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Things We Did Not Have

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Things We Did Not Have

Postby Swede » 02 05, 2019 •  [Post 1]

I have been thinking about my hunts from days gone by and it occurred to me how it was easy to load the pickup for a good hunting trip. We just did not carry a lot of the things we consider important today.
Here are a few things that come to mind.
1. We never had a cooler. Canned goods smoked or salted meat was the way to go. If something would be better kept cool, it went in the creek or spring. We had no soda pop, juice or beer.
2. I gun hunted, but had iron sights.
3. Dad, and later I had two wheel drive pickups. We always had chains and a high lift jack just in case.
4. The Coleman lantern and stove were fueled with white gas. Things were getting modern then.
5. Every clothing item was cotton or wool except for boots and a hat if you had one.
6. tools and nails were carried in case of a truck break down, and to build things. We did not haul stuff to camp but usually found things left in the forest like old boards around abandoned camps or homesteads.

Except for electronic gadgets what else did you do without years ago, and what difference does having the modern stuff make as far as the enjoyment of the hunt goes?
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby saddlesore » 02 05, 2019 •  [Post 2]

My first hunts,we didn't have a tent. We had canvas tarp, you layed it down, layed your bed roll out and the folded the bottom of the tarp up over you and the bed roll. We did all our cooking on an open campfire.The time between throwing the tarp aside in the morning and getting a fire going was pretty cold.

We used kerosene lanterns that didn't throw much light and about every two days you had to scrub the globes. I still have two big ones and three smaller ones.

Flash lights were pretty poor then, only taking two D size batteries and you sure had to ration out their use.

Boots were felt packs in what we called 5 buckle artics. Like the rubber boot over shoes today,but with 5 buckles instead of four.My hunting coat was 3/4 length wool army coat that we sewed red material on the back and front.Warm,but heavy No day packs,you took what you needed in your pockets

Binoculars were WWII surplus.
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 02 05, 2019 •  [Post 3]

I'm not quite as seasoned as you salts, but I'm trying to catch up; will celebrate my 60th in May this year. If we had good boots, they were Sorrels with the felt liner, and we always put a wonder bread plastic sack over our wool socks before the boots went on. Packboards.... real pack boards with shoulder straps about an inch wide... those were loads of fun. Yep, wool pants for snow and really any kind of cold weather hunting; they were great until they soaked through to your tailpipe and added 25 pounds to your total weight. Sheathed knifes on our gun belts, a roll of flagging tape in our pockets, and a few snacks stuffed in our pockets was really the only gear we used to "head in" with. Come to think about it, I barely remember packing water on hunts when I was younger; how in the heck did I get away with that (musta drank from the creeks or ate snow)? I can't remember ever packing binoculars in the early days, and, I have always carried a compass, that's something my pop insisted upon. Ya, modern waterproof/lightweight boots, all in one packs, moisture wicking clothing, electronics (GPS, rangefinders, etc.), ultra-light game bags, high end, crystal clear binos, etc. were all but pipe dreams back in the day. How in the heck did we do it? :lol:

Edit: Ya, and it wasn't too rough to pack the truck as you mentioned Swede. Canvas tent with a half bale of straw for the floor; Coleman stove/lantern, something to scoop water out of the creek for drinking and camp cooking (no need to filter back then); a tarp or two; gun/rifle, packboard, old pillow cases for game bags, rope to tie up a meat pole, chainsaw/axe, tire chains like you mentioned (never went anywhere without them), and.... most of the gear would almost fit in the saw box ;). If it was just me and my buddy, food was nothing fancy at all but if it was one of my pop's hunting camps, chow was a "bit" more extravagant for all the camp folks.
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby Swede » 02 05, 2019 •  [Post 4]

You guys sure brought back some memories. We always had a tent. We had the flashlight that used two D cell batteries. I still have a couple of them. On is my old Boy Scout flashlight.
I remember the kerosene lantern, but we had that at home. I don't remember ever having one in camp. Living in the forest, the power went out with every storm. The kerosene lantern was never put away.
We had no water containers either or a compass. We drank from the creeks. One time when I was logging in the Spring I drank some runoff water that made me sick for a few hours, but that was the only problem I ever encountered from drinking water in the forest. We used our pockets to carry our lunch, and had no day pack or pack frame either. Dad cut timber for his living, but we never took a chain saw along. If he threw the chain saw in the truck we were cutting wood. A gun may go in the truck just in case.
The gun in the truck for "just in case" paid off once for me. I got a good buck to fill my tag, but that is another story for another thread.
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby Lefty » 02 05, 2019 •  [Post 5]

My dad converted a bus so we had a nice heated camp.
My first day deer hunting it was -10. My 2nd year the deer hut was closed in Mn. We hunted Saskatchewan. Moose mountain. Saw my first ever elk.Every morning was subzero I had layers of wool pants and jackets.Remember the new synthetic quilted thermals
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby Indian Summer » 02 06, 2019 •  [Post 6]

I remember elkless elk hunts.
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby saddlesore » 02 06, 2019 •  [Post 7]

Lefty wrote:My dad converted a bus so we had a nice heated camp.
My first day deer hunting it was -10. My 2nd year the deer hut was closed in Mn. We hunted Saskatchewan. Moose mountain. Saw my first ever elk.Every morning was subzero I had layers of wool pants and jackets.Remember the new synthetic quilted thermals

I had a pair of those quilted thermals.Bought in about 72 I guess. Darn improvement over the knit cotton ones.I never had a set of the full length long johns. I was so short, I could never find a pair where the trap door was in the wrong place.
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby BrentLaBere » 02 06, 2019 •  [Post 8]

Cant compare anything on hunting and camping trips. But when I first started hunting one of my parents would drive me to the area I had permission to bow hunt and drop me off with a radio. It was close enough to home where I could call when I was done. No camo was the big one. Loud bulky snow pants and a starter jacket. Those bomber hats were sure nice and warm but you could never hear a deer coming through the trees. I did have a nice burlap sack converted into a poncho that I wore. I can still smell the potatoes from my grandpas cellar
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby VT Sasquatch » 02 06, 2019 •  [Post 9]

I am only in my 40s and I grew up in an urban area (immediate suburb of Philadelphia but lots of row homes, twins and singles on 1/6th acre lots) No one in my family hunts other than me. My father took us backpacking as kids and we did other outdoor activities. I became interested in hunting by reading Field and Stream in my school library. As a result, I had no one teach me the basics. Before the internet, my idea of cold weather gear was wearing a pair of cotton sweat pant under a loose pair of jeans and three pairs of cotton socks. I wore Timberland boots and had never heard of Gore Tex.
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby VT Sasquatch » 02 06, 2019 •  [Post 10]

Also, when I "came out" as a hunter, I took some heat. It was not easy breaking it to my mother, sisters and girlfriend that I wanted to go hunting. Hunting was not part of the culture around here. I remember telling my girlfriend that I wanted to go turkey hunting and she went into a rage saying that she hoped a turkey would shoot me. She got over it. I had so many people looking at me like I was heartless that it was really uncomfortable. Sorry to get off topic.
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby Swede » 02 06, 2019 •  [Post 11]

VT, that was part of where you started. I am glad you kept on hunting. Did you keep the same girlfriend? :lol: Where I came from hunting was a part of the culture. The first Monday of deer season the school was closed. I took the first week off and often more.
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby VT Sasquatch » 02 06, 2019 •  [Post 12]

The girlfriend was a sweetheart but just had a soft spot for animals. She got over it. We were together for 7 years beginning in high school. Unfortunately, she passed away. She was a phenomenal person.

My father didn't quite understand my interest but he supported me. He got me .22 rifle for Christmas when I was 17 and that's when I really started rolling with it by chasing squirrels at a property we have in the country (90 minutes from home). I learned a year or two later that there were hunting seasons and that you needed a license (duh!).

When I got that rifle for Christmas, my oldest sister who is very much a bleeding-heart lefty hassled me over it. I felt like I was disappointing my family with some perverse desire. She has come around too. Not enough to let her sons hunt but enough that there is quiet acceptance. She is a great person too but is a medical doctor who wants to cure all of the world's ills.

I have been fishing since early childhood. I was also the only one in my immediate family that took a real interest in fishing. When I got to high school I made friends with some other guys that liked to fish. A couple of them hunted and I stayed friends with them after high school. They are the ones that eventually got me to buy a shotgun and get a license so I could chase pheasant with them when I was 19.

I could tell you stories. For example, PA requires blaze orange to hunt pheasants. I learned this when I got to the place in the country after stopping to buy my license on the way up. (no one asked me about a safety course). As I read the rule book, I realized that blaze orange is required. Neither I nor the friend that I had recruited to go (not previously a hunter) had blaze orange. Rather than give up, we found some old life jackets in the barn and wore them over our clothes. this kind: https://www.bing.com/images/search?view ... &eim=1,2,6 Ours were old and faded though.

We looked like idiots. My buddy ground swatted a grouse and was all upset thinking he had shot a baby hawk. We went through a book his uncle had given him and realized that he had bagged a "ruffled" grouse. We were ecstatic!
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby saddlesore » 02 06, 2019 •  [Post 13]

One thing I forgot about was knives. Most everyone carried some sort of military bayonet that was cut down.I still have my father's. I'm thinking it is a newer WWII one that fit on a M1.

Most common rifles were old military ones. Oberndorf, 8mm or, 30-40 Kraig. More affluent hunters had the Model 94,30-30's.
My first deer hunt was with a single shot 12 gauge loaded with what were called punkin balls.Rifle slugs were not on then market yet .These were about 3/4' diameter round lead balls. The next year I hunted with a borrowed Remington Pump in 32-20.I remember that vividly as I was standing under a big pine tree and bunch of snow fell on it . I tried to blow it off and my lip stuck to the barrel it was so cold.By the time I had enough guts to pull it off, a big chunk of lip stayed on the barrel
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby Elkduds » 02 06, 2019 •  [Post 14]

What we did have was a lot of surplus gear in the '60s: aluminum canteens and mess kits that hung from utility belts, green mummy sleeping bags, leather slings, folding shovel, leather shell belts, leather boots w mink oil, leather mittens w wool liners, JonEwarmer butane hand heater. My late Uncle Bud had a rig he called a Tote Gote which was a surplus articulated predecessor to UTVs. Being in the backseat of that contraption is a vivid memory from early hunting days. Like this:
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby Chuckler » 02 07, 2019 •  [Post 15]

I'm starting to realize I'm a young buck on this forum. I'd better sit up and pay attention! :D
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby Swede » 02 07, 2019 •  [Post 16]

Elkduds wrote:My late Uncle Bud had a rig he called a Tote Gote which was a surplus articulated predecessor to UTVs.


Hummm??? I saw a "Tote Goat" at the Seattle Worlds Fair It was 1962 if my memory is right. It definitely was articulating and an early version of an ATV. My memory is foggy on the thing, but I remember how interesting it was as I thought of all the uses it could be put to.
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby Indian Summer » 02 08, 2019 •  [Post 17]

Elkduds those Jon E hand warmers weren't butane. They used regular liquid lighter fluid. The kind that went into Zippo lighters. You could smell them a mile away and had to check to make sure they were still smoldering. I wonder what I ever did with those. They just seemed to disappear.

Looking back we looked like WW2 soldiers when we went hunting didn’t we? :lol:
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby Lefty » 02 08, 2019 •  [Post 18]

VT Sasquatch wrote:I,,,,, idea of cold weather gear was wearing a pair of cotton sweat pant under a loose pair of jeans and three pairs of cotton socks. I wore Timberland boots .


I think a lot of people your age made that mistake,.. blame your mother or HighSchool sport coaches
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby >>>---WW----> » 02 08, 2019 •  [Post 19]

I shot my first squirrel with an old Iver Johnson .410. I still have that gun. But I really got the hunting bug when I started coon hunting in southern Illinois. We never had the luxarey of owning a compass, Couldn't afford one anyhow! And it was easy to get turned around while stumbling around through the briars in the dark. So we learned to navigate by the stars. I had an old carbide light and carried a little extra carbide in an old Prince Albert tobacco can.

When I started deer hunting, no one had even heard of tree stands. We simply climbed an oak tree and sit on a limb. I didn't have a pack of any sorts. I just took what I needed in the pockets of my britches. And that usually consisted of a pocket knife and maybe a lite snack. The snack was usually a candy bar if I could find a nickel to buy one with. LOL!

I often wonder how many guys would be out there hunting today if it weren't for cell phones, GPS, hi priced packs, and synthetic costly camo!!!
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby VT Sasquatch » 02 12, 2019 •  [Post 20]

Indian Summer wrote:Elkduds those Jon E hand warmers weren't butane. They used regular liquid lighter fluid. The kind that went into Zippo lighters. You could smell them a mile away and had to check to make sure they were still smoldering. I wonder what I ever did with those. They just seemed to disappear.

Looking back we looked like WW2 soldiers when we went hunting didn’t we? :lol:


I still have a couple of those. I haven't used them in a few years though.
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Re: Things We Did Not Have

Postby Swede » 02 12, 2019 •  [Post 21]

Yes, I still have two Jon E hand warmers. I don't use them often, but still take them to elk camp. I bought a gallon of Naphtha which I still have most of in the storage building I have.
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