How did we ever do it? Hunting years back.

[kjohn]

I know some might think I'm lording it over the young guys and gals here, but that is not the idea of this post. The idea is to get some of the older hunters here to post some of the things they did to get along hunting.

Here are some of the things I remember from hunting as a young man in the 60's:

Hardly anyone had a truck. We all used our cars. I bought a new truck in late '65, so it was the official hunt wagon after that.

Hardly anyone had a fancy rifle. Most were old Lee Enfields, or their Dad's 30-30, some Swedish Mausers and Carcanos.

We maybe fired one or two rounds at a rock to make sure old Betsy was "sighted in". I can't actually ever recall shooting at a real paper target.

The odd, odd guy had a scope.

We hunted with old guys, young guys, and everything in between.

We often got up early in the morning to go shooting ducks, or to hunt deer.

Shotguns were mostly 12 ga, with the odd 16 ga. Most shotguns were far from being new. Lots of single shot Cooeys, Model 12 Winchesters, again often Dad's guns.

The old local hardware stores had a box or two of real oddball rifle cartridges. Stuff like 6.5 Carcano, 6.5 Mannlicher, .43 Mauser and so on.

Imperial, Canuck and Maxim ruled the shotgun shell world, as did Dominion/CIL rifle shells. .22 shells it was either Whiz Bang or Super Clean CIL.

As kids, we often walked right through town with our .22's and shotguns to go hunting. Nobody even gave us a glance.

Feel free to add stuff, corny or otherwise.

 

[Brutus]

One of my first (and unsuccessful) deer hunts was in 1980. My chosen rifle was a Swedish M-42B semi-auto 6.5x55mm. Used my one and only ten shot magazine, oh the horror!
When we went rabbit hunting, often we too walked through the 'burbs with our unloaded 22s or 410s wrapped in blankets or our coats until we reached crown land for hunting. (city living!!!)

Quite a few likewise minded souls (boys and some girls too) in school run rabbit snares in the nearby woods and awoke hours before school opening to first check them in the morning.

Borrowed my Dad's single shot 12 gauge Cooey for a wonderful rabbit hunt in Guysborough County when he was away with the navy and returned the shotgun cleaner than it left the house.

Edit: Had two M1 carbines in a rifle rack right over my bed with a .22 LR Rossi M62 pumpgun under them and a Sykes Fairbairn knife hanging up there too. Under my bed was the Aussie F1A1 and a mint Savage made LE #4 with sling/bayonet propped up in the corner. The Garcia 22/410 combo and the Ithaca M37 12 gauge were in my clothes closet. I purchased the Ithaca with my very first militia full time paycheck after my father expressed his dismay for borrowing his shotgun without his permission. Rightly so I must add! In the same breath he praised my cleaning of it (and safe handling of it of course) while enjoying the generous amount of rabbits we brought back from the trip.

 

[droid1963]

I hunted with an old guy who bought his first rifle, a Lee-Enfield, out of a barrel at Woolworths in Winnipeg for 9 bucks. I remember when "hunting boots" were grenn rubber boots with yellow laces, and being taken out of school in the fall to go hunting was common.

 

[Cole]

Man, what a difference 25 years brings. I remember taking off from my front porch with my .22 and walking through town with it slung over my shoulder and nobody paid me no mind. Even got a few friendly waves from folks I knew. Things were so different back then, more relaxed. I miss those days.

 

[ddorgan]

My first big rifle was a savage 99 in 300 savage. Pretty lucky for the early 60's as this is still a good deer gun today. Walked sloughs in the feilds of southern sask. till we pushed a deer up and if it was a buck we would try to shoot it. Not an easy task for beginner shooters as running deer are not easl targets. There was also a shortage of ammo. We didn't go down and buy a case of 1180 rounds or anythng. We had what was left of last years box. Great fun and a good way to learn how to actually shoot.

 

[skneub]

Dad told me they used to hop on the tractor and head to the bush north of Valhaula

 

[kamlooky]

Now ya dun it there kjohn. There are old photos of ole pa with Bobo on a street car in Vancouver.
Yup, his A-5, shell belt, his german short haired pointer and his pheasant on a street car in Vancouver.
I can recall hunting pheasants across the Anniciss Island bridge many moons ago.
So much so, that I can recall slipping into one of those irrigation ditches.
Up to me chest in water.
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp, I hollared.
Good thing I had long legs way back then.
The old man found me, told me to hold up my shotgun and grabbed the barrel and
pulled me out.
Not much was said after that.
I learned that those taller weeds that stood up were the edges of the irrigating ditches.
Juuuump.

 

[H4831]

All you young guys talking about modern hunting!
As a teenager growing up in the boondocks of bushland Saskatchewan, I took the rifle from wall, walked out the door and started hunting. Less than half mile form the house was as good of whitetail hunting as one would want. With most of us, hunting season started with the first snowfall of the season. I couldn't wait for the snow and always made a few trips before snow came, but when I looked out the window in the morning and saw the first fresh snow, I could hardly take time to eat breakfast.
I shot two deer in the area close to home I described, but one morning when the first snow was coming down hard, I started out another direction from home and within half a mile came onto two elk. They played with me all morning and at noon I was still only half mile from home, so I went home and ate. I picked up their trail after lunch, and finally just before dark I got a shot at one, but she was running and I missed clean. No second shot, because I was using our old single shot Springfield Trapdoor 45-70.
A miss, but it was a very adventuresome day, which I will never forget.

 

[350tracker]

Back when I started hunting it wasn't a problem having the guns on the gun rack on the back window of the truck. Try and do that now...

 

[fiddler]

I hunted with an old guy who bought his first rifle, a Lee-Enfield, out of a barrel at Woolworths in Winnipeg for 9 bucks. I remember when "hunting boots" were grenn rubber boots with yellow laces, and being taken out of school in the fall to go hunting was common.

X2

Also adding, There were few or none special draws, perhaps for caribou but never for moose. Hunting season started in September and went until 2 or 3 days before Christmas. You could buy popular rifle ammo and shotgun shells at the local gas station in any small town. When you shot something, you had to quarter it and pack it out. There were no quads or trikes. If you were lucky, there was a bit of snow and you could use a toboggan. Everyone had to learn to shoot with a single shot, and until you did, you were not allowed to touch Dad's semi-auto or repeater.

 

[ATOM]

Had a university prof waay back who would come into the morning's first lecture right out of the local duck blind - dog would go to sleep at his feet and shotgun got stood in the corner of the lecture room. Very laid-back dude he was. Nobody thought anything of it.

Oh, and game hadn't then been issued the Kevlar armour they wear now - the stuff that now makes old rounds like the .30-30 and the .303 ineffective.

 

[regulate34]

i hunt im my old ford with my parkerhale 30-06. i biult a bed under my canopy and thats ware i sleep. thats what i can afford to go hunting. all i see in the bush now is 50k + diesel trucks with 30k + campers and them towing side by sides or quads. 150000$ rig to go hunting. then they shoot sakos and kimbers. i understand "the finer things in life" and thats fine with me. not alot of people rough it any more from what i can tell. on the other hand i am only 23yrs old. i would like to upgrade to a small cabinwall tent one of these days.

 

[sealhunter]

My first shotgun was a double barrel 16 ga stvens's 311A

Imperial Half Brass Extra long (with the rings in the brass)... those were the equivalent of heat seeking technology and highly regared, ... #6 was the duck and and all around, 7.5 for upland and rabbits, 5 for sea ducks...

my first rifle was a 30-30 that Dad bought in the early 60's while working in the far north Arctic. It has taken moose, caribou, seals, walrus, whale, elk, bear, hare, deer,... i shot another deer with it just a week or so ago.

my buddy's shogun was a cooey with black tape around the forestock. he was deadly with it, but would possibly be stoned to showcase on this site..lol

we ALWAYS had a "boil up"
Boil ups are a Newfoundland term for haveing a cookup in the woods...minimum would be tea and buns, but depending on the hunt there could be salt fish, cabbage, turnip, potatos...kippers were always popular...

I started chopping wood at age 12 in the woods with an axe. My cutting partner was 14.

I went 4 miles to school on bus. My friends lived in the town where the school was, so I would often bring my shotgun, pass to the prinipal and he would keep it in his office until the end of the day and we were ready to go hunting.

I used to pick birdsm never ever breast them out,,, you might get introuble actually.

when my dad was young he shot a large sea duck off the Point. So he went down to the slipway and launched a row boat into the Atlantic in mid February. this wasnt a cove or a bay...it's the wide open. He rowed down and got the bird and was off land about 600 yrds when the wind came up. He drifted off to about 100 yrds and was rowing hard. As he recalls and a few community members,...he saw people begin to gather in on the shore when he got back to about 600 yrds off.... then more and more... he said he figured he was gonna die he was so tired rowing. Then he saw everyone waving him off, like go back further,,,he didnt understand it,,,

when he got ashore a mile down, he was reamed out for a good 20 minutes he said and they all said they were on their way to tell his father so he could get what he deserved...
"and ya didnt listen!!!!!" said the older guy. Dad said "to what?" ... apparently they were all waving at him to move further back in the boat to row, ... the old guys on shore new how to row effectively, Dad at 14 did not...lol

so he went home and waited for his trimmin... waiting for his Dad to get home, he saw his grandmother who saw the sea duck. "what a lovely big duck for Sunday!" and she gave him 50 cents.
Dad said that was what done it...he was in such glee from that and having provided the big duck that his grtandmother was impressed with,...didnt matter waht his father did to him, he was happy.

So his father gets home and has heard the story. His first sentence was, "what were ya thinkin, ya coulda been drowned,..dont be at that foolishnes...
Second sentence: 'And they said you were sittin up in the front of the boat trying to row????!!! How many times I have showed ya,...yadda yadda yadda...." lol

 

[Bland]

As a youngster on my uncle's farm in Hemmingford, Que in the early 60's we were allowed to hunt between chores sometimes. The main prey were grey squirrels that were trying to set up shop in the corn cribs. The shotgun was a $5 special. When I pulled the trigger the recoil would cause my thumb to hit the lever and the shotgun would break open and eject the shell. You had to hold your head a certain way or the shell would hit you in the face. I developed a serious case of 12 ga. flinch that included a slight left hand head fake. There was a hunting kennels nearby which released pheasant. I was allowed to hunt them but only with a .22 as my aunt did not want any pellets in the meat. Not for the lack of trying but I never did get one. Interestingly enough there is now more wildlife in that area than when I was a kid.

 

[Eagleye]

Ohhhh wow!! Nostalgia kicking in big time!!
Yes, times were simpler back a while.
We regularly carried our 22's around on the public roads with
nary a glance from locals.
My first deer was taken with a "slightly" sporterized M17 30-06.
Heavy, but it shot well, and the deer died
IIRC, the Dominion 180 KKSP ammo was $2.95/box of 20.
I had a school teacher who was an avid hunter.
If we took a day off school to hunt, he was very understanding, lol.
The 50's were great times to be growing up in.
Regards, Eagleye.

 

[Potshot21]

I feel I'm a reformed modern hunter!

I got right into the camo clothing, scent destroying clothing, scent bodywash and detergent, and all kinds of other "gimmicks" that are so popular these days.

Then it all kinda hit me, my grandfather shot many moose and deer and got close to many of both too. All the while dressed in a doe skin (plaid) jacket and wool pants! With all the new fancy tech out there you'd wonder how the hell this was even possible!! Everyone knows a deer can wind ya 3 km away and see better than the hubble telescope, yet the old school dropped em all the same!

While there are some great advancements in our hunting gear, I find no need to pay 3x the price to get a camo version with scent blocking super ninjas built in.

 

[Stevebot-7]

i hunt im my old ford with my parkerhale 30-06. i biult a bed under my canopy and thats ware i sleep. thats what i can afford to go hunting. all i see in the bush now is 50k + diesel trucks with 30k + campers and them towing side by sides or quads. 150000$ rig to go hunting. then they shoot sakos and kimbers. i understand "the finer things in life" and thats fine with me. not alot of people rough it any more from what i can tell. on the other hand i am only 23yrs old. i would like to upgrade to a small cabinwall tent one of these days.

Man, were you in Wholesale Sports in Edmonton today? I overheard some guy say that almost word for word.

I would really enjoy to go on an "old" type of hunting trip, it would be nice to learn how to use snares and get along without bringing thousands of dollars of gear.

 

[kjohn]

Boy! This is better than I thought it would be!! Keep the stories coming.

As I've said in other threads, my Dad used to take me along chicken hunting. I was the "retriever. "Chicken" included Ruffed Grouse, or bush partridge as we called them, Prairie Chicken, and Hungarian Partridge. We would usually come home with a couple of birds. Mom fried them in butter. Dad had a neat way to clean them, a method I still use today.

When I was a kid in the 50's, lots of bigger families depended on deer meat. Some of it was even taken during deer season.

One time, a friend and his Dad spotted a small slough where ducks were landing. We went out early in the morning and got tucked into the weeds. (No duck blinds for us) He had a Golden Lab that would retrieve. The ducks started pouring in and kept pouring in even as we stood up and started shooting. Ducks were landing right on top of the dog. I had my Dad's old Tobin, and my buddy was using his Dad's Model 12. What a blast.

We walked back to the car where his Dad was waiting. Lo and behold, there was a young hawk sitting on the front fender, looking around. It would look up at his Dad, and his Dad would look at the hawk. His Dad was leaning against the driver's door, about three feet from the hawk. Neat stuff and a great memory all around.

 

[Brutus]

i hunt im my old ford with my parkerhale 30-06. i biult a bed under my canopy and thats ware i sleep. thats what i can afford to go hunting. all i see in the bush now is 50k + diesel trucks with 30k + campers and them towing side by sides or quads. 150000$ rig to go hunting. then they shoot sakos and kimbers. i understand "the finer things in life" and thats fine with me. not alot of people rough it any more from what i can tell. on the other hand i am only 23yrs old. i would like to upgrade to a small cabinwall tent one of these days.

I brought this one home in the tied securely but open trunk of my 1994 Saturn.
One shot was all I needed from Dad's 30-30 Carbine circa 1956.

 

[regulate34]

no sir. im in bc. i have done some trips pretty plain jane. grab some cans of soup a loaf of bread flat of water and a pack or two of smokies. thoes are the trips i enjoi more. less stress less packing less money and less clean up. i have hunted i a motor home its was ok. i found it alot of work to pack and the drive up was draining and expencive. hard to relax