Deer hunting techniques from the past: Firelighting

[Northcountryman]

Hey Guys , copied this portion of an old essay On Deer Hunting written by John James Audubon Back in  1831. Upon reading , struck me as a crude form of deer jacking , except torch lighting is used instead of headlights !! 
 

Check it out :

The mode of destroying deer by fire-light, or, as it is named in some parts of the country, forest-light, never fails to produce a very singular feeling in him who witnesses it for the first time. There is something in it which at times appears awfully grand. At other times a certain degree of fear creeps over the mind, and even affects the physical powers of him who follows the hunter through the thick undergrowth of our woods, having to leap his horse over hundreds of huge fallen trunks, at one time impeded by a straggling grape-vine crossing his path, at another squeezed between two stubborn saplings, whilst their twigs come smack in his face, as his companion has forced his way through them. Again, he now and then runs the risk of breaking his neck, by being suddenly pitched headlong on the ground, as his horse sinks into a hole covered over with moss. But I must proceed in a more regular manner, and leave you, kind reader, to judge whether such a mode of hunting would suit your taste or not.

The hunter has returned to his camp or his house, has rested and eaten of his game. He waits impatiently for the return of night. He has procured a quantity of pine knots filled with resinous matter, and has an old frying-pan, that, for aught I know to the contrary, may have been used by his great-grandmother, in which the pine-knots are to be placed when lighted. The horses stand saddled at the door. The hunter comes forth, his rifle slung on his shoulder, and springs upon one of them, while his son, or a servant, mounts the other with the frying-pan and the pine-knots. Thus accoutred, they proceed towards the interior of the forest. When they have arrived at the spot where the hunt is to begin, they strike fire with a flint and steel, and kindle the resinous wood. The person who carries the fire moves in the direction judged to be the best. The blaze illuminates the near objects, but the distant parts seem involved in deepest obscurity. The hunter who bears the gun keeps immediately in front, and after a while discovers before him two feeble lights, which are produced by the reflection of the pine-fire from the eyes of an animal of the Deer or Wolf kind. The animal stands quite still. To one unacquainted with this strange mode of hunting, the glare from its eyes might bring to his imagination some lost hobgoblin that had strayed from its usual haunts. The hunter, however, nowise intimidated, approaches the object, sometimes so near as to discern its form, when, raising the rifle to his shoulder, he fires and kills it on the spot. He then dismounts, secures the skin and such portions of the flesh as he may want, in the manner already described, and continues his search through the greater part of the night, sometimes until the dawn of day, shooting from five to ten Deer, should these animals be plentiful. This kind of hunting proves fatal, not to the Deer alone, but also sometimes to Wolves, and now and then to a horse or cow, which may have straggled far into the woods.

 

[suburbanfarmer]

Different era , different strokes

[The_Real_TCIII]

It's worth a try


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[Enigma]

I think there was a period of time when the preferred method of hunting deer in the Adirondacks was chase them with people and dogs into a lake. People would row up on the swimming deer and pop it in the head with a rifle, throw a rope over it and tow it back to shore. It was more "sporting" than waitng in one spot to ambush one. Pretty sure it was pre NYS regs or licenses. The good old days lol.

Edited December 28, 2020 by Enigma
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[Northcountryman]

Really , where did you get that info? I’d like to check it out 

[The_Real_TCIII]

I think there was a period of time when the preferred method of hunting deer in the Adirondacks was chase them with people and dogs into a lake. People would row up on the swimming deer and pop it in the head with a rifle, throw a rope over it and tow it back to shore. It was more "sporting" than waitng in one spot to ambush one. Pretty sure it was pre NYS regs or licenses. The good old days lol.

Also worth a try


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[Daveboone]

I've read of the dogs/water and the torchlight shooting a number of times. Remember...150  years or more ago there weren't any seasons either. Bagging a deer by any method was allowable as was unlimited trout fishing. The "sports" would literally fill barrels with the local trout. The Blue Mountain Lake Museum has had in the past a great display on the history /story of ADK hunting and all of the methods used. I always enjoyed the display of great historic arms showcased.

[Enigma]

2 hours ago, Northcountryman said:

Really , where did you get that info? I’d like to check it out 

A book I picked up at OF Hardware during a camping trip. I have it somewhere. Cannot for the life of me remeber the title precisely. "History of large animals in NYS" or somehing. Now I gotta go find it . . . 

[Enigma]

1 hour ago, Daveboone said:

I've read of the dogs/water and the torchlight shooting a number of times. Remember...150  years or more ago there weren't any seasons either. Bagging a deer by any method was allowable as was unlimited trout fishing. The "sports" would literally fill barrels with the local trout. The Blue Mountain Lake Museum has had in the past a great display on the history /story of ADK hunting and all of the methods used. I always enjoyed the display of great historic arms showcased.

Torchlight . . . from the boat! Ease up to the shoreline with a latern in the bow. Shine and shoot. The DEC frowns on this practice nowadays. Just saying.  

[The_Real_TCIII]

A book I picked up at OF Hardware during a camping trip. I have it somewhere. Cannot for the life of me remeber the title precisely. "History of large animals in NYS" or somehing. Now I gotta go find it . . . 

I love that store


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[mlammerhirt]

Just looked up OF Hardware.......what a throwback in time. I gotta stop there someday.

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