Reminiscing

[flatwoods]

Just sitting here thinking about all the years and time spent hunting. I got bit early and came up the hard way.
My dad didn't hunt. No friends close.
I remember getting up at 4 am and walking down the road with a borrowed 35 Marlin, to my grandparents. Couple miles I guess.
Jeans and tennis shoes. Man it was cold.
I would find out later the open sights were bad off on that old gun. Firing pin would stick too.
Almost shot my foot off.
Got to taking a sleeping bag with me to try to stay warm. No stand of course. Sitting wherever I chose.
Decided to try bowhunting to gain more hunting time. Maybe 13 years old. My dad bought an old, at the time, PSE bow somewhere.
I'd get out in the yard and wear the skin off my forearm from the string slapping it.

Overjoyed to hit a paper plate at 20 yards occasionally. Of course I needed a stand for bow hunting. Someone at work gave my dad a climber for me to use. A piece of plywood and a metal band actually. Weighed 100 lbs. No carrying straps.
I remember coming down a pine that first morning in the dark, t-shirt over my head, skin flying off my bare stomach.
Man, I was living the dream.
Best days of my life!

 

[tcward]

Good share!

 

[baddave]

makes me feel old. When I was doing what you described PSE wasn't even a thing. And you got an old one @ 13???............ I'm depressed now .... good write though

 

[flatwoods]

makes me feel old. When I was doing what you described PSE wasn't even a thing. And you got an old one @ 13???............ I'm depressed now .... good write

PSE been around a while! That was probably late 70's ??
I'm still young though.

 

[Jim Thompson]

Man that's good stuff. Memories for life

 

[outdoorlife99]

Guess I was lucky grew up hunting with my dad, crazy thing is he never hunted growing up and until I wanted to go. Don’t think he was much into it at first but went cause I wanted to then over the decades he was all about it clubs and all. Lost my pops some years back and it’s hard to not think in the stand, funny thing is he had to be around my age when I was in my early 20s and just balls to the wall, he was tired to but I never noticed until now trying to keep up with my kids drive to go. But you know what, I put a smile on and say OK And just push on.

 

[flatwoods]

I wish I had kept that old skin peeling stand.
I'd hang it in the living room.
No idea what happened to it. Probably hauled it to the dump.
I remember winning my first two piece climber in the GON weekly contest. First few years it was up and running.
That thing was adjustable after you climbed the tree. That idea never caught on. Great idea at the time.
Spring loaded pins on both sections. Strings to pull and adjust.
No idea what happened to it either

 

[WOODIE13]

Started deer hunting with Winchester 94 30/30, front sight was replaced (without the correct blade) and shot really high. It was borrowed from my uncle.

Started bow hunting with a Pearson recurve, still have it, got it from my uncle.

Had a Baker treestand, it was dangerous as well.

@ the early 80s

 

[Matthewmathis8]

Good times for sure. I remermber when I was in middle school I decided I wanted to hunt. I lived on my grandmothers place, which thankfully offered me the opportunity to shoot and hunt as much as I wanted. I would get up and walk from the house all the way to where I was going to hunt. No one ever "taught" me how to hunt just loved it and kept trying and finally got a couple killed. I read a lot now from new folks who keep needing someone to take them and show them the ropes. I've always felt like if you want it bad enough you will put in the work and figure it out on your own. Sure makes the victory that much sweeter in the end!

 

[flatwoods]

I remember the first deer I shot.
Blasted her walking in right after daylight. Had a 12 gauge 1100. 30" barrel. Buckshot, 30 or 40 yards.
Had to walk the couple miles back home and ask dad if he would bring the truck over to help.
He wasn't happy.

 

[Nicodemus]

Started in the mid 1960s when we got a deer season in my part of South Georgia. None of the gimmicks, stands, camo clothes, special seasons, or any of the special gear that floods the market today. Up until then our big game was fall turkey season.

 

[The Original Rooster]

Started in the mid 1960s when we got a deer season in my part of South Georgia. None of the gimmicks, stands, camo clothes, special seasons, or any of the special gear that floods the market today. Up until then our big game was fall turkey season.

Kids today are missing out on having to drag a few hundred pounds of 2x4's and plywood, a bucket full of bent nails, saws, and hammers deep into the woods to build stands over trails and early season food sources. We probably built 25 of them in that swamp over the years.

 

[Nicodemus]

Kids today are missing out on having to drag a few hundred pounds of 2x4's and plywood, a bucket full of bent nails, saws, and hammers deep into the woods to build stands over trails and early season food sources. We probably built 25 of them in that swamp over the years.

We drug the hair off your first buck in places because we drug it so far. We had some fun in that ancient land.

 

[The Original Rooster]

We drug the hair off your first buck in places because we drug it so far. We had some fun in that ancient land.

I got on Google Earth one time and measured the part of the swamp we hunted the most and it was about 2-2.5 miles long by maybe 1/2 mile wide at it's widest point. No wonder it took us forever to walk around in there before it was clear cut. It probably took 45 minutes to walk a mile in there with it so thick and having to walk around or over beaver dams and creeks.

 

[TJay]

Great post, brings back a lot of memories. I was kind of self taught since my Dad didn't start deer hunting til after I did. Didn't have any dedicated hunting clothes til Walls came out with their camo coveralls. And those cotton waffle cut long underwear weren't exactly cutting edge.
Some of my favorite memories was about the time my father started deer hunting with some of his friends from work. One of the guys had a couple hundred acres that bordered the Jackson Bienville game reserve. There was also thousands of timber company acres right there and if you had a four wheel drive you could drive a long way down those gas lines (at least til you came to a creek). None of those men were real accomplished deer hunters but when it came to camping they were top notch!
Good times!

 

[Nicodemus]

I got on Google Earth one time and measured the part of the swamp we hunted the most and it was about 2-2.5 miles long by maybe 1/2 mile wide at it's widest point. No wonder it took us forever to walk around in there before it was clear cut. It probably took 45 minutes to walk a mile in there with it so thick and having to walk around or over beaver dams and creeks.

If you get right down to it, back in those days that swamp actually stretched from Dublin to the Atlantic Ocean. A very long stretch of peace, quiet, and solitude.

 

[The Original Rooster]

If you get right down to it, back in those days that swamp actually stretched from Dublin to the Atlantic Ocean. A very long stretch of peace, quiet, and solitude.

Well thank the Lord that Walt didn't have us walking that much of it because if there was something he wanted to see, he wouldn't hesitate to walk 2 hours to get to it before his feet went bad.

 

[Nicodemus]

Well thank the Lord that Walt didn't have us walking that much of it because if there was something he wanted to see, he wouldn't hesitate to walk 2 hours to get to it before his feet went bad.

Be glad you didn`t have to help Daddy when he was trapping coons, otters, and beavers all up and down the river. He likened to have worked me to death.

 

[tcward]

I wish I had kept that old skin peeling stand.
I'd hang it in the living room.
No idea what happened to it. Probably hauled it to the dump.
I remember winning my first two piece climber in the GON weekly contest. First few years it was up and running.
That thing was adjustable after you climbed the tree. That idea never caught on. Great idea at the time.
Spring loaded pins on both sections. Strings to pull and adjust.
No idea what happened to it either

I have scars from an old Baker climber…..

 

[Dirtroad Johnson]

Started in the mid 1960s when we got a deer season in my part of South Georgia. None of the gimmicks, stands, camo clothes, special seasons, or any of the special gear that floods the market today. Up until then our big game was fall turkey season.

Nic, I don't ever remember a fall turkey season growing up In Irwin county or never ever saw wild turkeys back then or never heard of any those old timers going or referring to turkey hunting.
May have been a turkey season but I wasn't aware of it because there wasn't any turkeys around in our area & nobody talked about it. Never saw any in the fields or anything.