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1966 Watertown NY Daily Times hunting ad.


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Wow,1966, sure brings back memories. The 1st year I could hunt on my own. My hunting buddy & I gave the Cottontails & Ringneck Pheasants hell in the few remaning undeveloped prairie areas south of Chicago. I had a 1 1/2 year old Springer Spaniel that I got from the Humane society. He was already partially trained.

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22. Rifles for 20 bucks. Now thats gotta be the good times.

 

Cool post. Worth a look over for sure.

I think you could get an H&R "Topper" single shot 20ga for about $40 in those days.

 

But then again, $2.50 an hour was good money in those days.

 

Used to buy my paper shotgun shells from Sear & Roebuck with money I made in the summer mowing grass & such.

Edited by wildcat junkie
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Cool..!..

 

I killed my first buck in 1966.

 

I also passed my driver's test in my Dad's 1953 Ford Pickup ( 6 cylinder, 3 speed on the column)  and got my first  driver's license.

The 1st vehicle I drove unsupervised, after getting my license, was the '53 Chevy P/U that belonged to my boss. 6-cylinder 3 on the tree. He was the owner of the Sunoco station where I worked. That was 1967 though.

 

Killed my 1st buck in '67 too. It was a bow kill at that.

Edited by wildcat junkie
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I am the old guy in my hunting group, but you guys are really old.  lol

With age comes wisdom grasshopper. ;)

 

You young whippersnappers have it easy. We had no compound bows, no portable tree stands, no trail cameras & the clothing wasn't nearly as warm as what we have today. Wool was the only thing really effective. It was heavy & it made you itch. That is if you could afford wool. No Gore-Tex, no Thinsulate.

 

I remember cotton "long johns". They would get soaked with sweat going in & after an hour "on stand" at the base of a tree, you'd be shivering. Readily available "Sorel" felt pack boots came along in the early '70s. Up to that point it was either Korean War vintage "Mickey Mouse" boots or your feet froze.  

 

Even a Leupold Vari-X II which was considered top of the line in those days, wasn't as good opticaly as some of the better "bargain" scopes of today.

 

Getting a buck, any buck, with a rifle was worthy of having your name anounced on the Butler, PA radio station. Shooting one with a recurve bow from the ground gave you near God like status amoung the local deer hunting community.

 

The "good old days" weren't all that good, but if you did connect, it was certainly cause for celibration.

 

I will say one thing though. small game hunting was much better in those days. Not so much for squirrels, but Cottontails & Pheasants had much better habitat due to the small farms & practices that dominated agriculture.

Edited by wildcat junkie
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" With age comes wisdom, Grasshopper"

Hehehe....Unfortunately, many other things come with age.

Arthritis, spastic colon, incontinence, erectile dysfunction and many other wonderful conditions...

I remember a quote from George Burns..

" Sex in your eighties is like shooting pool with a rope"....

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I remember cotton "long johns". They would get soaked with sweat going in & after an hour "on stand" at the base of a tree, you'd be shivering.

 

I still see people using cotton long johns for hunting.  I guess if you don't EVER break a sweat you'll be fine but good heavens, today's stuff is just amazing if you understand it.

 

I froze so bad after some of those early morning hikes up the hill in PA.  We'd get so sweated up, even when carrying your coat and top layer.  Then you'd just shiver for hours.................

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Not sure this is true for everyone but it is nice to be called a young whippersnapper.

Much better than being called an old fart.

 

Some pencil neck in the AT&T store called me a "crazy old man" Wednesday night. just because I had a $50 cellphone & was't interested in a $750 iPhone.

 

And I'm the one that's crazy?

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I still see people using cotton long johns for hunting.  I guess if you don't EVER break a sweat you'll be fine but good heavens, today's stuff is just amazing if you understand it.

 

I froze so bad after some of those early morning hikes up the hill in PA.  We'd get so sweated up, even when carrying your coat and top layer.  Then you'd just shiver for hours.................

Just out of curiousity. Where was "the hill in PA. I was born in Butler, graduated from high school in Irwin.

 

Hunted in places from Ligoneer to Clarion. Saltzburg, Freeport, Ford City, etc.

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I was one, and Dad was up at fort Drum then. I will have to make a copy of that add for him to check out. I am sure he was out having some fun with his Browning Sweet 16 whenever he got the chance. I remember always looking forward to that "army food" that he brought back, along with the pheasants, squirrels, rabbits and such.

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22. Rifles for 20 bucks. Now thats gotta be the good times.

 

Cool post. Worth a look over for sure.

Just for a little perspective. When I stated in the steel mill in '69, the pay was just under $3 an hour.

 

In '66 it was probably closer to $2.50 so the .22 for $20 still cost a days good wages before taxes.

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In '69, I was making about $2.00 an hour as a grocery clerk in an A&P store... Genessee beer was 99 cents a six pack... Marlboros were  30 cents a pack... I can't remember what NON- necessities cost...LOL... Gas was around 30 cents a gallon, though....

 

When I got off active duty from the Navy in '73, I went to work for Corning Glass Works as a salaried  lab tech for $130 per week...

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Not to bring up a sore subject but I was interested in the shooting hours times that was posted in that ad ,,

It states 7 to 5 prevailing time ??? I'm not sure I understand the meaning of that??

 

Easy....You started hunting at 7:00 AM and quit at  5:00 PM regardless of whether it was eastern standard time or daylight savings time...

Edited by Pygmy
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Not to bring up a sore subject but I was interested in the shooting hours times that was posted in that ad ,,

It states 7 to 5 prevailing time ??? I'm not sure I understand the meaning of that??

And that would be equal to 30 minutes before and after in the real world. for the most part anyways.

No yotes back then and had all kinds of small game and some say yotes have no impact on game. Riiight!

 

I may be one of the younger old guys at 51 but still remember a few things.

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