The best hunting days are now

WC

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I have been thinking alot about how good we have it here in good old 2009. My Grandfather got to hunt in the 1950's and 60's and most of the time the men barely had enough spare time to make it up hunting on opening morning. Now many of us have 3 weeks of vacation and rifles and optics that are amazing. Many people now make enough money to apply in multiple states. A really devoted hunter in our day and age could put at least 5-10 really nice bucks on the ground during a life of hunting. If you were to do a serious compilation of the bucks that the average hunter in the 50's and 60's killed I would guess many years they killed average 4 points and even some two points with an occasional hog. I have an amazing hunt every year even though there are many days I get my tail kicked by weather, other hunters, my bad shooting and many other things. I know there are many challenges facing us as hunters today but my hope is that we don't turn ourselves into sour grapes complaining about everything. I believe it is great to be able to spot the things we would like to see changed but I hope we don't miss the wonderful opportunities that we are blessed with today in 2009. I hope my boys grow to love the sport that I am so passionate about.
 
WC- You make a very good point about the advantages we have now that they didn't have in the 50's and 60's. We are pretty lucky to have the equipment. I wish we had the same amount of land to hunt as they did back then though. We have lost a lot of hunting ground due to development and that has limited us today in a way.

Steve
 
WC, I'm down with your line of thinking. A little power of positive thinking is always good.

Still, I have to wonder how good the 50s and 60s would have been if I could go back with all my modern techniques and technology.

I think hunters can have some phenomenal hunting right now if they are willing to put in the time and/or play the tag game and/or pay the money.
 
I have seen an old journal entry from my grandfather where he was in utter shock that he had to pay 15 dollars for a hunting permit. I know that now a days many hunters pay the 500 dollar out of state cost and are still able to afford a nice house and a beautiful truck. If you have a job where you can work overtime you can work a couple extra hour a day and in less than two months you can afford a nice out of state hunt. If you eat out at a burger stand 3 times per week at five dollars per time and you were willing to give that up you could easily save enough money for a great out of state hunt every year.I too have dreamed about hopping in a time machine with my 300 ultra mag and a leupold scope and heading back in time but until they get the FLUX COPASITOR perfected I will enjoy my 2009 hunting. I just don't want our sport to be dominated by angry pessimists. Look at FOUNDER's success over the years and tell me a man can't have fun if he is willing to make the investment.
 
I read someplace about the fact that in the USA, the children of modest american families have a life many times better than the the very highest levels of society had it in 1900.

Now, yes, that is a long time ago. But, the 50's and 60's are also a long time ago.

The truck and the food that my grandfather had on his trips to Utah from California (for deer hunts) in the 50's and 60's were a far cry from what we have now. Our camp (now) has more luxury than my grandparents home in the early 50's. This is not a stretch.

So, if you look at it in those term's, you are correct.

Life is what we make it. Attitude is what we make it. Choices come down to how we decide to make them.

Everyone have an excellent year!!!!!!
 
I am old enough to be that grandpa! My first deer permit was in 1965.(had to be 16 to hunt back then) I used a borrowed open sighted 32 special and I shot 4 rounds at a doe that year. (permits were either sex back then) I had been on hunts since I was 8 years old and never saw my Dad kill a deer. Partly because he shot an open sighted 30-30 and partly because we didn't see that many big deer.
Yes, today is much better than most of the younger generation gives it credit for. There were perhaps more big deer running around back then, but they certainly weren't behind every bush. We never had a 4X4 much less an ATV and the guys that consistently killed big deer used horse and got away from the crowds, just like you need to do now days.
So yes!
These are the good old days!
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-13-09 AT 02:53PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Mar-13-09 AT 02:50?PM (MST)

I don't mean to bust anyones bubble, but hunting is at a point now where we have to be careful about how we use technology, and as far as mule deer go I would love to go back to the 60s and even the 80s, I shot my first deer in 1960 and can still remember all the deer and all the roadless country, the 80s were great, lots of healthy deer herds, the ATV revolution was still in its infancy,and good tags were easy to come by, now if you were talking about Elk these really are the good old days, but mule deer? sorry these aren't even close to the good old days, Grab a copy of Utahs biggest bucks, Or Idahos greatest bucks, and imagine how it was.
 
I shot my first deer in 1964. And my dad got respectable bucks (yes bucks) every year. We had a 4 wheel drive, (an old IH Scout with heater and radio, about like the Jeep I use now) and both shot rifles with Leupold scopes. I had a 270 and my dad a 30-06. When I go hunting now, I still camp primitive. I have a newer, but not much better sleeping bag. I still sometimes use the Eddie Bauer down bag we had back then. It was and is a great bag. For most of my archery hunts here in Wyoming, I just sleep on a tarp, under the stars, just like my dad and I did 40 years ago.

Access is LOTS tougher now and licenses are LOTS tougher to get in good areas now. I can't argue that we have a lot to be thankful for, but there are so many more dead serious hunters now that there's no comparison. My binos and spotting scope are WAY better than what we had then, but we did have binos and a scope. They were monsters. And just so you all know, my dad was an electrician and we did not have extra money. We spent every weekend hunting some sort of feathered or furred critter. And dad took off 2 weeks every year to go deer hunting. I can't squeeze out that much time right now.

Just another note for comparison. No heartburn.
 
There is no way to argue that getting a big buck in 2009 is as easy as it was 50 years ago. But I believe it is still a very obtainable goal. I would love to see more muleys around and I have some strong opinions on things that might be helpful in my region. People have a natural tendency to look to the past with nostalgia and if the truth be known many of the people who are pessimists today were complaining years ago as well. It is my opinion that when we take our sons dear hunting we shouldn't stand around the camp fire and complain about the hopelessness of the situation. Give them something to be excited about and though the experience might be different than when you were a boy it will still be a memory that will go with him for life. He will tell his sons how much fun he had with his dad hunting in 2009.
 
...at the time they were living in it, our fathers and grandfathers had no clue it was the good ol' days...

As far as I'm concerned, I'm living in the good ol' days now.

Twenty years from now, after we've all had to surrender our guns to gun control zealots, we'll definitely think back on this time as the good ol' days.

Hopefully, we'll still have archery...
 
Mozey....20 years from now you go ahead and surrender your weapons cause I ain't surrendering mine....in fact I have a couple stashed already...by then I'll have major Alzheimer's and some archaeologist will find a major discovery and will be shocked at how primitive he thought we were if the human race lasts that long...
 
Ad far as the hunting part I get excited every season now as I did when I started hunting Muleys back in 1966 (I started packing a 25-20 by myself)......just had to move around the West a little bit...
 
shucks Longun, I'm already suffering from Alzhiemer's...can't even remember where I cached that gun last week; I can't even remember if it was a gun... ;-)
 
+1 Wiszard

The only part of the past that I really feel we are lacking is the public access. We have lost tons in just the 19 years I have been hunting big game.

My biggest pain is pheasants because that hunt more than any has been negatively effected by the lack of publicly accessable land to hunt.

No matter where I go I see once prime land that is no longer useful to the public to hunt.

?Life is like a ten speed bike. Most of us have gears we never use!?
 

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