Back at camp

[sandythebowtotenmama]

WOW...that was awesome reading, like the duct tape idea  Thanks for sharing 

[bigmacc]

Had a few ask if there was a story that goes with the 10 by 7 my dad shot....here ya go....I was 8rs old, my dad woke me up at 2 a.m to hit the trail for about a 4mile hike(all up hill and i aint kidding)to get to his favorite spot. We were set up at the spot and ready to hunt about an hour before shooting time.It was my first time going to "his spot" and i was about excited as an 8yr old could get! Well the excitement turned to misery, about a half hour after getting to the spot.It was the first week in november,about 3 inches of fresh snow had fallen,fog was rolling in and out and it was 8 degrees out. I was COLD! And the way my dad hunts,i knew we were gonna be there for the long haul because "he had a feeling" about this day. He did everything he could to keep me warm short of starting a fire,at one point he took my boots and socks off and put my feet in his coat pockets and rubbed them Well about a half hour after shootin time my dad told me to sit tight and dont make any noise.There was a couple does that had come out of the timber about 200 yrds down at the bottom of the draw and were headed up the draw towards us.Pretty soon another and another and even more,like they just kept appearin out of the trees and the fog. In the middle of the bunch of about 20 does was two big bucks,dad figured at about 28 to 30 inch racks but never lifted his gun,he whispered to me"theres more comming and they dont know were here,dont move". The group kept heading up the draw and were about parallel with us at about 100 yrds out.Then out of the trees and fog came the big guy,head down,swaying side to side.I remember my amazement at the size of this deer,he looked twice the size of all the other deer.We waited there in that "special spot" for what seemed to me forever,the rest of the deer had made there way thru the saddle at the top of the draw and were out of sight.The old mosseyback was still trudging up the draw and was just about parallel with us now, head still swaying side to side not even knowing we were there.With my feet still in his pocket my dad raised his gun slowly and with a single, well placed shot behind the shoulder the big fella dropped in his tracks,just crumbled without even a twitch.My dad took my feet out of his pocket,put my socks and boots on and we walked down to the old monarch..Funny,Iwasnt cold anymore. A day and a hunt i will always remember.

[BOWHUNTER45]

that's awesome ...that's why a guy should never leave home with a camera...those old pictures are priceless 

[Savage3006]

Great thread Bigmacc! Thanks for sharing all the great stories and pictures. What a great hunting heritage and life experience!!

[C-Money]

Keep them coming!! Great pics!

[mkcj]

Those are some of the best pictures of the "old days" I have seen, thanks for sharing Have you hunted out of the same camp all these years?

[bigmacc]

Those are some of the best pictures of the "old days" I have seen, thanks for sharing Have you hunted out of the same camp all these years?

Thanks,glad you like em and yes all the same camp back to the early 20,s. All eastern washington mulies.

[mkcj]

That is great that you have generations of hunting and pictures all from the same camp.

[6x6in6]

No question, best thread in quite some time!!
Thank you for sharing bigmacc!!   

[bigmacc]

No question, best thread in quite some time!!
Thank you for sharing bigmacc!!   

Your welcome sir,glad you enjoy the pics and stories...

[bigmacc]

That is great that you have generations of hunting and pictures all from the same camp.

I myself only missed 1 year being at the camp,i wrestled all thru highschool and made it to the state tourney in the mid 70,s i had to miss that year with all the 'rasslin" stuff going on. After highschool i persued boxing which i had been involved with since the age of 13 and had made it to a tourney that (if i had won the fight) would have put me into the Golden gloves tourney. The match was during hunting and i wasnt gonna miss another season,ended up with a beauty of a 5 by 6 that year and probably avoided what could have been my 3rd busted nose! Never stepped into the ring again,looking back and seeing some of the guys i used to box with (that i havent seen in years) that went pro and made a few thousand per fight in club fights and were basically used as stepping stones for so called 'up and commers',these guys are pretty beat up nowadays. Ran into one a couple years ago that i hadnt seen in 30 years,-not good! He stayed at it way to long hoping to get that one shot,4 divorces later,numerous blows to the head,and trouble with the bottle,he is now homeless part time and part time lives with family,very sad...Glad i chose to go huntin that year and walk away from it....

[The scout]

dang i love all those old pics,and story's.thanks for sharing.you have a great family history of hunting deer in washington.i do to but my family was to poor for a camera,lol,just storys left.

[actionshooter]

Those are just incredible pieces of your family history that you should be extremely proud of, (I'm sure you are!)
 The mule deer heritage leaves me in awe, but I think my favorite is the big grizz with the Winchester lever gun.

[Jonathan_S]

That Kodiak looks like a furry Leviathan 

Can you imagine skinning that thing out? 

[Grizzlykiller]

Excellent photo collection you've got here I also enjoy old camp pictures.
Someday I need to sit down at my dad's house and scour through his photo albums and do what you've done here. The family killed lots of buck deer in the Cowiche-Ahtanum in the 50s-60s and these remind me of them.
My fave by far of yours is the bruin from Kodiak.
 That bear was killed by your grandfather? You're Morris Talifson's grandkid?
 I had read Morris was a lifelong bachelor?
Either way you've got some history my friend. I know enough about Morris and his guiding and business partner Bill Pinnell to know that you are one lucky grandkid.
Morris was highly regarded by many who knew him and it was understood that Bill was the businessman part of P&T and Morris was the bear hunting machine. Those two along with Charley Madsen are regarded as probably the most influential of the early guides on Kodiak. Madsen was operating since the 30's and didn't care for P&T beings that they were new arrivals but hey, Kodiak is big enough.



 From what I remember this bear was killed at the west end of Akalura Lake near their base of operations at the old cannery at Olga Bay. It was Morris's first bear and was killed at the request of some villagers of Akalura because Morris owned a .375 H&H? I think I read in Harry Dodge's excellent book Kodiak Island and it's Bears that the hide is now in some museum somewhere?
 There is a photo of it in Marvin Clarks book Last of the Great Brown Bear Men also. I was always amazed at the size of that bear and it's probably the motivation for my own interests in grizzly hunting.