How things have changed

[baldopepper]

For some reason this year I started to think back to the first deer hunt I went on.  It was 1956 and it was in Utah.  General hunt opened the Sat. nearest to Oct. 20, and all schools closed the Friday prior as attendance was so poor. (Population of the state was around 900,000 then and they sold around 250,000 deer tags-guys bought one for their wife, grandma -literally anyone in the family over 16) There was no Antique weapons hunt and archery hunting was still just a blip on the screen.  All hunters had to wear red and the vast majoirty carried Model 94 30-30's with a sprinkling of various 30-06's as there was still a lot of surplus military ammo available.  Scopes were seen rarely and were'nt trusted by a "true hunter".  Very few 4 wheel drive vehicles were even made then (jeep and power wagons) and the vast majority of hunters had a "hunting rig" which was usually a beat out old 2 wheel drive truck.  There were a few trailers around and even fewer campers.  Most camps consisted of a group of old mlitary canvas tents and commonly entire family groups were out for the enitre hunt.  Vast areas of the state were inaccsessable except for the occasional sheepherder road that went into the back country and if the weather was at all bad (which it usually was) you were pretty much confined to the paved or gravel roads.  Only ATV's around were the original one - a horse and most camps had at least  1 or 2. You could hunt either sex and a trophy hunter was generally accepted to be someone who would shoot bucks only. Wolfes Sporting goods store had an annual big buck contest, at that time it was widest spread, and the grand prise was a new Jeep. It was a very big deal and usually  took something in the high 30" to low 40" spread to win. The vast majoirty of hunters shot the first deer they saw and since the tag was a very easily picked metal job, most picked it after tagging and being checked and went out to hunt again. It was not uncommon to see hunters coming home literally with pickup loads of deer. Were there a lot of deer-yes-on my first morning out when it got daylight the small valley in front of us had around 200 in view- mostly does and fawns. Proclamation was a 2 page sheet of paper that mostly outlined areas where there was a late hunt that commonly let you shoot an extra 2-3 anterless deer. My father shot a big 4 x4 opening morning that would now be considered quite a trophy, but to him was just another "nice buck". The deer hunt meant winter meat, if you were gonna spend $10.00 on a hunting trip you damn well better get $10.00 worth of meals!!  I've been deer hunting every year since then, would'nt want to think of how many I've shot over the years.  Think maybe things have changed a bit since then? Better or worse-heck -I don't know. 

[tshoote30]

Nice write-up, would have been fun to hunt back then in the day like that. boy have things changed since then. again thanks for the story.

[wapiti hunter2]

I too was in Utah in 1956.  My first hunt was in 1961.  All the schools still closed.  We used a 1945 military surplus Willys Jeep and a Model 94 30-30 just as you said.        I haven't hunted every year since but many of them  Lost count at  over 30 deer.  Things definitely different.  I never worried about getting scoped until everyone started using them.  Also never worried about getting your game stolen from camp or being claimed by someone in the field.  There was just common courtesy then.  Everyone I knew hunted.  Now, I'm the only one.  Sucks.  

[Buckslaya]

Wow, makes me miss the gold old days, and I'm not even old!

[boonerboy]

fun to read for a younger guy like me. reminds me of my grandpa telling stories around the campfire.

[Tony]

I wasn't around during those times but i sure wise i could of hunted them.

[halflife65]

Great memories, baldo.

Reminds me of stories of my great uncle (dead now.)  He used to go out and hunt and bring back meat for the family.  He took his girlfriend for a picnic one time and all he had to drive was this old car - didn't even own a pickup.  He jumped up during the picnic, ran back to the car, and shot a deer and put it in the trunk.  Pretty romantic, huh?  (Awesome, in my opinion.    )

Anyway, he moved to AK where he hunted brown bears, caribou, moose, caught a jillion hallibut - my grandma has a picture of him with something like a 200# 'but. 

Wish I could've seen something like that...

[wsucowboy]

makes me wish I was around for the good ol days. Thanks for sharing

[Machias]

"Better or worse-heck -I don't know."  IMO Worse...   

[bigpaw 77]

Great story thanks for sharing that with us. I love seeing pictures of the "old days" and really love reading stories like yours about how hunting was back then. I know I was born way to late (1979)