Post by: chuckster on June 28, 2019, 09:09:13 PM
Post by: meatwhack on June 28, 2019, 09:25:03 PM
Post by: X-Force on June 28, 2019, 09:57:20 PM
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.
Post by: elkrack on June 28, 2019, 10:00:47 PM
Post by: Remnar on June 28, 2019, 10:13:00 PM
I do know where you are coming from though .
Wish I was still 30 ;)
Post by: erronulvin on June 28, 2019, 10:16:58 PM
Post by: Bigshooter on June 28, 2019, 11:27:54 PM
Post by: dmoua on June 29, 2019, 12:38:25 AM
Post by: Eric M on June 29, 2019, 02:32:37 AM
Post by: dilleytech on June 29, 2019, 07:51:33 AM
Post by: JimmyHoffa on June 29, 2019, 08:23:28 AM
Post by: ghosthunter on June 29, 2019, 11:54:33 AM
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.
Post by: cbond3318 on June 29, 2019, 12:20:48 PM
I live the good old days every year. If you are missing out it's your fault.
:yeah: 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!
Post by: Tbob on June 30, 2019, 12:20:36 AM
Post by: bigmacc on July 01, 2019, 10:28:15 AM
Post by: DOUBLELUNG on July 01, 2019, 02:27:14 PM
One easy way to get that old school flavor is to not bring electronics to camp: no cell phones, lap tops, etc.
Post by: idaho guy on July 01, 2019, 03:16:53 PM
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 :chuckle: 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.
that's some cool history-would you post pictures? I get it if you don't want too
Post by: Wunderlich33 on July 01, 2019, 03:21:38 PM
Do a quick search of his posts and enjoy the reading. Great memories of the great Methow Valley
Post by: boneaddict on July 01, 2019, 03:28:06 PM
I had the best upbringing a young man could hope for, in Gods country. Thanks Dad!
Post by: pianoman9701 on July 01, 2019, 03:30:54 PM
Post by: bigmacc on July 01, 2019, 03:32:58 PM
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 :chuckle: 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.
that's some cool history-would you post pictures? I get it if you don't want too
Thankyou, and at one time years ago I posted 40-50 pictures I think and eventually pulled all or most off as it was brought to my attention that a lot of them were being copied, it took a lot of help and work from family members to put the pictures up because I do not do well with technology :chuckle:, so now I just tell stories.
Post by: Bushcraft on July 01, 2019, 04:37:46 PM
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 :chuckle: 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.
That's awesome! Thanks for sharing.
Post by: bigmacc on July 01, 2019, 09:24:11 PM
Post by: ctwiggs1 on July 01, 2019, 09:43:16 PM
Is your camp the one that used to traditionally burn a stump every year?
Post by: elkboy on July 01, 2019, 09:53:10 PM
Another thing that I miss from the old days of deer hunting is back then like I said in my earlier post open sights and 4 power scopes were the norm, my first scope was a 4 power Redfield and I used it from the earliy 60,s up into the late 80,s, when I took it off I put it back in its original box and passed it on to the grandkids, its never been used again but is in good hands and in the family. I have many old "trinkets" that belonged to other family members myself, things that have special meaning including rifles, knives, packs, drag ropes, hatchets, mess kits, etc, etc, etc. Anyway with mostly hunting with open sights or "simple"optics(for a lack of better words) we were taught to learn why deer do what they do, why they react the way they do under different circumstances and to basically "think like a deer" at all times while you were in "their world", this was taught to us when we were very young with plenty of trial runs spent on the sides of draws with sling shots before the season just studying how deer reacted when spooked, my dad or a grandparent or uncle telling us to watch where they go, watch their body language from ears, to head to feet to determine where their first move may be. I think a lot of the old way of hunting is not being taught like it used to with all the new technology available with tons more showing up every year it seams. Four, five and six hundred yard shots are being taken with lots of accuracy with new technology available from rifles and ammo to high tech optics and range guessers, heck with enough practice and enough tech, guys are shooting out to 1000 yards, I,m not saying its not right, just saying back then 90 percent of the bucks you killed involved a lot of planning, a lot of savvy, some sort of a stalk and sometimes involving multiple people with all kinds of goofy hand signals. I remember my younger brother killing his first buck at the age of 13 using a 300 HandH with open sights, it took 4 people using 10 dollar 8 by 30 Sears binos about a half a day getting him in as close as possible to drop the huge 3 by 3(and it was huge, had a head like a dang Angus), we finally got him to about 250 yards where he took a good rest on a blow down and squeezed one off, he killed it in its bed with that 1 shot but unless you happened to stumble on to one while out walking thats usually how it seemed to happen and not all the "plans" came together either. My brother ended up spending 20 years in the military with half that time spent in SF as a Green Beret sniper, he credited a lot of his practicing with open sights when he was young to his being able to "slow every thing down" and drive tacks at 800 yards during his service career. Like I said, technology is great but it has changed a lot of how we do hunt now days. I know there are others on here that are my age or older that know what I mean, I am old enough to have experienced hunting without all this technology and young enough to see it being used by my kids and grandkids, BUT I am not old enough to have witnessed my great grandparents using "their technology" back in 1917, I have had to depend on pictures and stories, amazing how things have changed, some for the better and some not. Like I said, when I was young you needed to do a lot of practicing with your shooting and while in "their world" you better have learned how to think like them and you had better know what they were gonna do under any scenario and you had better know it before they do...........now their are apps for this and that and uncle google will help you figure things out :chuckle: Technology is not bad, don't get me wrong, things are just different today compared to 20 years ago, 30, 40 and more years ago and thats ok. The topic is how we miss the way things were when it comes to hunting deer, just throwing my experiences and thoughts out there. Like DOUBLELUNG said, if you want the true experience maybe try leaving all the electronics at home, it really is a more relaxing experience.
This really resonates with me. That's why I love to hunt archery and muzzleloader. Yes, those weapons have changed drastically with technology, but it is still a relatively short-range activity where I get the excitement of stalking, still-hunting, and sitting still (ground, blind, stand). Even when I do hunt modern firearm, I like to hunt the denser woods where it is still a short-range game. I think it is less the weapon choice, and more about how you hunt with it. I have a lot of respect for the old-time camps and traditions, and for the importance of passing the hunt to the next generation. This year, I will mentor my sixth new deer hunter, and it has been the greatest privilege of my hunting career to do that. If we value a lot of the things from the old camps, let's create it again in our modern day camps! We certainly can choose to do so.
Sorry for the rambling. I hope you all are having a great summer. Fall is coming...
Post by: ljsommer on July 01, 2019, 10:40:00 PM
Post by: bigmacc on July 02, 2019, 10:12:28 AM
Big Mac C,
Is your camp the one that used to traditionally burn a stump every year?
:chuckle:...no, thats wasn't us.
Post by: bigmacc on July 02, 2019, 11:22:19 AM
Big Mac C,
Is your camp the one that used to traditionally burn a stump every year?
Got me thinking, I think I may know of who you are talking about, were they camped up a certain"Creek"drainage?
Post by: Gobble on July 02, 2019, 12:33:33 PM
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.
Couldn't agree more :tup: Today everyone seems to be caught up in the rack size, and age as the only measure of success. The hunting shows have created unrealistic expectations from the harvest, esp in Wa., We have huge deer in this state but not in the numbers seen in other states. Blacktail are definitely the hardest deer to hunt if you are looking for a monster, pair that with the terrain that they live in. I too, miss the days when you would spend months dreaming about the hunt, preparing mentally and physically, packing and repacking your gear, and passing other hunters in the woods and giving each other a friendly wave, it still exists in some areas, but nothing like it was 30-40 years ago.
Post by: 2MANY on July 02, 2019, 01:09:55 PM
Post by: bigmacc on July 03, 2019, 11:34:59 AM
I remember another friendship my great grandparents had over there back in the day. I think it was the Late 40,s or early 50,s, my dad was in the Marine corp and received a letter from great grandpa wondering if he(my dad) would like to go in on a real-estate purchase, my dad said a couple other relatives were asked also. My dad said he wrote back to grandpa and basically turned him down, my dad was just married and he and my mom were planning for their future and saving for a home, nobody wanted to go in and it went away. My dad until the day he died a few years ago said it was the worst decision he ever made, the deal was to have 5 -6 family members go in and purchase some property by a lake from a friend of grandpa and grandma for $17.50(yes seventeen dollars and 50 cents) per acre, the purchase involved thousands of acres(my dad could not recall exactly how many acres were offered up to grandpa and grandma), he thought it was the whole north/west side/end of the lake.......that property is now called Studhorse Mt.
Post by: bigmacc on July 03, 2019, 05:05:12 PM
Post by: tracksoup on July 03, 2019, 05:12:44 PM
Thanks for sharing
Post by: elksnout on July 03, 2019, 09:43:58 PM
Elksnout
Post by: idaho guy on July 03, 2019, 10:57:25 PM
Yeah I get it. I'm bett'n even some of those old timers talked about "the good 'ol days" 100 years ago to some extent. We need to move forward men or we'll perish.....the cup is half full.
Elksnout
:yeah: don’t let the flat bill army get you down! Those Instagram hunters are changing the look of hunting for some but I still hunt the same. i do have a way more accurate rifle and rangefinder though👍 I have had lots of camps come and go over the years. Most of those are great memories and we are making new ones.i have always hunted quite a bit solo as well and still enjoy that. We will be deer hunting a completely new deer camp this year which I am looking forward too
Post by: no.cen.wa on July 04, 2019, 09:10:59 AM
If topic is of no interest,,, just don't reply.
Post by: bigmacc on July 04, 2019, 10:16:45 PM
Yeah I get it. I'm bett'n even some of those old timers talked about "the good 'ol days" 100 years ago to some extent. We need to move forward men or we'll perish.....the cup is half full.
Elksnout
You bet they did, and I was there to hear a lot of it, every bit of it was valuable and 100 percent priceless. Listening and paying attention helped me kill a lot of nice bucks in my life,... no Bragg, Just fact :tup:
bigmacc
Post by: bigmacc on July 04, 2019, 10:24:20 PM
Awesome stories bigmacc!!
Thanks for sharing
Thankyou tracksoup.
Post by: bigmacc on July 04, 2019, 10:40:52 PM
I like the posts of longtime hunters on this topic, some are bored I guess, sad.
If topic is of no interest,,, just don't reply.
Thanks no.cen.wa, man, times are different arnt they.
Post by: Boss .300 winmag on July 04, 2019, 11:03:08 PM
Post by: idaho guy on July 05, 2019, 11:05:15 AM
I like the posts of longtime hunters on this topic, some are bored I guess, sad.
If topic is of no interest,,, just don't reply.
This is a great topic I also like reading the old timer stories. I think we need to still look at hunting the way we want too and not worry about the guys falling over themselves trying to get some fame and pimping out over priced product. We can still pass on our own traditions as we see fit. I don't think the old way of hunting has to be gone at all. Its probably overshadowed by the flat bill army though since that's the only hunters really pounding social media etc. Great topic and op said he misses old way of deer hunting he doesn't need to not hunt that way anymore.
Post by: bigmacc on July 05, 2019, 11:27:01 AM
Just an add on here, I myself over the last 20 years have sat at Pauls old boulder and at the tree, I have went into these areas after the season was closed with my son or grandkids in the first 2 weeks of November, just to see what we could see moving through while weather was hitting or had hit a few days prior in some instances. Very sad, wanting to show the younger ones the migrations I grew up watching come through some of these areas are only memories now. We went into Pauls boulder for 4 days straight after 2-3 feet of snow had dropped up high(the first big storm of that fall), the temps dropped, wind was blowing and it spitted snow at the boulder all 4 days with an accumulation there of about 8 inches. 25 or more years ago we would have seen a thousand deer come through sitting on that boulder over those 4 days in November, this time 41. Kind of puts into perspective what has become of this herd over the last 25 or so years.
Post by: bigmacc on July 05, 2019, 11:45:03 AM
I forgot to mention "that certain tree" in the story of Paul and my mom has many more stories involved with it(as some on here know), "grandpas tree" as it is affectionately known has a lot of history in our camp, someday I may get around to telling a few more of them.
Post by: Karl Blanchard on July 05, 2019, 11:46:13 AM
Hunting is very personal for everyone and we do it for different reasons. Family, friendship, camp atmosphere, etc. Big part of hunting for me personally is the opposite. I want to retreat from people and life. I crave solitude. I also enjoy taking my dad hunting. Kids are coming of age and that adds that much more enjoyment to something I already love.
Like others have said, if you aren't getting what you want out of hunting you must only look in the mirror to see the cause. You want a big camp life, start one. You want to hunt with family more, press it a bit. I know if i didnt prod my father to go he would likely go fishing instead. You wanna backpack hunt, then get the gear and go sleep in the woods by yourself. There will always be an excuse one can think up not to do something :twocents:
Post by: bigmacc on July 05, 2019, 12:08:30 PM
How many of the Instagram hunters are really out there. Sure if you are on social media you are gonna see a bunch of it but I spend a hundred plus days in the field a year in 4 or 5 states and 95% of the guys I run across whether in the field, at a trail head, at the gas station or grocery store are just regular guys out doing something they enjoy.
Hunting is very personal for everyone and we do it for different reasons. Family, friendship, camp atmosphere, etc. Big part of hunting for me personally is the opposite. I want to retreat from people and life. I crave solitude. I also enjoy taking my dad hunting. Kids are coming of age and that adds that much more enjoyment to something I already love.
Like others have said, if you aren't getting what you want out of hunting you must only look in the mirror to see the cause. You want a big camp life, start one. You want to hunt with family more, press it a bit. I know if i didnt prod my father to go he would likely go fishing instead. You wanna backpack hunt, then get the gear and go sleep in the woods by yourself. There will always be an excuse one can think up not to do something :twocents:
I got to ask ...what the heck is an "Instagram hunter" and a "flat bill hunter" that I keep seeing be brought up? Man I must be getting old :chuckle:....I really do miss the old way of deer hunting :chuckle:
Post by: Karl Blanchard on July 05, 2019, 12:48:38 PM
terms used for folks who hunt in order to gain status or monetary gain from social media.How many of the Instagram hunters are really out there. Sure if you are on social media you are gonna see a bunch of it but I spend a hundred plus days in the field a year in 4 or 5 states and 95% of the guys I run across whether in the field, at a trail head, at the gas station or grocery store are just regular guys out doing something they enjoy.
Hunting is very personal for everyone and we do it for different reasons. Family, friendship, camp atmosphere, etc. Big part of hunting for me personally is the opposite. I want to retreat from people and life. I crave solitude. I also enjoy taking my dad hunting. Kids are coming of age and that adds that much more enjoyment to something I already love.
Like others have said, if you aren't getting what you want out of hunting you must only look in the mirror to see the cause. You want a big camp life, start one. You want to hunt with family more, press it a bit. I know if i didnt prod my father to go he would likely go fishing instead. You wanna backpack hunt, then get the gear and go sleep in the woods by yourself. There will always be an excuse one can think up not to do something :twocents:
I got to ask ...what the heck is an "Instagram hunter" and a "flat bill hunter" that I keep seeing be brought up? Man I must be getting old :chuckle:....I really do miss the old way of deer hunting :chuckle:
Post by: dilleytech on July 05, 2019, 01:02:01 PM
How many of the Instagram hunters are really out there. Sure if you are on social media you are gonna see a bunch of it but I spend a hundred plus days in the field a year in 4 or 5 states and 95% of the guys I run across whether in the field, at a trail head, at the gas station or grocery store are just regular guys out doing something they enjoy.
Hunting is very personal for everyone and we do it for different reasons. Family, friendship, camp atmosphere, etc. Big part of hunting for me personally is the opposite. I want to retreat from people and life. I crave solitude. I also enjoy taking my dad hunting. Kids are coming of age and that adds that much more enjoyment to something I already love.
Like others have said, if you aren't getting what you want out of hunting you must only look in the mirror to see the cause. You want a big camp life, start one. You want to hunt with family more, press it a bit. I know if i didnt prod my father to go he would likely go fishing instead. You wanna backpack hunt, then get the gear and go sleep in the woods by yourself. There will always be an excuse one can think up not to do something :twocents:
Well put. Hunting never really was a social event for me. If I can go spend a few days in the hills and not see anyone that’s perfect.
Post by: idaho guy on July 05, 2019, 01:38:01 PM
How many of the Instagram hunters are really out there. Sure if you are on social media you are gonna see a bunch of it but I spend a hundred plus days in the field a year in 4 or 5 states and 95% of the guys I run across whether in the field, at a trail head, at the gas station or grocery store are just regular guys out doing something they enjoy.
Hunting is very personal for everyone and we do it for different reasons. Family, friendship, camp atmosphere, etc. Big part of hunting for me personally is the opposite. I want to retreat from people and life. I crave solitude. I also enjoy taking my dad hunting. Kids are coming of age and that adds that much more enjoyment to something I already love.
Like others have said, if you aren't getting what you want out of hunting you must only look in the mirror to see the cause. You want a big camp life, start one. You want to hunt with family more, press it a bit. I know if i didnt prod my father to go he would likely go fishing instead. You wanna backpack hunt, then get the gear and go sleep in the woods by yourself. There will always be an excuse one can think up not to do something :twocents:
100% agree I never actually run into those guys in the woods :chuckle: I enjoy family camp type hunts and also solo hunt quite a bit. I am more aware of what I call the flat bill army because my kids best friend was following Hushin and a few others for a while. I do like to watch hunting videos and pretty prevalent there too. Its funny I rarely see the "instagram" hunters in the woods I travel. There is still a lot of big elk camps( mostly families) in Idaho I have gotten to know over the years. Really cool people for the most part. Make hunting what you want!
Post by: bigmacc on July 05, 2019, 05:27:42 PM
I feel very fortunate to have been brought up in a family where hunting was as close to a religion as you could get. I do agree it is personal on how we approach it and how we choose to experience it. Once again I feel very fortunate to have experienced it with friends and family, seeing many "firsts" of a lot of young ones and also being involved with some of the "lasts" of a few of the older folks. I have experienced stories told that some may find unbelievable, but have been backed up by pictures in some cases or verified by 10 others that have earned the respect of truth through the years. I have hunted with a handful of others trying to help a younger one get his first buck and I have loaded up at 1 in the morning and left camp by myself not returning for 5 or 6 days. A lot of personal dilemmas and problems have been solved by sitting next to a 1 man fire, at 8000 feet, by myself with a quartered buck hanging in a nearby tree, just sleeping under the stars for 4 or 5 days cleansing the sole in gods country, and then again my dilemmas and problems have been solved by sitting around a fire with 15 of my closest family members and friends. For me I feel I have been blessed, Ive hunted in this state when it was hard to beat, Ive heard stories and seen hundreds and hundreds of pictures of mule deer hunting in this state where I would have put it up against any other state as far as quantity and quality. I know it is hard for a lot of the younger folks on here to comprehend what some of us are trying to convey. Stories of driving to school with your rifle in the truck in case you seen a buck on the way, heck I knew a guy who drove a pop truck in the Methow years ago, he peddled the same flagship brands as me, just different parts of the state. He would call me and tell me stories along with pictures of him in his uniform in the back of his pop truck with a big buck he had killed during his deliveries. Yes this was Washington, it was the Methow, it was Entiat it was excellent Mule deer hunting and its something that unfortunately will not be witnessed again and thats whats sad. When some of the "old guys" get on here and tell these stories of healthy herds and a Game Dept that actually took care of the herds to put forth a quality product for the hunters of this state, we are sharing little bits of hunting history and you know what those stories should be told, they should be shared because some day no one will be around to tell them. Stories of 2-300 deer moving through a draw at daylight on a cold November morning in the Methow was common at one time not that long ago, now it is just that, a story or a memory and thats where I feel bad for the younger hunters, it truly was something to see.
Post by: Karl Blanchard on July 05, 2019, 07:51:03 PM
Post by: CAMPMEAT on July 05, 2019, 09:07:42 PM
Post by: bigmacc on July 05, 2019, 09:57:52 PM
Hope it was Pepsi bigmacc. If it was that other brand I don't know if we can be friends anymore :chuckle:
Yes it was Karl, my blood still runs Pepsi blue and always will, 43 years :tup:
Post by: Ellensburg on July 05, 2019, 10:09:07 PM
Too many flat brimmers now days trying to get famous hunting.
Haha! I think I am a flatbrimmer.
Post by: Karl Blanchard on July 05, 2019, 11:11:30 PM
Haha! Good man! I'm 16 down and 27 more to go :tup:Hope it was Pepsi bigmacc. If it was that other brand I don't know if we can be friends anymore :chuckle:
Yes it was Karl, my blood still runs Pepsi blue and always will, 43 years :tup:
Post by: 2MANY on July 05, 2019, 11:33:35 PM
Does that make me old?
Post by: bigmacc on July 06, 2019, 03:57:21 PM
Haha! Good man! I'm 16 down and 27 more to go :tup:Hope it was Pepsi bigmacc. If it was that other brand I don't know if we can be friends anymore :chuckle:
Yes it was Karl, my blood still runs Pepsi blue and always will, 43 years :tup:
Absolutely, keep working hard and see if you can pick up that "Ring of Honor award", my wife and I had a blast in NYC, they role out the red carpet for you and money is no object, unreal and a proud moment for me :tup:
Post by: bigmacc on July 06, 2019, 04:01:04 PM
Post by: hardrichard on July 07, 2019, 11:51:07 AM
Post by: Remnar on July 07, 2019, 03:19:33 PM
Post by: hardrichard on July 07, 2019, 05:17:32 PM
Post by: bigmacc on July 12, 2019, 05:28:28 PM
Post by: Mtnwalker on July 12, 2019, 06:25:43 PM
Post by: bigmacc on July 12, 2019, 06:46:08 PM
Paul didn’t even give a “hey guys, don’t go over there” or anything before he left? Hmm..
Absolutely not, just a strange look on his face while he loaded up to leave. To this day my dad was the only one who knew what happened or what Paul seen on that 2 day trip 6 miles from camp, my dad took it to his grave.
Post by: hardrichard on July 12, 2019, 09:18:17 PM
Post by: elksnout on July 14, 2019, 11:06:18 PM
I'm going to ramble a bit with my thoughts.
I remember.....
When you could leave I5 and either go up the Coweeman or Kamala River and come out at Cougar. We'd spend the day doing that. Now you need a $300 trespass fee. Go figure. I loved driving thru Camp Kalama and seeing all the yellow and green log trucks and equipment and the smell of cut old growth doug fir. Man that's a great memory for me with my dad. I remember all the elk camps at the old Camp Coweeman site too. You still could find some of the old railroad trestle's from the old logging days out across some of the canyons. I remember during elk season driving out of Cougar and there being a stream of log trucks heading up in the dark. Seeing their marker lights in the rearview was cool. They would be lined up in front of the restaurant left running and ready to go. When I was in grade school that highway turned to gravel not far east out of Cougar. We would be flying up that road in the dark on Friday nights packed into the tiny standard cab of my dad's 1960 Chevy pickup dodging pot holes to get to elk camp up on Clear Creek. I'd be left behind at camp to protect my mom wity BB gun and maybe get a bull :chuckle: :chuckle:
One time I walked across a downed tree which fell over Clear Creek. Then I froze and wouldn't come back. My mom freaked. Our family friend Lorraine who grew up with my mom in North Dakota and who's husband was my dad's hunting partner crawled across with a stick to get me. Still can see that. On one trip there was a lost hunter. Everyone gathered around a big fire and fired signal shots during the night. Then there was the night we all heard a cat just inside the trees wailing and scaring all. And one morning we woke up to elk tracks all around both pickups and campers. Anyone remember when elk meat was hung in front of the camps under clear or black visqueen instead of either being hid or placed under blue hillbilly tarps? Sometimes it was fun to just drive around during the day checking out all the camps. In the national forest there used to be logging. When we drove up the 90 road you better have your CB on to monitor where the log trucks were and also radio out your location based on the milepost lest you get ran off the road. Those loaded logging trucks can get mighty scary on a blind corner! Up until the mid 90's hunting deer in the national forest was great hunting. Elk hunting lasted just a bit longer. Now roads are bermed off or torn up. The cuts are now a sea of reprod you can barely walk thru let alone see into. The deer are all but gone. There's still some of the traditional camps going up each year. Pretty much for tradition if you look at the harvest stats for those units. Campgrounds used to stay open too thru the fall. Now almost all close shortly after Labor Day. You never saw tourists up there until St. Helens blew. That ruined that country in my opinion over and above the lives lost and the devastation left behind. Any bull was legal. Spikes made up the bulk of the harvest. Hell a raghorn was a big deal then. Anybody remember Hoo Hoo Lake? We used to set up the coldest military wall tent camp in history there each fall until the mountain blew. We have pictures of us hunting up on the Plains of Abraham in short sleeves in fall before the mountain erupted. There was an old pack trial we used that went up a spine of a ridge just north of Ape Canyon. In the bottom of that unnamed canyon the country looked like a scene out of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It's all gone now when the flows came out that side of the mountain. Muddy River, Pine Creek, Bean Creek, Smith Creek, Clear Creek, Clearwater Creek. Smith Butte. There was the nicest forest service campground on the Clearwater near where it dumped into the Muddy. All gone. But I persist. I still go although the last couple years I haven't hunted elk in Washington instead making my "big hunts" out of state. Rather I just camp in that country mostly these days. I do have a still somewhat decent deer hunting spot entirely in the old growth in the Wind River unit. Not a lot of deer but the last week of October has been good to me there. Good luck to all this fall.
Elksnout
Post by: Skyvalhunter on July 15, 2019, 06:11:57 AM
Post by: bigmacc on July 17, 2019, 08:01:02 PM
Hey Bigmacc I still remember that story about Paul I always looked forward to it being told around the campfire......always gave me chills especially when I was younger ;) your brother and I always had our theory on what he might have encountered but like you said we never ever got told by your dad. kind of spooky :yike:
Yes it was spooky, I got "chills" typing the dang story on here, I will never forget the look on his face as he loaded his truck in record time, said goodbye and was gone in a heartbeat, I,m afraid it will remain a mystery, like you, I have my theory(I think he seen something that scared the crap out of him), but the guy was hardcore and spent countless days in the wilderness by himself for years from Alaska to Wyoming and everything in between, he seen a lot in his day, if it was something he seen it threw him for a loop, and thats a fact.
Post by: PA BEN on July 18, 2019, 05:38:20 AM
I live the good old days every year. If you are missing out it's your fault.:yeah:
Post by: bigmacc on July 18, 2019, 05:42:06 PM
Post by: bigmacc on July 19, 2019, 05:21:28 PM
I miss the old cowboys that would come to our camp, a few were real characters, but all were welcome at our camp, some I remember their names and most I don't because I was so young but I do remember listening to the stories swapped between them and my family around those little Bellingham fires. Later on in life I became close with one who to this day I still call him friend, he and his wife spent time at my home and my wife and I at his. He would come up to our camp 3-4 times during hunting seasons back in the 70,s, 80,s and 90,s, most of the time him and his wife would ride their horses up to camp with a pack mule carrying steaks, other food, a little beer and a little hooch, man those were some good memories. The guy was and is a real teller of stories but was NOT a BS,r, like a lot of cowboys he just had "a way" of tellin a story :tup:. He is the one who told me the story of "the Mule Deers graveyard" he found up near Spanish Camp in the Pasayten along with many, many more of his real life adventures. Sometimes they would come up to camp and we would have 10 or 11 bucks hanging, he would walk down the ridgepole looking at every buck like he was dissecting their life by the scars on their face and the nicks and scratches on their antlers. He loved how we hung our deer head up and he loved the story of why we did it, he would say "they sure look prettier hanging that way when you turn on the firelight". Him and his wife came up to camp one year during a draught time, we had seen some bucks but at that point none of us had pulled the trigger, most of what we were seeing were tiny to say the least, horns and body( some on here remember that time period) and pretty soon we had to get serious about putting meat in the freezer. My friend looked at the ridgepole and was astonished that nothing was hanging, at this point in time camp consisted of around 15-20 folks for that time period. He offered us to come to his property and shoot a "nuisance" whitetail that he had running around terrorizing his cattle, we said ok, none of us had ever shot a whitetail at that time and now we would be doing a service to someone who had taken care of us through the years. Well we show up at 4 in the A.M, have coffee, eat flapjacks and draw straws for who is going to shoot this flagger. One of my partners is "the chosen one", we are all taken out to a spot on the ranch, its still dark, its cold, were dodging prize bulls on the way out and its about a confusing of an ordeal as I have ever been involved with. Its right at shooting time, we are all sitting in lawn chairs, facing towards the backside of a small coulee when all the sudden we see a flash, we all say "what the hell was that", he says "thats the alien deer I want ya to get". Well I was not "the shooter" I was a "spotter" so I put my binos on this "whitetail" and I said "SH#T ITS A DAM$ BARRICADE WITH BLINKING LIGHTS " . Well we didn't shoot that barricade that day but we had a good breakfast, good conversation and a "good hunt" and a great laugh during a slow year. We ended up with 5 of THE smallest bucks we have ever killed that year, but it was a hunt and a time I will never forget because of the "folks" that were there.
Post by: bigmacc on July 19, 2019, 05:28:50 PM
I may have a few others, I know there may be one or two on here that may have a story or 3 :chuckle:
Post by: Alchase on July 19, 2019, 06:30:15 PM
Post by: bigmacc on July 23, 2019, 12:44:33 PM
Post by: bigmacc on July 23, 2019, 02:12:27 PM
The old cowboy that I called friend, one year took me up to a pond that used to have water in it ;) back when, man we used to catch some big trout in that stupid little pond, some were the size of footballs but their meat unfortunately was about the same color as a football :chuckle: real muddy, any way I was over there at his place one November, the weekend prior to Thanksgiving actually. He said lets go get on the horses and I,ll take you up and show you a couple of the "nicest looking bucks you'd ever want to see, just real pretty, almost could be twins". He had been watching them for a couple weeks after him and his wife had taken a ride one day up to the pond to have lunch, they spotted these 2 big bucks with a harem of about 40 does on the opposite side of the pond, one of the bucks was on one side of the herd and the other stayed to the other side, he said he had not seen them get closer than 50 yards of each other in the 6-7 times he had rode in to watch them. When he and I got up to the pond on horses(to much snow to drive) the deer were not there, they had been hanging out there for about 2 weeks he said. Then we spotted one of the big bucks along the shore line stuck brisket deep in mud, his tongue hanging out and breathing hard(no telling how long he had been there), my buddy rode up to around 20 feet of him, grabbed his lasso and dropped the loop around his rack on the 1st shot, the loop did not go over his head or neck but got tangled in his massive rack(a big, heavy horned bugger with about a 28-30 inch spread), he put his horse in reverse and slowly pulled the buck onto solid ground, the buck was not thrilled to say the least, it was thrashing and actually made a couple false charges towards my buddy and his horse. Now "how do I get my rope back" he said, he got as close as he could by guiding the buck into a thicket for cover and to put some trees between him and the buck and he slid down the rope and cut it with about a 2-3 foot tail of rope hanging off it with a big birds nest in the rack. As the buck just walked off he said "man, I,d like to see the look on the guys face that finds those sheds". I know Ive probably told this story before but don't think I ever told "the rest of the story", turns out he had seen the buck on and off through the winter, still with the rope tangled in his antlers. One day the following April he had some time to kill and rode up to an area above the pond, he spent about 4 hours just wandering around the south end of a big hill and found his rope, BOTH sides of antlers were still knotted up in the rope, he said "when one side dropped it never hit the ground until the other side came loose", he had that mess of rope and antler in an old wood apple crate and would pull it out when the conversation got slow :chuckle:
Post by: hunthard on July 23, 2019, 02:26:56 PM
Post by: bigmacc on July 23, 2019, 03:38:05 PM
Im sure I've told this one on here before but maybe not :dunno: This is not my Story but one that was told to me by my cowboy friend, backed up with a picture that hung in his living room for years. I will try to tell it as best as I can remember. He was asked years ago to take some photographers and a writer from Outdoor Life magazine up into an area to get some pictures and write a story about a small little "turf war" I guess you would call it between Canada and the U.S about deer that were migrating from Canada into the U.S way up around the headwaters of the Chewuch up in 30 mile turf. He drove them up there in his truck as far as they could get up there in November, it was a pretty mild November at that point and he thought they could get pretty far in. He said they turned up a particular drainage and went in about a mile when he spotted a HUGE buck down in a hole off to the side of the truck, the big buck was laying down the hill aways and he told the photographer to get out and get some pictures of that big boy. The picture taker had a pretty expensive set up my friend said, he grabbed everything and instead of just taking some pictures he decided to go down the hill aways, sliding in the loose rock and gravel on his way. My buddy said he didn't go to far when the big buck stood up, he said he had a neck on him like a 55 gal drum and was not happy with this guy disturbing him, about 10 does busted out of the brush in all directions but the buck stood his ground. My buddy said he yelled at the guy to "get his a$$ back up the hill, now", the guy did an about face and scrambled the 20 feet or so back up the hill with the buck moving right behind him, the photographer ran around the back of the truck to the other side as the buck rammed the side of the truck leaving a dent and huge holes in the side of the truck. priceless memories.
Post by: Alchase on July 24, 2019, 05:35:00 AM
Post by: bigmacc on July 24, 2019, 09:29:34 PM
Post by: bigmacc on July 25, 2019, 03:28:25 PM
Post by: HillHound on July 25, 2019, 05:31:17 PM
I can’t imagine what they put in those diet pills now not to mention what they would have been putting in them then! :yike:
Post by: bigmacc on July 25, 2019, 08:27:53 PM
bigmac your stories are great. They just keep getting better. I find myself getting on here hoping that you have let us see another peek into your great adventures in what was definitely a much different time.
I can’t imagine what they put in those diet pills now not to mention what they would have been putting in them then! :yike:
Thank you, like I,ve said before, right around 58 years history for me (that I remember anyways :chuckle:) and 102 years total for my family, yep a lot was seen, done, attempted and sometimes successfully completed during those 102 years, lots of priceless memories and yes it was a different time.
Post by: JakeLand on July 25, 2019, 09:59:32 PM
you should really put a book together! Pics would be a total bonus!!! I would just a couplebigmac your stories are great. They just keep getting better. I find myself getting on here hoping that you have let us see another peek into your great adventures in what was definitely a much different time.
I can’t imagine what they put in those diet pills now not to mention what they would have been putting in them then! :yike:
Thank you, like I,ve said before, right around 58 years history for me (that I remember anyways :chuckle:) and 102 years total for my family, yep a lot was seen, done, attempted and sometimes successfully completed during those 102 years, lots of priceless memories and yes it was a different time.
Thanks and keep on typing
Jake
Post by: bigmacc on July 26, 2019, 11:44:48 AM
Post by: bigmacc on July 26, 2019, 05:10:04 PM
Sorry, I got to tell this one, only because it didn't really happen that long ago and there may be some on here that actually remember the "broad story" of this, my part of the story is actually a reaction to the main story I guess you would say, or at least its a side story. I,m thinking it was during the 80,s :dunno:, it was bluebird weather and had been for a few years, Sullivans was dried up and if I remember right we were in the midst of the "draught" period in the Methow. I remember I hunted the whole season in a pair of Wranglers, a t-shirt and a pair of Pony tennis shoes, only wearing a coat in the wee hours of the morning while getting to different haunts, when the sun was up it was balmy, vacation weather. Well I think there was around 20 of us in Little Bellingham that year, the hay-days were long gone but we did have a few deer hanging when a Game dept fella we knew came up to camp to BS and mentioned someone was stealing deer out of camps, just cutting them down from ridgepoles at night and disappearing, if I remember right it was happening not just up north but up and down the valley. I think it was the last 3 or 4 days of the season and we were filled up despite the weather, I think it was on Thursday 2 fellas pulled in a 100 feet or so away from us with a small tent, they yelled over "ok to camp here", we said sure. After they got set up they came over and BS,d with us, nice guys I remember, they told us they worked for Boeing and were on strike so they had a "vacation" and decided to come hunting. One guy was probably in his 30,s and the other looked a bit younger, they had never hunted the area, heck, they had never been to the Methow, they had heard of it after the pass had opened years earlier and them and there wives had drove over in the late 70,s and they had not been back since. Well they had no idea where to hunt or where they were even at for that matter, after seeing about 5 bucks hanging(the rest had went home)they flat out asked "where did you get those", I told them of a spot about 10 miles away that was easy to get to, and wasn't giving away any secrets, in fact it was hunted by a few and every now and then a buck was killed there but it was easy to get to and was easy access. The 2 guys spent the night at our fire and were good folks, it was late, we told them good luck and they left to hit the sack. The next day rolled around and we were just "camping" in the beautiful weather, someone said "those guys arnt back", it was late afternoon but I knew they were ok, no way they could get "turned around" were I sent them. Just before dark they rolled in hooping and hollering out the window of their rig, they backed up near the ridge pole and proceeded to pull out a HUGE buck(if I remember right it was a non-typical and had like 14 on 1 side and 12 on the other, just a freak)and it dropped to the ground. We beat feet over there and they were more excited than any one I had ever seen shooting a buck and I have seen many young, old and in between who have killed there first buck but this was the most over the top but it was warranted, the dang thing was huge. They told the story. They had went to the spot I told them of, slipped down the hill aways, spread out a bit a hunkered down, everything I told them to do. Well they fell asleep, woke up somewhere around 10 o'clock because the sun was beating down on them and one of them sat up and was taking his boots off to just sit in the sun with his shoes off when he looked down hill and this monster was laying down the hill at about 50 yards! Looking the other way, the buck had no idea these 2 guys were above them! They were both shooting 30-30,s and shot a total of 17 shots to kill this buck, we heard the whole story. Now this was a huge buck, I've seen many huge bucks but I aint kidding you this was a DANDY. We told them of what was going on with deer getting swiped off of ridgepoles and what happened next was unbelievable. We went back to camp and after awhile one of the guys left and the other stayed at camp, he sat in a lawn chair with his 30-30 at his side, a few hours later his friend showed up, it was late and we went to bed. When we woke up the next morning I looked over to see the monster hanging in the tree, he was still there totally wrapped in about 40 feet of heavy chain and numerous paddle locks, gods truth. No body was gonna steal THAT buck,..... never seen those guys again :chuckle:
Post by: bigmacc on July 26, 2019, 05:26:53 PM
There are a couple guys on here that know some of this, not all, but some, they are pretty quiet and I respect that, but, when I,m gone its all here, so now I don't have to do this twice :chuckle:, you know what I mean, thats dad telling me to "be smart and think before you do something stupid". Everything is ok, no need to call :chuckle: :chuckle:
Post by: hardrichard on July 26, 2019, 05:57:46 PM
Post by: WildlifeAssassin on July 26, 2019, 06:21:58 PM
Post by: bigmacc on July 30, 2019, 02:26:18 PM
Post by: grundy53 on July 30, 2019, 06:24:35 PM
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
Post by: DeerSkin on July 31, 2019, 03:25:49 PM
Post by: bigmacc on July 31, 2019, 04:46:33 PM
Where are all the old school hunting pictures? Come on guys I know you got them, let’s see! :tup:
Well I can only speak for myself here but 4-5 years ago I posted 40 or so old camp pictures going back into the 30,s all the way up into the 2000,s, all old pictures of my family camp, I had a lot of help from my wife, daughter and grandkids since I'm pretty clueless with most technology these days. I found out after a few months(from some one on here) that a lot of my familys pictures were being copied, I had to get a grandkid over here to pull most of them off.
Post by: bigmacc on August 01, 2019, 11:04:37 AM
I think it was in the 90,s(could of been late 80,s?) my buddy and I were the last holdouts, neither of us had bucks yet and there were 4 or 5 days left, the weather had been mild but the forecast was for snow and cold temps coming soon. We had seen a few bucks but we had time and with the promise of weather we were optimistic the migration would kick in. The wind changed the next day and started coming out of the north, I remembered the temps dropping into the teens within an hour dropping from the high 40,s but still no snow, clear blue skies. Well we were hunting most at about 4-5000 feet elevation and we knew those temps were below zero up high and along with other factors could be just another kick in the butt to get the bucks excited. The next day we started seeing some small bunches of does and small bucks starting to move, 15-20 in a bunch which was a good sign, Mother Nature was whispering in their ears at this point that something bigger was on its way. The next day we were seeing even more on the move(I think we seen around 200 that next day) but still blue skies, low teens for temps and a steady wind coming straight out of the north. The third day after the change was crazy, we were seeing 2-3 hundred a day but all were does and yearling bucks then the evening before the last day the wind changed direction and during the night a front had moved in on top of the cold temps. We woke up to a little snow falling and just a dusting on the ground, it was the last day so we weren't gonna venture far. We made it out to our spot and by the time we got out there it was just turning light and we were in blizzard conditions with about 8-10 inches on the ground and still piling up. I was sitting on a spot this day where normally I had 2-400 yard visibility in most directions, today I had about 20 feet! It was dumping good, my partner was a few hundred yards away watching a different draw but it was coming down so hard I couldn't even tell what direction he was away from me, my bearings were all screwed up. I just sat there waiting for it to slow down so I could at least gain SOME visibility but It came down for another hour or so. I could hear deer bouncing, trotting and walking by me on all sides but could never see them, only once in awhile I would catch a glimpse of a shadow moving through, almost like ghosts. Well when it started to slow down there was an easy 15-16 inches on the ground, it finally stopped suddenly and I could see, what I did see was unreal to say the least. I looked slowly all around me just moving my head VERY SLOWLY and there were deer all around me, litterly hundreds moving, standing, walking all around me, I made a slow move for my rifle that was under a tree and one of them started the stampede. I flipped my scope covers off and whistled knowing at least a few of them would stop and be curious, sure enough a couple big bucks(a 4 by 4 and a 5 by 6 stopped and looked back, I dropped the 5 by 6 and within a minute I heard my partner shoot. We met up while we were getting the deer out and he had killed a big 3 by 3, we sat there for awhile and BS,d, he had the same experience, he couldn't see for an hour or so but could hear deer moving through and when the snow stopped, he was surrounded, he actually joked that he shot his in self defense :chuckle:, he said he felt threatened. Well we started dragging, one buck at a time. On the way out we were seeing deer running all around us with about 25-30 of those being bucks. About half way out we ran into an older lady sitting on a stump, she said she had just sat down, I looked across the draw and saw a big rack laying in the limbs of a deadfall, I but my binos on it and sure enough it was a big non typical bedded down. We showed here where it was but all she had was a 30-30 with no scope, the buck was about 220-250 yards away, I asked her if she was a good shot and if she did a lot of practicing, she said yes on both questions but did not feel comfortable shooting that far with her set up, I asked her if she would like to use my rifle(270 with scope), she said "Oh that would be nice", she got behind the stump, used it for a rest and after about a minute or so of getting comfortable she squeezed one off. We were watching with our glasses and seen the hair fly on its front shoulder, the heavy head tipped over into the limbs and there it layed, she handed me my rifle and calmly said "thank you", then said "now the work begins". She asked if on the way out we could let her son know that she had a buck down and send him over, we said you bet and we headed out. Maybe a mile down the trail we ran into a fella sitting under a tree, he looked to be to old to be the ladys son but we asked if he had someone back there, he said yes, his mom. We asked him how old his mom was and asked what she was wearing(just to make sure we weren't sending the wrong person to her :tup:), he described her to a tee including hair color, he also said she was 78 or 79 :dunno:, we told him about the buck and what happened and how calm she was AND how she certainly didn't look that old and he said she was some sort of a competitive "trick shooter" back in the day growing up in Oklahoma. We only met her that one time, we went to were they were camped the next year but they were not there, another guy there said her husband had passed and she moved back to Oklahoma. I would have loved to listen to her tales and I would have loved to have known just how big that nontypical was, we heard a couple different stories from guys that were camped by them some said it was 28inches wide and had 15 on one side and 9 on the other and some one else said it was 28 wide but was 13 on one side and 9 on the other, who cares really, it was a real dandy!
Post by: buglebrush on August 01, 2019, 11:31:16 AM
Post by: bigmacc on August 01, 2019, 12:36:12 PM
With this state swirling down the drain of a predator pit, it's hard to imagine deer like that. Enjoying the stories.
Well, its like a lot of us have been saying, those of us who have a history in the Methow anyways. As time goes on less and less of us will be around to tell theses stories but like Ive said many, many times there WAS a time when this state and certain areas within it would rival any "mule deer state" you would want to put it up against, in quality AND quantity IMO. I know Ive mentioned this before also but those of us who were fortunate enough to hunt the valley pre opening of the North Cascades Pass really had something special and I consider myself very blessed to have been chasing deer around this valley back in those days and have heard first hand the stories and seen pictures of my family actually hunting it for decades before me. I know its hard for someone in their 30,s and 40,s to contemplate some of what it was really like over there really not that long ago, heck it was still real good into the 90,s but trust me it really was very special and looking back on it really makes me feel blessed to have been there during those times and on the other hand feel very sad and upset on where this herd is now and how politics (basically) are at the root of the many issues that have and are contributing to the demise of this herd.....sorry, just my :twocents:
Post by: bigmacc on August 01, 2019, 02:22:32 PM
With this state swirling down the drain of a predator pit, it's hard to imagine deer like that. Enjoying the stories.
Well, its like a lot of us have been saying, those of us who have a history in the Methow anyways. As time goes on less and less of us will be around to tell theses stories but like Ive said many, many times there WAS a time when this state and certain areas within it would rival any "mule deer state" you would want to put it up against, in quality AND quantity IMO. I know Ive mentioned this before also but those of us who were fortunate enough to hunt the valley pre opening of the North Cascades Pass really had something special and I consider myself very blessed to have been chasing deer around this valley back in those days and have heard first hand the stories and seen pictures of my family actually hunting it for decades before me. I know its hard for someone in their 30,s and 40,s to contemplate some of what it was really like over there really not that long ago, heck it was still real good into the 90,s but trust me it really was very special and looking back on it really makes me feel blessed to have been there during those times and on the other hand feel very sad and upset on where this herd is now and how politics (basically) are at the root of the many issues that have and are contributing to the demise of this herd.....sorry, just my :twocents:
Heres a great example. Back in the 70,s and 80,s my dad was in his 40,s and 50,s and could still hike circles around folks half his age. It was common for him to have a huge buck on the pole opening morning, a buck amongst bucks that he had scouted and spotted 2-3 weeks prior. After killing his buck he still hunted hard the rest of the season only just using his eyes. We would continue going into "our spots and haunts", we all had our favorites and dad would go by himself and check out other areas, some of which were at the opposite end of the valley and 30 miles away, he would leave at 3 in the A.M and we would not see him till way after dark. He would go into areas that only locals knew of, areas he had not been in in 30 years or spots that held fond memories for him when he was young with my great grandparents back in the 30,s. He would sit at the fire and tell us of his day, what he seen and which ones he would go after if he had a tag. Some years the list was long, he would come into camp with a list of 6 or 7 big bucks, all in different areas, he ran down body size, how many points and what ways were the best to get to him and( in his respected opinion) if he thought they were going to be there the next day or days, he could tell by just watching a deer for awhile if he was going to be there the next day or not, I honestly never seen him wrong on this. Well he came into camp one night and he had 5 big bucks that he knew weren't going anywhere, he had routes into each one all planned in his head and wanted to know if any of us wanted to get one. Another of the spots was in an area that no one in camp had seen horns in for ever, in fact it was kind of a spot we would joke with him about, but it was an area "he knew big deer hung out in", he always had a feeling, he had not been there that day but he "had that feeling". One of the guys was sleeping in a hammock and we volunteered him to go with dad the next day, we all went to bed and we told him in the tent he was going for a ride with dad the next morning, when we told him where they were going his exact words were "OH GREAT" in a real what a waist of a day voice this is going to be. They were gone before we were out of bed the next morning and they rolled into camp that evening. They got out of the truck and walked towards the fire and explained it "was worth a shot" and how they had not seen a doe one, they explained the 2 or 3 spots they walked into glassing some beautiful country and how they seen nothing, they got back to the truck about an hour before sundown and started the hour and a half drive back on a horrible dirt road. They were about a mile into the trip when a 5 by 5 jumped off the bank and onto the road and stood there staring them down, my dad said "I,ll be darned, there are still deer up in here, there he is partner, I can't get you any closer". My buddy jumped out and the buck bolted over the other side into some real thick stuff, he went in after it. He got down hill a few hundred feet and it opened up into a huge opening with the buck standing on the opposite side, he killed the buck, gutted it, propped it open and left it there till morning. We went in the next morning and did a deadhead around a hitch ball on one rig and pulled him up out of the hole with another rig, a huge 5 by 5 to this day is known as the "#$%@^& Buck", my brother still hunts that area at least once or twice during the season along with a few others in our group every year but another buck has not been killed up there since, I swear it was my dads proudest day ever seeing that brute hanging on the pole, the guy killed over 70 Methow bucks but one he never pulled the trigger on was his favorite, we heard about that trip every year until he passed and how only one other guy believed in that spot, the guy that shot that buck to this day tells us all "thank you" for volunteering him that day and "buys us a beer" every year as a thank you. :chuckle:
Post by: Claymore15 on August 01, 2019, 03:07:11 PM
Post by: bigmacc on August 01, 2019, 03:22:41 PM
Ahh memories of the ol'man and the midnite rides, in a 69 bronco sitting on a tool box, because there was only 1 seat, and the buck that Bigmacc speaks of sits behind velvet ropes and is lit 24 hours a day, to behold all the greatness, in the guys house, Dad was really kinda of spooky good at finding deer.
:chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:.....there you go, I heard the killer of that deer had many book offers because of that buck, but then he later killed "THE @#$%@#$ BUCK", jeeze, its like he just keeps stepping in it :chuckle: :chuckle:
Post by: bigmacc on August 02, 2019, 03:58:21 PM
Post by: bigmacc on August 02, 2019, 05:18:56 PM
To whom it may concern, you know who you are :tup:. Print these or write them down, I know you know most of these but I aint writing them down again :chuckle:
Post by: bigmacc on August 09, 2019, 05:35:20 PM
Post by: Muskrat on August 09, 2019, 06:34:37 PM
Post by: BLH69 on August 09, 2019, 07:00:06 PM
Post by: bigmacc on August 09, 2019, 07:09:28 PM
Good old number 11 :tup:
Post by: Pathfinder101 on August 09, 2019, 07:14:29 PM
But…
I really prefer my new sub-moa bolt action rifle to a 30-30 lever gun
I really prefer my Kenetreks to wet tennis shoes
I really prefer Kuiu, Sitka and Kryptek to damp flannel and jeans
I really like using my spotting scope and binoculars to spot and stalk (instead of Dad sending me on a death march through a draw while he watches to see what I scare out of it)
I seem to get lost a lot less now that I have a GPS
My Eberlestock daypack makes my rifle a lot easier to carry than a leather sling
I haven’t been chased off anyone’s private property since I started using OnX
My sleeping bag is light enough that I will actually carry it on a hunt now
You would have to beat me with a 2X4 to get me to carry binoculars on a strap around my neck again
My backpack doesn’t rub little holes in the small of my back like my Army surplus pack did
I haven’t had to hitchhike out of the woods since I started buying new trucks
So… like you guys, I really miss the old days. I’d go back if I could… but I’d really like to bring all my gear with me :rolleyes:.
(Dang. I miss my mullet though..)
Post by: bigmacc on August 09, 2019, 07:19:27 PM
Shot my first buck on October 11th at 11:00. I was born 10/11/69 at 11:00. Packed in to Wolf Creek.
Man oh man we used to see some big bucks up in there, killed a few too.
Post by: JimmyHoffa on August 09, 2019, 07:23:40 PM
Post by: bigmacc on August 09, 2019, 07:26:47 PM
I miss the old days, just like everyone else.
But…
I really prefer my new sub-moa bolt action rifle to a 30-30 lever gun
I really prefer my Kenetreks to wet tennis shoes
I really prefer Kuiu, Sitka and Kryptek to damp flannel and jeans
I really like using my spotting scope and binoculars to spot and stalk (instead of Dad sending me on a death march through a draw while he watches to see what I scare out of it)
I seem to get lost a lot less now that I have a GPS
My Eberlestock daypack makes my rifle a lot easier to carry than a leather sling
I haven’t been chased off anyone’s private property since I started using OnX
My sleeping bag is light enough that I will actually carry it on a hunt now
You would have to beat me with a 2X4 to get me to carry binoculars on a strap around my neck again
My backpack doesn’t rub little holes in the small of my back like my Army surplus pack did
I haven’t had to hitchhike out of the woods since I started buying new trucks
So… like you guys, I really miss the old days. I’d go back if I could… but I’d really like to bring all my gear with me :rolleyes:.
(Dang. I miss my mullet though..)
I hear you Pathfinder and I,d go back if I could also, but I wouldn't change a thing, including the mullet, I had a few of those too through the years.....when I had hair :chuckle:
Post by: DeerSkin on August 12, 2019, 10:15:23 PM
Good old number 11 :tup:
Couple Nice looking whitetail Pathfinder101 👍
Post by: bigmacc on August 23, 2019, 11:18:02 AM
Post by: bigmacc on August 23, 2019, 05:04:14 PM
Post by: no.cen.wa on August 24, 2019, 08:22:50 AM
Post by: Calvin Rayborn on August 25, 2019, 08:57:03 PM
Post by: bigmacc on September 11, 2019, 05:21:34 PM
:yeah: So sad, bigmacc your right, at least we got to see it when it was good!
Yes we did and what some need to know is, it wasn't that long ago, or at least for some, not that long ago(age). Some on here are 20, 25, 30 or even 40 years old. Fact is, hunting in this state was exceptional even 20 years ago, when some of you were born for that matter. 25, 30 or more years back, heck, you guys would have been living the dream of hunting right here in your own back yard. Seen my 1st sheep released up the Swakane 50 or so years ago(by mistake, told the story before :chuckle:), seen elk the size of clidesdale horses, (which was just normal) hanging in garages up at Camp Grisdale on the Peninsula in the 50,s,60,s and 70,s, seen mule deer in the Methow and the Entiat that would rival any other state as far as horn size and especially body size, seen many, many killed that were 30" and wider and 300lb plus. I have said it a few times, I have known and still call "friends" many folks that were part of the Department of Game back in the day, what we have nowadays isn't even close to what it should be, this fact is a shame for future hunters of this state. Sorry to be negative. I have young ones that will only know by stories and pictures of how great the hunting was at one time in this state.
Post by: ljsommer on September 12, 2019, 09:01:49 AM
My dad (alcoholic, left when I was 4) was a poacher and of the worst sort. Out of season, night hunting with a spotlight. Not a cool guy.
My grandpa died when I was in my late teens and I never got the chance to be introduced to hunting by him due to his physical health.
Fast forward to today - I am not sure how many folks from previous generations understand how little people in their 20's or 30's care about hunting. I have friends that love guns, love to shoot (and shoot very well), love hiking and camping, strong, fit, tough, but I can't pay them to come hunting with me. Not one friend. Their reasons are usually the same: "I work with guys that hunt 3 weeks a year, and they only bring something home every 4 or 5 years".
To them, the odds are so low and the time commitment so high that they just can't rationalize it.
On the other end of the spectrum, breaking into an existing camp/group/clique as a new hunter is extremely difficult. Honey holes are jealously guarded secrets which is partially why this sport has historically relied so heavily on familial tradition.
I am sure if I lived in Idaho, Wyoming, or Montana this would be a very different conversation, but my friends see how much time, effort and money I've poured into this sport since I picked it up a few years ago and they see that I've got nothing to show for it and man, it's a tough sell. Which makes starting my own "hunt camp" tradition extremely difficult.
Post by: ljsommer on September 12, 2019, 09:02:57 AM
Post by: Bill W on September 12, 2019, 09:09:56 AM
Post by: Pacific Ghost on September 12, 2019, 01:38:35 PM
Post by: Dave Workman on September 15, 2019, 01:55:55 PM
Its all these memories that make me say how sad it is what has happened to the Methow as far as hunting goes. Ive said many times, that in its day, I would have put it up against anywhere or any state as far as quantity and quality goes for top shelf mule deer hunting. What this state and its Dept of Wildlife has let happen to this herd is just plain horrible. Sorry, I know a lot of folks are to young to know what I'm talking about and I know there are some in positions of power that can't wait until folks like me are not around to tell these stories of the great hunting there was in this state, the abundance of quality animals and the great opportunity that was available right here in our own backyard.
'bigmacc,' you're a marvelous storyteller and no slouch when it comes to historical perspective.
Lived through it myself and the same thing has happened to the Teanaway. Back in the day, some monster bucks came from the Okanogan, Chelan and Teanaway, and your assessment of the management problems.
When an agency seems more interested in boosting a predator population so city people can wander around on the weekends and listen for some howling than they are in providing quality opportunity, real and abundant opportunity for the people who pay the freight, something is genuinely wrong.
Today, it's almost as if hunters are considered a necessary evil, because shooters and hunters actually provide operating funds. Where are the two- and three-week deer seasons with full weekends at both ends?
Where are the two-week elk seasons with three full weekends?
You look at the regs pamphlet. What is this year, 136-138 pages? Page after page of "special permit hunts." More hoops for hunters to jump through. When I was a kid, the regs pamphlet was pretty easy to understand and you could study it in an evening...while you were looking forward to opening weekend.
I wrote about this stuff years ago at the old F&H News.
Post by: Furee65 on September 25, 2019, 04:37:12 AM
Post by: Furee65 on September 25, 2019, 04:44:43 AM
Post by: wapiti22 on September 27, 2019, 05:01:36 PM
Post by: littlemac on October 08, 2019, 08:53:09 AM
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Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Post by: 2MANY on October 08, 2019, 09:03:25 AM
Perhaps some day I will finance a flat brim.
Until then...................Good luck.