Rabbit hunting.... what did you hunt as a kid?

[mcseal2]

Everything that would let me get within range. I started with a crossman 760 like many of you and took many critters with it, from sparrows to rabbits. When I was 11 dad started letting me take out his old Western Field 22 and I was ruined. I got just enough allowance each week to buy a brick of remington thunderbolts and I was being real careful with the last box by the 4th or 5th day. That went on through my sophmore year of high school when other interests slowed my 22 shooting down. I took pretty much everything KS had to offer except with it except deer, including coyotes and bobcat. The long barrel and fine sights that were meant to be used made hits pretty regular. I eventually wore the gun out, but had my gunsmith fix it up for Dad as a fathers day gift a couple years back to look brand new. Also had his old 243 re-done too so now they are better than when I first started using them.

 

[DrMike]

mcseal2,

In which part of KS did you grow up? My misspent youth was in SE KS. We had rabbits, squirrel, opossum and raccoon for "big" game. Plus, we shot quail and dove and pheasant further west, though there were virtually no pheasant in my home area. There were coyotes, but I didn't really hunt them as a boy. I don't recall ever finding a bobcat, either, though we occasionally found larger cat tracks in the country.

 

[mcseal2]

I live in ne ks. We had quail, but they have declined to where I no longer hunt them. I try to feed them a little and thin down the predators to save what's left. Never had many pheasants. We find big cats tracks too, and will see one rarely.

 

[DrMike]

I still have family in KS, NE and MO. I just don't make it back there very often. If any of them were to arrange a whitetail hunt or a hunt for one of those great KS mule deer....

 

[mcseal2]

If I didn't hunt whitetail around home, I'd be headed to the western part of the state for muleys. I have to go to other states so I don't miss my whitetail season. It's always nice to see new country and get away to though. I work all day and hunt the last hour or two during whitetail season so it's not really getting away.

 

[1Shot]

I wore out a Red Rider style BB gun from about age 6 to 10 years old. Countless birds of all sorts were killed out of the cherry trees at my great aunts and Grandfathers and our house. I almost lived under or around those trees to keep the birds from eating them before they got ripe so we could pick them and use them ourselves. It is a shame that a blight has killed them all now. For Christmas after turning 10 years old just 13 days before I received my first REAL rifle. It was a Sears Model 1 (made my Winchester) single shot 22 s,l, lr. Between it and the Crescent Firearms double barrel 20 ga shotgun that was my dad's that my Grandfather told me that it was mine when I turned 8 yrs old and at that birthday dad had to get him a new shotgun. I killed every game animal that was available where I lived. Squirrels, rabbits, quail, dove and varmints: groundhogs, rats, mice, snakes, wild feral dogs (got paid $1.00 for each dog killed by a neighborhood farmer that had cattle). By age 13 I had worked all summer to earn the money to purchase my first high power rifle. A 1903A3 Springfield unissued condition for $40.00 in 1970. Dad did not deer hunt but my Sunday school teacher and neighbor would take me. I killed quite a few wild dogs and some other varmints with that rifle but never a deer for the simple reason that deer were very few and far between and I never saw one. I finally killed my first deer when I was 18 years old. It was the first deer I ever saw while hunting and it was a 5 point buck that weighed 163 lbs field dressed. Like a fool I had traded off the Springfield and got a Marlin 336 30-30Win by that time. I really learned how to shoot long range with that old Springfield. I had a cousin that was in the national guard and he would bring me a 250 round can of ammo for the Springfield every month when he came from guard meeting. After I got out of collage and got married and got a job that provided extra money the gun collection grew in earnest as did the hunting experiences. I did purchase another BB/pellet rifle, a Power Line pump up that shot about as hard as a 22 short with 10 pumps. I used to shoot rabbits in my back yard and out of my garden IN SIDE THE CITY LIMITS with it. Very quite but very deadly. :mrgreen:

 

[Coyote Hunter]

Started learning to shoot when I was about 7 years old. A couple-three years later there were three long boxes under the Christmas tree and three very happy boys when we discovered they containe Ithack Model 49 single-shot .22s!

The next few years you could scarcely find a rabbit, squirrel or pigeon around our place or Granddad's.

Forgot to mention that I got my first BB gun when about 7. Sparrows, pigeons, crows all fell with regularity. (Well, the crows less so...)

 

[cloverleaf]

Is that your original Ithica? Nice! Those are cool old rifles.... Handled a couple, never had one. What a great trainer they would have made, and there was a cool factor for a young boy too. My older cousin had a winchester model 52 I think. That was a rifle to be envied when you were 14. CL

 

[Coyote Hunter]

Is that your original Ithica? Nice! Those are cool old rifles.... Handled a couple, never had one. What a great trainer they would have made, and there was a cool factor for a young boy too. My older cousin had a winchester model 52 I think. That was a rifle to be envied when you were 14. CL

No, long story but mine got away in 1970. Had been looking to replace it for several years but couldn't find one in good shape at a reasonable price. Patience was rewarded as I got this one for $105. Almost perfect condition, just a couple minor scratches. My brothers still have theirs.