I remember

[Doc]

There is no question that hunting is being eased out of our heritage and culture. I was just thinking how things have changed, just over the course of my life, regarding how society sees hunting.

I remember when:

The gun hunting course was conducted in the school bus garage.

I used to go to school with my hunting knife hanging on my belt after running my trapline.

Kids used to actually look forward to the age when they could legally hunt.

Opening day of deer season was an approved absence from school.

Monday mornings at work found a rather large circle of us friends discussing the weekend hunt.

It was exciting conversation when your buddies saw a deer while bowhunting........Buck, doe, adult, fawn.....any deer at all.

The topic of antler scores never came up. We didn't rate our deer hunting activities in terms of "scores".

Thanksgiving day dinners were delayed until suppertime so all the men could hunt.

Whenever a group of men gathered for any occasion, hunting stories dominated the conversations.

Discussions about hunting did not focus on the latest technology or equipment.

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Does anyone else remember how things have changed regarding hunting in our lives and society?

 

[Gobbler Chaser]

Yep, I remember when every little state Rd motel was booked one end to the other and all you saw was blaze orange. The local gin mills were packed with hunters at night many hoping to score on the local women, lol. Diners were packed with hunters every morning.

Now it seems like hunting season doesn't even happen.  Young people just don't seem to have a desire for it

[Swamp_bucks]

Was just talking to a guy down here at work who just got into hunting.  Told him how packed everything used to be during gun season and it's just not like that anymore.  However I know of a bunch of kids and women getting into it now so I still have hope that it will somewhat grow.  I don't think it will ever be what it used to be but that's why it's up to the people still involved in it to carry on the traditions and stories. Try and recruit as many people as possible. 

Celebrate every harvest just because it may not be a trophy to one person it may be a trophy for the other.  

I get just as excited if one of my friends or family shoots a spike or a big 8.  

 

[Grouse]

I remember when some of the gas stations in town ran big buck contests and hunters were allowed to hang their deer on a pole hung at the gas station.  We used to pull in to see the deer hanging there.  There were 10 or 20 deer hanging and many were really big.  Back then, everyone aged their deer too.  A big buck needed to be hung for at least a week in the right temperatures.

[Doc]

I remember when we used to drive around looking at all the deer that hung in people's front yards.

I remember when deer used to be displayed on the fenders and roofs of cars when hunters drove home.

I remember climbing the hill across the road about half-way in the dark on opening morning and watching the long stream of cars heading down the road, bumper-to-bumper. Today that same road  on opening morning looks like any other day.

I remember when I was a kid waiting for the bus, on opening morning, the surrounding woods in the valley sounded like some kind of war zone. Now there is a little spurt before and after the first legal shooting hours that trail off into very sporadic occasional shots.

[diplomat019]

I remember reading about parking wars at state forests between pheasant hunters and deer hunters…..

[Just Lucky]

Hunting was a family event. With the decline of family values, hunting is just one bonding activity no longer practiced.

I have 3 children.  2 of them hunted when teens. Now only 1 hunts. The other lost interest when he seen a deer die in front of him. The one that never hunted with me would have rather hung out with mom, she is all girl.

Now I have my grandson, who will be 4 this year as my " hunting partner". He went out with me a few times last year, doesn't sit still, not quiet, asks about everthing that he finds. We even got to see deer, and track one. He knows what acorns are and even brought home deer poop in his pocket to show mema.

I remember the old days well, but am certainly looking foward to the new days 

[CharlieNY]

I remember when you needed 4 hunters to apply for a single doe permit. I was a teenager then and was put in charge of doing the paperwork. I would have to bring the application around to the 4 hunters and have them sign it and attach the stubs from their hunting license to the application which was the procedure back then. I would then mail it in and wait for the results in the mail.       valoroutdoors.com 

[skully]

I remember when they moved opening gun day to sat to get more kids involved.  It was stupid and didnt work.  Then they follow it up with a stupid youth season....  It was stupid didnt work.   Whats next.................

[Grouse]

Back in the 60's if you hunted from a "tree stand" it was a wooden platform you built in a tree.  It was nice not having to carry a climber into the woods and you could be much quieter.  Of course if you didn't maintain it, you were risking your life in it, so there's that.

[The_Real_TCIII]

I remember when they moved opening gun day to sat to get more kids involved.  It was stupid and didnt work.  Then they follow it up with a stupid youth season....  It was stupid didnt work.   Whats next.................

Post of the year


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[Grouse]

I remember buying my first shotgun at Montgomery Ward.  Sears had guns in stock too.  I also bought a Ruger M77 in 30-06 at a Hermann's in a mall and walked through the mall with it to take it home.  Nobody even blinked an eye at such things years ago.

Edited August 21, 2021 by Grouse

[airedale]

About all I will say is I am so happy to have lived during the time period I did, they really were the "Good Old Days" compared to the mess we live in today.

Al

[squirrelwhisperer]

I have two sons, my little man and my little squirrel...guess which one loves to go fishing and hunting with the old man. I ask the older one all the time to join us but he is more interested in his video games and his girlfriend. 

 

Edited August 21, 2021 by squirrelwhisperer

[steve863]

3 hours ago, skully said:

 Then they follow it up with a stupid youth season....  It was stupid didnt work.   Whats next.................

Maybe some think it's stupid and it doesn't bring in many youth but it sure will be nice being out there with my son and him having a chance at a deer with rifle before the regular November season.  And I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who feels this way.

[Nytracker]

Pots and pan deer drives ... large groups of family hunting entire hills and valleys . 

Going in at dark with a canteen and PBJ sandwiches.  Coming out after dark . No stands still hunting . 

Getting dropped of alongside a highway at 6 am and hunting 5 miles back down a ridge line to be picked up at dark by my mom  on the way home from work  at 5 pm .

Stopping at the dec  check stations checking out the deer being inspected.

Buying slugs at jc penny at the mall.

Deer strapped to top of the family wagon.

Successful  hunters treated like heroes  not villafied. 

Sitting next to potbelly stove listening to my great uncles and gramps talk about the good old days .. scorching my Woolrich pants while dosing off. 

 Great memories. 

[wolc123]

1 hour ago, steve863 said:

Maybe some think it's stupid and it doesn't bring in many youth but it sure will be nice being out there with my son and him having a chance at a deer with rifle before the regular November season.  And I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who feels this way.

I like the Saturday opener a lot better.  It sucked having to burn a vacation day or skip school when it was on a Monday.  Sure there is less oortunity for pre season drinking and partying now, but it is supposed to be about hunting.

Edited August 21, 2021 by wolc123

[crappyice]

I remember when things change and the hunting community that gathered in diners and driveways now meets in the “Live from the woods” thread prior to and post the hunt to share stories with like-minded sportsman from across the state and to form some pretty cool and unique friendships.

My first hunt was after college (25 years ago) so I had no experience of those days of pulling off the road and just hunting tracts off land and checkpoints and full motels (even then the hunting numbers seemed down - prior to serious pocket internet and cell phones).

I’m already too old to regret the life we have (while living it) and will look to make new traditions since going backwards is rarely a possibility.


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[The_Real_TCIII]

About all I will say is I am so happy to have lived during the time period I did, they really were the "Good Old Days" compared to the mess we live in today.
Al

Five years from now these will be the good old days


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[diplomat019]

4 hours ago, airedale said:

About all I will say is I am so happy to have lived during the time period I did, they really were the "Good Old Days" compared to the mess we live in today.

Al

You know what’s funny about this sentiment. I was born in ‘83 and I did the bulk of my growing up in the 90’s and early 2000’s and i romanticize it when i think about my kids today.   And I was told by my family that when they grew up it was the heyday.   I think its all relative. I loved when i grew up and I wouldn’t change one thing about it, yet you might want to change everything.  Not that you aren’t wrong, but it’s funny to think about how we look at our formative years as “the golden age”. 

[Robhuntandfish]

5 hours ago, squirrelwhisperer said:

I have two sons, my little man and my little squirrel...guess which one loves to go fishing and hunting with the old man. I ask the older one all the time to join us but he is more interested in his video games and his girlfriend. 

 

Didn't we all have those years. Chasing tail instead of whitetail.  College years I think I hunted once.  But I came back to it.  

[grampy]

I Remember.......

No posted signs. Neighbors hunted our land, and us theirs.

We wore overalls and flannel, no camo. And those thin rubber boots that your feet always froze in.

When someone got a deer, it was story time! You told the story or listened to it over and over!

It was also a get together, with a few hands to make that deer ready for the freezer. And everyone there, took a little venison home.

Dividing up slugs, so we all had the same amount.

Younger hunters ALWAYS dragged deer for the older hunters. 

Younger hunters were mostly given first choice on hunting spots. Older hunters still killed more deer.

If you shot, and didn't have a deer to show for it, you had some explaining to do! And likely would lose your shirt tail!

Deer drives on Thanksgiving morning.

If someone shot "a buck" a few miles away, we all went to see it!

Just a few memories here. I could go on and on. Good times.

 

 

[First-light]

I remember it too. Keep your neighbors close and work with them. Times change and we are the ones to keep it going. Being self centered doesn't work. Enjoy your property and at times share it with new hunters. It will pay back in droves. Sorry  you just can't bring a hunting knife to school these days, I wouldn't want it. But back in the day cool. Very different world of when Doc was a kid. Keep on mentoring and sharing what you can. Hunting will live on for further generations. 

[Doc]

I love these reminiscing threads. It is so great to enjoy the times that so many of us experienced growing up. It does help understand attitudes and where people are coming from with their opinions.  

[Grouse]

I can recall when more people hunted with station wagons than pick up trucks.  Probably because you could fit up to 6 hunters in them and still have inside room for all of their gear.  Then people started getting Jeep Wagoneers, because they were like having a 4WD station wagon.