Vintage Hunting Photos (Good Old Days)

[airedale]

Back in the 30s and 40s there were huge Jack Rabbit population explosions out west, they ate everything in sight and  there were so many that the people could not afford to waste bullets on them to try and get them under control. My Dad was stationed on a base in Corpus Christi Texas back then and was involved in several drives trying to get the Rabbit population under control. When the circle was closed Clubbing and Stomping was the method used to kill them. Dad said those drives were wild and crazy.

Al

[bugsNbows]

Wow. Wouldn't the PETA folks have a coronary over that.

[jperch]

That is a big wow.  I wonder how the populations rose to such a level?  Were some predators removed from the area that would ordinarily keep the jack rabbit population in check?

[Pygmy]

Looks like Saturday night down here in Dogpatch in the early/mid 1960s.....Except for the rabbits.....Hehehehe...

[Grouse]

Bill Cody - 1871

Edited December 24, 2022 by Grouse

[wolc123]

2 hours ago, Grouse said:

Bill Cody - 1871

He looks a lot like George Custer.  
 

[Grouse]

General George Armstrong Custer and his hunting party with Custer's first grizzly taken in South Dakota on the Black Hills Expedition. Pictured next to General Custer is Colonel Ludlow, both are dressed in buckskins.

[wolc123]

5 hours ago, Grouse said:

General George Armstrong Custer and his hunting party with Custer's first grizzly taken in South Dakota on the Black Hills Expedition. Pictured next to General Custer is Colonel Ludlow, both are dressed in buckskins.

One interesting Custer hunting story, was about the time when he was left stranded alone and deep in Indian territory out on the plains, after he accidentally shot his horse.  
 

His favorite Buffalo hunting method, was to ride up next to a bison as it was pursued by his dogs, and dispatch it with his revolver.
 

A shot went astray that time, catching his favorite horse in the brain.  Fortunately, the luck that he was famous for held that time, and he found his way back to his command on foot.  
 

  
 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2022 by wolc123

[Grouse]

Here's a piece of Maine hunting heritage... From left, L.L. Bean, Benjamin Swett (Bean’s uncle), Levi Patterson and Louie Swett (Bean’s cousin) wear prototypes of Bean's Maine hunting shoe in this first winter hunting field test circa 1911.

[airedale]

The Bean Maine hunting boot is a favorite of mine for certain conditions, they are old school but tough to beat. I have two pair one with the thinsulate liner for wet cold days and a regular 8 inch pair for all around.

Al

Edited December 27, 2022 by airedale

[Grouse]

[Grouse]

Shot sometime in 1939, Roosevelt Luckey’s buck has held the record in New York for 83 years. Taken in Allegany County, it ranks No. 33 all-time. A massive 14-pointer, it doesn’t do much in the spread department, with only 18 1/8 inches inside. However, its beams are quite impressive, measuring 29 5/8 and 29 4/8 inches. The record buck’s brow tines are also only 3 inches, but each of its G2s, G3s, and G4s range between 10 4/8 and 14 1/8 inches. Furthermore, three of eight mass measurements are well over 6 inches.

[airedale]

Have seen the Roosevelt Luckey buck several times on display at the DEC conservation exhibit on the NY State fairgrounds, an impressive rack for sure.

Al

[Grouse]

Early fall Montana hunt. "Shields Hunting Party" photo by L.A. Huffman circa 1881.

[Grouse]

Mackinaw, MI circa 1950's

[Grouse]

[bugsNbows]

Love the Fred Bear pic.

[airedale]

Because so much time has passed Teddy Roosevelt these days does not come to mind when it comes Hunting literature, but after reading several of his books written about hunting I came away impressed with his overall knowledge and writing styles that kept my interest. All his stuff is now available in new paperback or on Amazon kindle and well worth reading if you are a book worm. He had a bunch of books published, below are a couple I liked.

Al

Edited January 5, 2023 by airedale

[Grouse]

Southeast Alaska 1906

[suburbanfarmer]

On 1/1/2023 at 7:45 AM, airedale said:

Have seen the Roosevelt Luckey buck several times on display at the DEC conservation exhibit on the NY State fairgrounds, an impressive rack for sure.

Al

https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/administration_pdf/0210caseclosed.pdf

[Grouse]

[Grouse]

[Grouse]

Warren Archibald’s ‘cat’

Animal lovers might squirm at this story about Warren Archibald and his ‘pet’ bobcat.

Actually, it wasn’t really a bobcat that Warren took for walks in downtown Margaretville in 1922. Nor was it an “American panther,” “puma,” “mountain lion” or “wildcat,” as variously reported in news accounts. It was an Indian lynx, at least according to an article written for the Kingston Freeman and republished in the Catskill Mountain News March 10, 1922.

That story explained that the 40-pound cat was lodging at a Kingston garage while owners Warren and Iris Archibald and their son Andrew wintered in Florida. The Freeman said its cry was a “cross between an African lion and the bray of a donkey,” it enjoyed playing with visitors and it spent its days in the window of a second floor room watching activity on Clinton Avenue and the traffic on the U&D railroad. The story said the cat seemed to like riding on the running board of the family’s seven-passenger Cadillac, “viewing the scenery and eating . . .tidbits . . . dropped over the side of the car for him.”

Warren reportedly bought the animal as a cub for $125 from a trapper in Montana. In November of 1922, while walking it on a leash on Main Street, he told the News that Dr. Reuben Smith, the local vet, had removed a couple of teeth “that were troubling the cub.” The Archibalds took the cat, named “Ted,” to Florida with them that winter and in February of 1923 it had its 15 minutes of fame as the subject of a Pathe short film that was screened at the Galli-Curci Theatre that April. The New York Tribune also carried a photo of Warren and his “large lynx or wold cat” in Florida in February.

On April 4, 1923, the News reported that the Archibalds had returned from the south with their dog, and a pair of three-year-old alligators. Ted the lynx, the paper said, “died a short time ago.” An abrupt and unexplained conclusion to a short but storied life.

[Grouse]

[Eric J]

On 12/18/2022 at 1:42 PM, jperch said:

That is a big wow.  I wonder how the populations rose to such a level?  Were some predators removed from the area that would ordinarily keep the jack rabbit population in check?

I'm sure people shot the Coyotes, cats, etc... plus Big farms popped up.. so more food... less predator's.. = Rabbit Boom!  lol