Cultual Changes & Dressing For the Hunt

[35 Whelen]

Interesting to note that when I was a kid here in Maine NO ONE had fancy hunting clothes they just wore what they did every other day.................. most had an old faded green checked wool jacket and it was very common that the "whole family" had one gun and it got shared among all the boys and you had to wait until the old man or your brother got back in so you could go out and hunt yourself! I remember my dad telling me that my great grandfather used to take the kids all ice fishing on Sundays and he did NOT own an ice chisel ??? He would send one of the kids a 1/4 mile away to his good friends place to borrow an ice chisel !!! Then when they got home and before the sunset that same day the ice chisel was returned to its owner! Things were very different then and people having a gun cabinet full of various calibers and gauges was unheard of. It was actually very popular here in Maine in the early 1950s to send your old wore out Winchester back into the factory for a "new barrel or re bore" they would change the barrel out and sometimes the forearm and ship it back completely rebuilt for around $20 and there are dozens of guns here in the local area that have been re barreled with a modern barrel on a turn of the century Winchester! All of them still ready to go hunting. I would say that at least 60-70% of the houses in this little village had outdoor toilets behind them in the 1960s and many of the local woodsman had an old car that was parked down under the old apple trees cause they had no cash to put gas in it. Folks all walked around town and thought nothing of it. Now its all Goretex and Windstopper and so much junk in your pockets to include smart phones and GPS's and calls and god knows what else it is almost ridiculous the trash we all have. Taking 3-4 guns hunting on a trip is pretty normal and most have lots of custom shells that cost as much as some make in a month..................... I wonder if we didn't really have more with less???????????? I have four rifles but could easily get by with just ONE..............

 

[DrMike]

Things are different, now, Earl; that's for sure. I'm not certain we are better hunters than our fathers and grandfathers were, but we are well equipped.

 

[Oldtrader3]

Earl, my most treasured possession in Maine was a old, worn, Woolrich red and black hunting coat that was frayed on the sleeves. My dad bought a new one and I got the old one which I wore for another 20 years until they became illegal to hunt in. By that time, the coat was worn beyond reprieve and I finally tossed it! I should have kept it to show my kids what we wore back in the 1940's and 1950's before Goretex.

 

[FOTIS]

Love them ole red flannel shirts.

 

[Polaris]

Add a blaze orange vest and hat and this is my fair weather walkin' outfit.

 

[Oldtrader3]

That's it alright!

 

[Polaris]

That's it alright!

Grandpa's rifle .300. The wool shirt I found in a bush store in Ontario for $10 canadian (still looking for the matching heavy coat in my size... sasquatch), the pants are German surplus wool riding pants. Hat is a filson "packer" I found at a flea market for $5. It's all quite warm and comfortable. And that Savage still shoots true!

 

[Oldtrader3]

Never had a Savage 99, but had a 1947 vintage Model 94, .32 Win. Spec. though. I had the Woolrich coat version of that shirt and wool pants and an Orvis hat that looks like that. Still have the hat! My oldest son has the Winchester 94.

 

[Polaris]

Everyone should have a 99. They're getting spendy for a nice one, but one's with some wear and tear but still useable are out there and still affordable. Great nostalgic hunting rifle with knock down approaching a .308 win. They sure handle nice in the thick stuff. This one was Grandpa's present from his wife and brother in law when he came home from WWII. Lots of egg, maple syrup and sewing money went into buying it second hand. This one was made in the early 30's. He died before I was born, but I heard the stories of how thoughts of the cool MN deer woods and the rifle waiting for him kept him going across the Pacific.

 

[truck driver]

I have a 99 that was passed down to me from a friend in 308. 24" barrel with Marble Buck Horn rear sight that flips down for scope use. The stock was cracked on both sides of the tang and I have repaired it but can't get to my work room to finish it till my ankle heals. The bore is perfect in the barrel. Can't wait to get it done so I can shoot it.

 

[35 Whelen]

Polaris,
Your hunting selection looks like 90% of what hunters wore around here in the 50/60s and the gun you have laying there is the standard the guides all carried from the 1920s thru the 60s . Now everyone thinks they have to have a scoped rifle but there were more deer taken with those old 99s than about anything baring a 1894............... nice stuff!
Nothing like doin it the old fashioned way! Like this 233 lber, laying in my Grandfathers old 20ft White "guide model" canoe...........

And here is gramps old 1899 250/3000 Takedown, with a heafty 242lb, "swampmaster" and a happy hunter !

 

[SJB358]

Polaris,
Your hunting selection looks like 90% of what hunters wore around here in the 50/60s and the gun you have laying there is the standard the guides all carried from the 1920s thru the 60s . Now everyone thinks they have to have a scoped rifle but there were more deer taken with those old 99s than about anything baring a 1894............... nice stuff!
Nothing like doin it the old fashioned way! Like this 233 lber, laying in my Grandfathers old 20ft White "guide model" canoe...........

And here is gramps old 1899 250/3000 Takedown, with a heafty 242lb, "swampmaster" and a happy hunter !

Earle, we need to talk about stocks for my Grandfathers old M99 300 Savage. It is pretty beat up, as he carried it out West a few times after WWII and also in the Adirondacks for deer season for about 40 years. I have it now, but it is in a pretty poor state of shape. Rifling is still good, but it has been carried and it's pretty worn thin. Forearm has some black tape holding it on, and their are some small pieces of wood missing outta the wood. Wanna bring it back, what do you think?

 

[35 Whelen]

Well we can fix anything here except a broken heart Scotty........................
That wood on my Grandads .250/3000, was some I picked up from Fajens when they went outta bussiness.
Trimed it out with a ribbon pattern thru the checkering pattern. It was about 3X wood with a checkpiece. We casecolored the frame just to be different and I had our engraver put "one of fifty" on the left side for fun.................. you could say it came out of the Savage "Northern Office" :wink:

 

[SJB358]

Well we can fix anything here except a broken heart Scotty........................
That wood on my Gramps was some I picked up from Fajens when they went outta bussiness.
Trimed it out with a ribbon pattern thru the checkering pattern. It was about 3X wood with a checkpiece. We casecolored the frame just to be different and I had our engraver put "one of fifty" on the left side for fun.................. you could say it came out of the Savage "Northern Office"

Nice, that is some SWEET wood on yours Earle, and that old 300 of my Gramp's has really taken alot of deer over the years. Like to get it back to decent shape and make sure it is huntable again.

 

[35 Whelen]

Back to the hunting clothing for a second. The best stuff I have hit onto for years is this line Cabelas has called Berber Fleece with Windstopper. It is flat amazing how quiet , warm, and totally windproof it is!!!! Really flat finish that animals have a real problem picking out. If you dont own any it is worth every cent of the money they charge for it. I was always a wool guy all my life but this stuff is worth researching for sure. Here is what it looks like in action , the coyote has the next level up and he really blends in! :mrgreen: