with you some time, we have a little issue with distance though. I also wore moccasin's when I was a kid, still prefer them to boots when snow shoeing. Mine however used to come from the Eatons mail order catologue. Used to repair the stitching myself using heavy string that I would run back and forth over a bar of parifin wax. Lived in Northern Ontario at the time and It would get a little chilly there in winter, your right moccasins were warm on the feet and they did seem to breath which attributes to keeping your feet dry of presperation and thus warm.

Leather top rubber bottom boots I still wear. Have 5 pairs of them, all from LLBean's in Maine. My tall ones extend to few inch's below the knee. I find these boots to be light and nibble on the feet for walking, just enough tread for good traction, but not enough to collect 5 Ibs of mud on each foot. Since I developed this heart issue my circulation is not what it used to be when sitting for periods, which I do more of because I don't have the walking stamina of just a few years ago. So I have newer heavily insulated boots for sitting on a stand.

I was smiling when you described your experience with the Salish wool sweater. When is Scottland years a go I bought a couple heavy sweaters at a little country shop on the Isle of Skye. The shop sold woollen goods made by the local folks. These sweaters still had the natural oils from the sheep still in the wool so they had a bit of a smell that I did not mind. The old fella at the shop said they would turn away a fairly heavy rain. I did not believe him until we got caught out walking about a week later in a rain storm. By the time we got into the nearest pub we were very wet. When I took the sweater off it weighed about 15 Ibs but my shirt was dry except for around the collar.
I was so impressed with those sweaters I sent over and purchased two more. They were great to wear under a goretex coat as when the coat leaked you never noticed.!! The only newer material I have been impressed with is a good quality fleece. Like wool it will keep you dry when wet. It is much lighter than wool, it does not hold water well so it dries fairly quickly. I have a good collection of fleece, but I still like my wool sweaters.
There was fella making long underwear in Nanimo called "Blue Johns" years back. It was pricy stuff. It's claim to fame was it would wick moisture off the skin and onto your next layer of clothing very quickly. It worked very well. If I was paddling the canoe and worked up a sweat and then sat at my moose stand I would not get a chill but in cotton underwear you would be chilled to the bone. Wool underwear worked great as well but there was always the picky itchy issue. Anyways the fella in Nanimo made a living making and selling his underwear but he never got rich at it due to the cost of the material it was made from. His profit margin per piece was not as high as his competitors. He passed away about 15 yrs ago and his wife could not sell the business due to the lower profitability so she just closed the doors. I was out there on a trip at the time and visited there home/shop and bought some of the last stock off her. Still have a drawer full of it that I use to this day, but only for hunting and sking.

Next time Iam out that way I'll message ahead and we will have that coffee.
 
Heh.. my grandpa used to drive on to the railway, let some air out of the tires and drive until they saw something. It was Manitoba so I assume they were not scared of a train sneaking up on them.
 
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