I miss the old way of deer hunting.

[chuckster]

Am not what I consider old by any means am 30. But I remember a time when things were different. My family would have a deer camp every year I started going when I was seven. My uncle would take me hunting and let my take my red rider, in my seven year old mind I really thought I would get a buck with that thing of course I knew it would have to be a head shot at close range but I was hunting. I remember when I was to young to have my own rifle I was in awe of there’s. The camp had many classics a win mod 70 .270, rem 700 30 06, rem 760 30 06, win 94 30 30 and even a old wwII surplus 6.5x55 Swede. All had beautiful wood stocks and the biggest scope was a 3 by 9. What I remember most was the ammo the old green and yellow box Remington core lock that’s all anyone needed. When ammo was talked about it was not about the newest and greatest only if you shot 150 or 180 out of your 30 06 and the pros and cons of each. That camp killed many deer but size was not a huge factor any buck was a good one and we looked forward to the story’s and the meat at the end of the day. When I was ten I was able to join the camp for real I saved up enough money to buy a Sears Roebuck model 54 30 30. I killed a doe with that rifle and could not have been prouder. At camp that doe might as well been a 5x5 buck they treated it as it was. Things have change so much we don’t do the camp any more. We need to get back to the basics. I have my own two sons now and once they get old enough I will start the camp again and teach them the things that really matter about deer camp. friendship family good food and fun.

[meatwhack]

Too many flat brimmers now days trying to get famous hunting.

[X-Force]

I’m 33 and our first elk camp was a sight to see. $100 Walmart bows, arrows from somewhere... only 4 of us in camp, father and sons. Our camp grew to 15+ and weekends would be pushing 20. Now dad is 72, other older members don’t shoot archery anymore. Elk Camp stopped existing last year.

Rifle deer camp is still going strong but it’s not the same.

Looking forward and having kids like you just get them out there even small trips are an adventure.

[elkrack]

I know how you feel I had a similar upbringing and definitely miss it. Times change and at least I have those great memories to hold onto! My kids are just getting into hunting and I hope to instill some memorable times for them but it’s going to be tough because it’s just not the same as it was 20 years ago. Meatwhack is 100% correct. Guys walking through the woods like a 13 year old girl walking through the mall holding a camera on a selfie stick🤦🏻‍♂️

[Remnar]

 The lament of many before you (OP) . My advice would be find some people that have hunting at the same priority level as you and make some new memories. Those days and most likely people are gone .

 I do know where you are coming from though .

 Wish I was still 30 

[erronulvin]

The thing I miss about the good ole days of elk camp is being around family and friends, times sure have changed when our camp used to have 12-18 people and now its just my brother, dad and I, sadly I don't think my old man has to many years left in him to keep hiking the hills but he will always be camping.

[Bigshooter]

I live the good old days every year.  If you are missing out it's your fault. 

[dmoua]

Still living it. 20 years in the exact same deer camp with pretty much the same people. But we do have better equipment compared to what we used to have.

[Eric M]

I never got to experience what you had. My father was born in new york city and so was i. I had to learn everything i know on my own. Be thankful for the times you had. I plan to try to make some memories with my grandchildren. I was too busy earning when my kids were young.

[dilleytech]

I have lost a lot of interest in late season archery any more. I’m also 30 and when I started bow hunting at 14 we would go to the same late season wall tent camp every year and it was a blast. I think what changed most is the animals. We used to chase animals around to each other all day and there were people everywhere and it was great. There just aren’t the numbers anymore like there were 16 years ago. People seem to want to spread out more and find there own little honey hole that they can keep secret.. I don’t see the same kinda wall tent camps coming back in the numbers there used to be until we get predators managed and game numbers back. Most guys I know are just traveling out of state now.

[JimmyHoffa]

I think that is a big part.  Back when logging was going strong and there were many more animals and clear cuts to hunt them in, there were more people interested in getting out and forming a camp.  Most I knew started going to the east side once things slowed down and overgrew/hounds banned/bear baiting banned.  The bigger change was probably elk--the herd used to be twice the size and it was any bull.  When there were four or five spikes and a bull in camp each year, lots of people wanted to show up.  After a few seasons of empty meat poles and crashing reprod, a bunch of guys are going to Idaho or Wyoming.  Then the camp is even smaller so fewer animals.  Then the young guys all started switching to archery.  Now most of the camps are three or four retired guys.

[ghosthunter]

Am not what I consider old by any means am 30. But I remember a time when things were different. My family would have a deer camp every year I started going when I was seven. My uncle would take me hunting and let my take my red rider, in my seven year old mind I really thought I would get a buck with that thing of course I knew it would have to be a head shot at close range but I was hunting. I remember when I was to young to have my own rifle I was in awe of there’s. The camp had many classics a win mod 70 .270, rem 700 30 06, rem 760 30 06, win 94 30 30 and even a old wwII surplus 6.5x55 Swede. All had beautiful wood stocks and the biggest scope was a 3 by 9. What I remember most was the ammo the old green and yellow box Remington core lock that’s all anyone needed. When ammo was talked about it was not about the newest and greatest only if you shot 150 or 180 out of your 30 06 and the pros and cons of each. That camp killed many deer but size was not a huge factor any buck was a good one and we looked forward to the story’s and the meat at the end of the day. When I was ten I was able to join the camp for real I saved up enough money to buy a Sears Roebuck model 54 30 30. I killed a doe with that rifle and could not have been prouder. At camp that doe might as well been a 5x5 buck they treated it as it was. Things have change so much we don’t do the camp any more. We need to get back to the basics. I have my own two sons now and once they get old enough I will start the camp again and teach them the things that really matter about deer camp. friendship family good food and fun.

You just described our camp. Ghost Camp.
Yes five -six old guys. But a few younger too. Male and female.
The problem with younger folks these days is time. Their time to be out is tight. And when the animals are tough to find and you can only shoot spikes hard to get excited.

Hunting has become all about the individual, not the group. people do whatever they can to kill a deer even if its wrong.

When you get home everyone asks what you got. No one asks if you had a good time.

I always answer , I got what I went for, sleeping in a tent, good friends, long naps on a ridge under a tree.

[cbond3318]

I live the good old days every year.  If you are missing out it's your fault.

  it’s all in what you make it and you can pass those same
Nostalgic memories to your kids. Hunting is different than before but the before you talk about was different than that times old days. Get so tired of the hunting is ruined, the this or that. There is annoying people and fads in every generation, always was and always will be. Do it for the reasons you hold dear and enjoy every second. Happy hunting!

[Tbob]

I grew up in a non-hunting home. Single mom and a bunch of brothers.. I didn’t learn about hunting until I was an adult. Hunting camp consisted of me and a buddy trying to figure it out. Fast forward 20 years and it’s now my brother and a different buddy in elk camp each year. It’s usually the best time of every year that  I have being out there with them. We rarely get anything. Every now and again it comes together for one of us, but man... just something about being in a camp with friends and family. I really wish I grew up doing this stuff ! Honestly though, even when it’s just me in elk camp by myself, I still just love being out there, just part of it all. It never gets old for me, making new memories.. you just never know when you’re going to make your last!

[bigmacc]

I know I have told numerous stories on here and to some through PM,s about the history of our camp in the Methow going back to 1917, when the camp was in its hay days(1920,s-1950,s) the camp could have had its own zip code, it even had its own name "Little Bellingham" and consisted of around 100 folks, all family and some close friends of my great grandparents and their kin, when all the tents and camps were set up in the big basin, it looked like an army outpost it was so large and organized, the whole camp took up probably 9-10 acres . Caravans of cars, trucks and utility trailers would leave Bellingham back in the day to make the 2 day trip to the valley, Stevens pass was mostly gravel back then and they would all get motels, pitch tents or sleep in fields of farmers they knew around Wenatchee or Cashmere then get up in the morning and make the rest of the trip(back then it was about a 5-6 hour trip from Wenatchee to Twisp and Winthrop. They would spend a month over there total just hiking, fishing, scouting and hunting, hunting seasons were mostly 2 weeks back then, normally going into the 1st week of November. Folks who couldn't spend the whole month would leave there tents set up and go back and forth a few times. Back then not many people hunted the Methow except for locals and a very few others, heck 90 percent of folks who lived in this state had no idea where the "Methow Valley" was or if it even existed let alone if the towns of Twisp and Winthrop were real my family and the camp knew where these other familys or locals hunted and stayed clear and in return they did the same. Huge "rendavues" would happen during the coarse of the season with these other groups either at Little Bellingham or on their turf, stories were told, campfires blazed until the wee hours and many big bucks were admired on the ridge poles, hands would be shaken and hugs given and "see ya next season" were the parting words. I started in the 50,s when the camp was slowly starting to shrink, it was at around 40-50 hunters when I started going as a young boy but even then the same traditions from the early days were still intact, we were always there during Halloween and I remember everyone dressing up (kids and grownups) and going from tent to tent trick or treating, my dad said they did that from year one(1917) and he remembered doing it when he was young back in the 1930,s. The camp is at about 10-15 nowadays and we bounce around the valley, the old original camps from the 1920,s that we knew and had the "rendevues" with are no longer around, the last one stopped coming back in the 70,s, they had been around since 1923, almost as long as my familys camp, thats when the "rendevues" stopped, now its just stopping in at camps that we have seen for awhile and just saying hi, lots of great memories of my own and stories and pictures passed down to us from my parents and grandparents. We are trying to keep it going with the grandkids and we will. Yes things were different back then, nobody gave a crap about what a buck scored, heck, every buck was a good buck, I know for a fact that my family members killed bucks that probably would have made some sort of "record book" but nobody cared, heck my dad and grandparents gave most all of there racks away through the years, yes, just gave them away, 100,s upon 100,s of sets. I remember walking into my grandpas shop as a boy and seeing the whole ceiling covered in antlers hanging in the rafters, a 40 by 30 shop completely covered from one end to the other and from one side to the other. He ran out of room and its where all the familys horns ended up, he said if any of the family wanted them they could have them, nobody wanted to deal with em and they were given away, I believe at that time(Late 1950,s ) it was in the vicinity of 400 sets of antlers, and a lot of them were some absolute monsters, my dad always regretted not taking them but he was young and just starting a family and was in the Marine corp at the time, he said he told grandpa "just get rid of em grandpa, we,ll get more".  Wool shirts, Levis and logging boots were the apparel of the day topped off with a crusher, red, orange or blue take your pick. Lots of open sights were the optics of the day with a few 4 power Weavers sprinkled in the camp. No road hunting back then, heck there weren't that many roads, most all our hunts originated at camp at around 1 or 2 in the AM with about a 4 hour hike ahead of you, my dad said he remembered 20-30 people around the campfire at 1 in the morning, all loading packs for their hikes, some one would say "well its time to get out of Dodge" and then the fire would be left empty as within seconds everyone would head out in all different directions, some would be seen again that night and some would not return for a day or two. When I was young I remember sitting around the fire listening for shots, when we heard one my mom would ask me if I knew who it was, eventually I got pretty good at knowing who had knocked one down just from the sound and direction from where the shot came from, how muffled it was etc. Everyone had their spots and if we heard a shot come from a certain area the others in camp would gather some rope etc and head out to help with the drag/pack out. Good times and great memories.