Share your stories: My brother and I have discussed the changes in our hunting habits from the time we were teenagers to now; I am 68 and he is 78 years old and have hunted squirrels for 60 and 70 years, respectively. When we were teens, we would get dressed in an older pair of jeans, grab the single shot .22 and a handful of shells and off to the woods 2 blocks from our house. Now I pick between 5 squirrel rifles (22LR, 17 Mach 2 or 17 HMR), taking at least 2 with ammo for both and take along a centerfire in case I see a coyote. And for the heck of it, I strap on a pistol (one of 4). I get dressed in full camo including camo boots. Also throw in my squirrel skinning board, my invention to assist with the process of cleaning squirrels. Must take a cooler to put them in after skinning and a gallon of water for washing them off and my tools for skinning, which is a Buck knife, pruning shears for cutting off feet and head, and pliers. Make sure I take my squirrel calls. I take a stool or folding chair to sit on and a walking/shooting stick. Make sure I throw in my essentials bag with toilet paper, hand cleaning gel, knife sharpener, and sectional cleaning rod. To make sure I don't starve to death, I take few snacks and a thermos of coffee. Sometimes I take a book in case the hunting is unproductive or I just feel like sitting in the woods to read...that means being sure I take my glasses. Once I have loaded all my stuff in the 4-wheel drive vehicle, I drive for an hour to reach the woods.
Hunting: Then and now?
- Thread starter Sniper66
- Start date
- Status
Oh, I forgot to mention that I might take my binoculars and range finder. If I think I might call crows, I take a shotgun, shells, and my calling system. After all this loading and preparing, it's no wonder I fall asleep in the woods
LocoGringo
Member
Sounds like you've learned a lifetime of lessons and certainly evolved in your habits.
Stony
Member
With me it was hiking to the outskirts of a small town in Nebraska with my single shot 12 ga. and however many shells I happened to have at that time in my pocket. Pheasants were an obsession then and we looked forward to that season all year. We would drop off the birds for my mom to clean and head off to school if it was during the week and she was great about it. She would draw the line with ducks though and wouldn't clean them.
T.R.
Member
We used to be limited to rifle season for deer. Our needs were simple: rifle & ammo, Buck knife, toilet paper and a canteen of water. Now we hunt during archery season with crossbows and the early muzzle loader season with an in-line 50 caliber rifle. Lastly, we hunt during the late season "flintlock only" season. Certainly more gear has been added, too. Binoculars, grunt call, hand warmer, folding saw, and additional clothing items. All this extra stuff makes us good Consumers for the economy.
TR
TR
Speedo66
Member
Are you at least getting any more squirrels than you used to?
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
I was always mostly a walking hunter. Travelled light. Minimal but adequate gear. No change in the pattern over a forty-year period of deer hunting. Call it a sixty-year period if my earliest years with my .22 were included.
The good news is I get a lot more squirrels. I've shot my limit 4 times in fall and early winter. And last week set my personal best for a squirrel shot, 125 yards with my Anschutz 17 Mach 2. Having much better equipment and the freedom to go when and where I want yields great results. But, it is fun to reflect on what happened in the past.
alsaqr
Member
i've been hunting for 60+ years and still hunt light. i carry a little water, some ammo, a Buck folding knife, some dried fruit snacks, toilet paper and some biodegradable marking tape.
In my truck is lots of other stuff including water, skinning pliers, gambrel, game hoist, game saw, axe, chainsaw pants, etc.
In my truck is lots of other stuff including water, skinning pliers, gambrel, game hoist, game saw, axe, chainsaw pants, etc.
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2003
- Messages
- 13,341
The two major things that have changed for me are a range finder and I wear much better outdoors clothes now. Tech fabrics and insulated water proof boots beat the snot out of jeans a cotton shirt, denim jacket and leather non waterproof boots. I honestly don't know how I did it back in my youth. And I can tell you for certain that I was hypothermic on more than one occasion while wearing soaking wet clothes in a snow storm in the Rockies.
Which is the reason that I am so adamant about having weather and condition appropriate clothing now days. It can literally be the difference between life and death.
Which is the reason that I am so adamant about having weather and condition appropriate clothing now days. It can literally be the difference between life and death.
Bull Nutria
Member
well when i was a teenager in the mid 1960's no camo was available. if you had a surplus olive drab army field jacket that was the ticket for hunting coats! i never had one but i had a navy coat that my dad had that was better than a field jacket but i soon out grew it!! no insulated underwear either! my grandma told me to were my pajamas under my jeans when i went hunting-- worked well and still does if it is not bitter cold.
when camo came out it was tiger stripe or what they call old school now!! i was so proud to buy my first real camo hunting jacket when i was in college in early 1970s still have it but it has shrunk!!
Hell i turkey hunted with dark brown trousers and camo shirt with a face mask, didn't need a camo gun and max 5 etc.
lots of changes to the hunting world since then. no 3.5 inch magnums .Hell if you had a 3in mag you were hot stuff. also no choke tubes if you wanted a different choke you had a different gun or another barrel. Hell almost no one had anything but a Full choke but some had modified, imp cyl was talked about in gun mags but not many hunters had them!!
no steel shot either, roll your own lead shot loads on a lee loader or MEC and go for it! Steel shot changed a lot of reloading--the components were too expensive.
Oh well that my shot at the old days!
Bull
when camo came out it was tiger stripe or what they call old school now!! i was so proud to buy my first real camo hunting jacket when i was in college in early 1970s still have it but it has shrunk!!
Hell i turkey hunted with dark brown trousers and camo shirt with a face mask, didn't need a camo gun and max 5 etc.
lots of changes to the hunting world since then. no 3.5 inch magnums .Hell if you had a 3in mag you were hot stuff. also no choke tubes if you wanted a different choke you had a different gun or another barrel. Hell almost no one had anything but a Full choke but some had modified, imp cyl was talked about in gun mags but not many hunters had them!!
no steel shot either, roll your own lead shot loads on a lee loader or MEC and go for it! Steel shot changed a lot of reloading--the components were too expensive.
Oh well that my shot at the old days!
Bull
Bull Nutria
Member
Also no plastic shotgun shells only paper!if they got wet or damp they swole up and had to be forced in the chamber. forget about putting damp shell in a pump or auto.
when plastic shells came out most sporting good stores had a gallon jug with a plastic shells in it under water--- as a very effective advertisement!! if i recall that was in about 1963 or 64?? anyone know for sure when plastic shells came out??
Bull
when plastic shells came out most sporting good stores had a gallon jug with a plastic shells in it under water--- as a very effective advertisement!! if i recall that was in about 1963 or 64?? anyone know for sure when plastic shells came out??
Bull
huntsman
Member
Back before steel shot we used to combine our duck and grouse hunting, trapping /scouting with hunting, I was an opportunist not a specialist.
We didn't have much money so my guns were my Old Man's and a with a limited amount, ammo was always a concern.
Old barn boots with holes, canvas gloves and a hand-me-down shell vest was about it gear wise but my B-day is in October so I'd get a box of shotshells a a new Jones Hat every year.
We didn't have much money so my guns were my Old Man's and a with a limited amount, ammo was always a concern.
Old barn boots with holes, canvas gloves and a hand-me-down shell vest was about it gear wise but my B-day is in October so I'd get a box of shotshells a a new Jones Hat every year.
cammogunner
Member
wow great thread it is awesome to read how it was done back in the 60s 50s its good to remind crazy young bucks like me you dont need all this stuff on the market to kill a deer.
I'm not old enough to remember the 50's-60's. I started hunting about 1970 with a BB gun. We moved into a new home in 1972 during my 8th grade year with a huge wooded tract behind the house. Back then no one really cared who hunted there and I spent all of my high school and college years all over that tract of land. It was several hundred acres,maybe over 1000, with 2 old Bauxite mines on it that made great target shooting areas.
In those days seeing a deer track in most of Georgia would cause excitement, so I was small game hunting with a shotgun or 22.
By the time I graduated HS in 1976 there were a few deer, I bought a 30-06 and killed a decent 8 point buck my first year and have been hunting every chance since.
Turkey were just being re-introduced and it took me YEARS before I finally connected on one. Most frustrating animal I've ever hunted. They taunt you, but won't come close enough so often. At least a deer will just move on without letting you know he was ever there.
I stumbled onto a honey hole for waterfowl about 15 years ago. It was on public land about 10 miles from the house. I used to kill a limit of ducks every Saturday within about 15 minutes and come home, cook breakfast for the wife and kids. I had to wake them up. That was a closely guarded secret for about 5 years, before others started showing up and over hunted it. The land has since been sold and a factory built right next to it. Too close to safely hunt there anymore.
I don't really small game hunt much anymore, at least not in a serious way. Squirrel season ends Feb 28, turkey opens mid March. I'll carry a 22 and do some woods walking near the end of Feb, but I'm really scouting for turkey. Just carry the 22 just in case a rabbit or squirrel is dumb enough to get close and stand still.
In those days seeing a deer track in most of Georgia would cause excitement, so I was small game hunting with a shotgun or 22.
By the time I graduated HS in 1976 there were a few deer, I bought a 30-06 and killed a decent 8 point buck my first year and have been hunting every chance since.
Turkey were just being re-introduced and it took me YEARS before I finally connected on one. Most frustrating animal I've ever hunted. They taunt you, but won't come close enough so often. At least a deer will just move on without letting you know he was ever there.
I stumbled onto a honey hole for waterfowl about 15 years ago. It was on public land about 10 miles from the house. I used to kill a limit of ducks every Saturday within about 15 minutes and come home, cook breakfast for the wife and kids. I had to wake them up. That was a closely guarded secret for about 5 years, before others started showing up and over hunted it. The land has since been sold and a factory built right next to it. Too close to safely hunt there anymore.
I don't really small game hunt much anymore, at least not in a serious way. Squirrel season ends Feb 28, turkey opens mid March. I'll carry a 22 and do some woods walking near the end of Feb, but I'm really scouting for turkey. Just carry the 22 just in case a rabbit or squirrel is dumb enough to get close and stand still.
I'd have to agree with H & H on the clothing. The surplus wool pants and wool coat with rubberized surplus waterproof bibs and ponchos worked o.k., but the
goretex (or similar membrane)-polyester bibs and coats are far better for multiday hunting trips. Still do wear wool shirts. The availability of the surplus military white and black "mouse boots " for extreme cold has really helped us out. Polypropylene underwear and socks was a godsend. Availability of surplus military sealskin socks helped a bunch. Thinsulate pac boots we wear all winter. And the knowledge gained from experience of what to wear when.
AA headlamps when they first came out. More recently the LED headlamps may have made the most impact for us or a close second.
The oversized plastic stirrups to fit pac boots has been a biggy as well. They are so comfortable we use them year round on all saddles. Really saves the bottom of your feet and knees, plus you don't have to keep flipping them over when they warp every couple hundred miles.
Hunting tactics and logistics and the horse training, gained from experience, have changed quite a bit.
goretex (or similar membrane)-polyester bibs and coats are far better for multiday hunting trips. Still do wear wool shirts. The availability of the surplus military white and black "mouse boots " for extreme cold has really helped us out. Polypropylene underwear and socks was a godsend. Availability of surplus military sealskin socks helped a bunch. Thinsulate pac boots we wear all winter. And the knowledge gained from experience of what to wear when.
AA headlamps when they first came out. More recently the LED headlamps may have made the most impact for us or a close second.
The oversized plastic stirrups to fit pac boots has been a biggy as well. They are so comfortable we use them year round on all saddles. Really saves the bottom of your feet and knees, plus you don't have to keep flipping them over when they warp every couple hundred miles.
Hunting tactics and logistics and the horse training, gained from experience, have changed quite a bit.
Last edited:
bearman49709
Member
Squirrel hunting was done with a single shot .22 LR or single shot 16 ga, high top boots, bluegenes, t-shirt and a vest or coat.
Now I use a Browning A-bolt .22 LR or Remington 597 .22 LR, Rocky boots, BDU pants so I can stuff a plastic grocey bag in the cargo pocket to sit on if I want to sit, t-shirt and vest or coat.
And the most important of all my S&W 629 8 3/8" .44 mag, I came within 25 feet of a sow and two cubs once while hunting squirrels and realised just how small a .22 LR is!
Now I use a Browning A-bolt .22 LR or Remington 597 .22 LR, Rocky boots, BDU pants so I can stuff a plastic grocey bag in the cargo pocket to sit on if I want to sit, t-shirt and vest or coat.
And the most important of all my S&W 629 8 3/8" .44 mag, I came within 25 feet of a sow and two cubs once while hunting squirrels and realised just how small a .22 LR is!
moxie
Member
Agree with H&H. Growing up in Mass. while hunting my feet were wet and/or freezing all the time. Hunting in the Rockies with combat boots and wool socks meant freezing feet by mid-morning. Modern tech and a better budget have changed all that. Wish I could still ski. That's changed for the better too.
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
As a kid in WW II, age 7-11, it was my grandfather's .22 rifle and me in short pants and barefooted. The only instruction I recall was, "Now, don't shoot a cow." I had the run of some 250 acres, and for sure I ran them all.
Other learning: Do not wear short pants and go horseback riding with a McClellan saddle. And the drawback to plowing behind a horse is that the view never improves--and you'll be reminded of that when you observe politicians.
Other learning: Do not wear short pants and go horseback riding with a McClellan saddle. And the drawback to plowing behind a horse is that the view never improves--and you'll be reminded of that when you observe politicians.
Sullyman
Member
Early 1970's. Going for pheasant after school. Left the Shotgun in the car during school. Headed for the farm after the last class.
Today........you fill in the blanks...................
Today........you fill in the blanks...................
Johnny_B_Goode
member
The only thing that has changed in the lasr 40 years of hunting is I have become an opportunist. When I was younger I used to hunt small game some where every time I had a chance. Now I only hunt in places that have so much game if you kick a rock you will kill something.
- Status
