Sad News.

[Longshot349]

I see all the post about point creep, never draw tags, long odds, and people that have TWO DOZEN points and still waiting, etc, etc , etc, and it gives me heartburn and a sad feeling.

I'm just in my 50's but I can well remember buying ALL these tags over the counter.

Here's just a few memories for ya:

One year in Wyoming, I had a Moose tag, Elk tag, Mule Deer Tag, Antelope tag and a bear Tag... I killed them all in 7 days except the bear...I hunted at least 10 consecutive seasons in Wyo with at least 3 species in my pocket as a Non Res.... Now days, you gotta draw 4-5 years for a dang speed goat!!!

Another year around Rifle Colorado, we shot so many deer, my old truck was rubbing axles with the weight... Just as we were gonna head for home, the Warden stopped at camp and said, " you cant cant go home yet,,,, Here's another handful of tags..So we stay 3 more days and shot another load and rented a U-Haul trailer. I fed half the town with deer that year. Many of them were Bucks 180 and up. I know many of you older guys remember those years?

Another year, I drew a Bighorn Sheep tag on my first try, then turned around and drew it again the next year too....BIGHORN SHEEP!!!

I'm just sick and sad when I see what's happened now days. I'm sitting on 18 ELK points right now... 18 friggen years to draw an ELK tag and still ain't there!!!

I know some of Ya'll can remember the "hay days" too? I just had to reminisce a little about how it used to be...

and I hope the Good Lord finds a place for me in Heaven where there are NO stinking APPLICATIONS to fill out!! God Bless Ya'll

 

[theox]

That sounds like a fairy tale! Man o man how would that have been! That Colorado story is insane! A uhaul lmao! Well I can only dream of days like that!

 

[Longshot349]

It was crazy, and I took it for granted that it would last forever. But it didn't. Another thing that has changed BIG time, is landowner permission/fees. Back then nobody charged fees at all, and if you ask for permission to hunt, they would often look at you like, "you're asking me if you can hunt? Just go do it!"

As long as you left the gates like you found them, didn't mess with the cows, and didn't drive across the wheat fields, Farmers didn't give a hoot about you hunting... Those days are long gone too.

I'd be curious to hear from others that remember those days of plenty in the 60's, 70's and 80's.

 

[dmandoes]

we need pics, please

 

[BigB62]

I also grew up in the late 60's early 70's I've told this story to the younger guy's before. Me and my older brother's would drive up a drainage here is western Colorado in the fall I would stop counting deer when I hit a 1000 and that wasn't hard to do. Yes it is sad today that the deer are in the shape they are in. I don't believe we will ever see those number's again or even close to that.

 

[LoneWati]

Makes me wonder why with deer management we have less deer? I know all the habitat is different or lost, but you also hear stories that Hunter participation is down...Guess we will have to remember the glory days for what they were!!

 

[feddoc]

How many of you remember the Sportsman's license?

For $25 you would get fishing, deer, elk, bear, lion and small game. Maybe trapping too.

 

[Tomichi]

I remember. It was a good package. My dad wouldn't let me do it as he wanted us all to kill calf elk. You couldn't get cow tags with that deal. The worst opening morning of my life was in the late seventies. We tied up the horses and walked out on "the rock" 11 bulls 4 BIG six points. they fed with in 200 yards for an hour.. Then 20 cows showed up. We shot two calves drug em to a jeep trail and rode home. Once in the sage we spread out until we had a couple of 4 points who thought they could out run our saddle horses. They couldn't. I remember being really cold and the head lights were pointed up in the sky bringing all four home in the open top jeep late that night... but those were different days.

 

[Longshot349]

Cool stories here. I think Montana had a Sportsman's License too that included a bunch of stuff?

The old days were good times for sure. But it wasn't all easy stuff. I hunted many years from a 2 wheel drive truck with chains on it to get around...Or just the good O'le heel and Toe express boot leather...

They wuddun't none of this Quad riding all over the mountainside stuff like today. Some of these soupped up Quads cost more than I paid for my dang house.

Plus I had a beat up old rifle with a 4 power scope that you had to light a match to see through the dang thing. Any Elk over 150 Yards was SAFE around me...

My Long Johns underwear was the old quilted kind that "Momma" made for me and my Leather boots leaked like a Sieve. Wuddun't NO Gortex or Bone Dry stuff made back then. Wet feet was just aprt of doing business everyday.. But hell, younger folk don't know what a Sieve is either.

 

[LuckyHntr]

Longshot349 post some pics!!

Went to grade school on Piceance creek early 68 - 72. When driving down the creek in the winter time, we would count 1000s of deer. Was told that one field, owned by Oldlands(?) actually had over 1000 deer alone. Few people today really know what a lot of deer are!

We also used to go around cleaning up huge hunting camps that left all their trash. There were just a ton of hunters during season, but more than enough deer@

 

[Longshot349]

Oh Yeah , Piceance Creek... Don't know how Ya'll say it but we always called it "Pee- Ants Creek? and the Little Hills region..... I ain't been there in many a year, but them hills was crawling with deer back in the day.

I doubt they's nary a hillside that I ain't made a track on. Man, them was the days. That right char is what Heaven u'l be like.

I got me some pictures but this here computer don't agree wit me much. I got a daughter that can smash computer buttons better than me so maybe I can get her to post some of my pictures sometime.

I'm telling ya, they are retro. Just a bunch of old poor boys that like to hunt.

I also seem some big 'un's over around Hotchkiss, Paoinia and Crawford back in the 70's.

And Big Piney Wyoming used to have some real good hunting too. That's one of them places where you can sit on one hillside with binoculars and look at Deer, Elk, Antelope, and Moose all from one place at the same time. Anybody else ever do that?

 

[Zeke]

>And Big Piney Wyoming used to
>have some real good hunting
>too. That's one of them
>places where you can sit
>on one hillside with binoculars
>and look at Deer, Elk,
>Antelope, and Moose all from
>one place at the same
>time. Anybody else ever do
>that?

Yep, I have and it was in the same area in about 1978 when I had a moose tag.

Here's the deal though. Every State has 3 or 4 times as many people and the habitat is being destroyed at an alarming rate because of it.

Bottom line is: way more people, less habitat and fewer animals leads to demand out-stripping the supply. With the people population of today, they'd wipe out entire herds with simple OTC tags. Yes sad but so very true.

Zeke

PS: I'm a decade older than you and I've seen even more change over the years.

 

[littlebighorn]

Yup,
And I'm a half decade older than Zeke...but who's braggin?

I shot my first deer with a borrowed open sighted 32 special, with an effective range of about 150 yards. No binoculars, no range finders, 200 thousand orange clad competitors, and anything with horns on it's head got lead thrown it's way!
Also, plenty of big bucks got their head/antlers left on the mountain because they were too heavy to carry and we only wanted the meat anyway.

Times have definitely changed.

 

[Longshot349]

Good to know some of ya'll member the old days.I had a lot of good times back then.

I member the 1st year we ever went to Colorado huntin. I'm from Missouri and Dad was readin Outdoor Life and a Jack Oconner article. Jack said if'n you wanna hunt a bunch of deer go to Rifle Colorado and head west and you'd find a bunch of um.

Dad says to me, "Jack wouldn't lie to us, so let's go. We'll leave at daylight Wednesday." Dad always felt like he knew Jack Oconner even though he never met him. hehe.

So I show up at daylight, but Dad's O'le 64 Ford twin I beam pickup that we're gonna drive is stuck in the Hog pen. I hooked the Mules on it and finally got it out about noon. We loaded our stuff and headed west, but only made as far as Joplin MO that 1st night cause we blowed a tire out.

The 2nd day we got us one of them folding maps from the Gas station and headed across Kansas at a top speed of 45 mph, cause if you went any faster than that, the old truck would get the high speed shimmy's and bout put you in the ditch.

Dad had built us pickup camper to sleep in out of plywood and used C-clamps to hold it on the truck. On day 2 we was cruising along and met an 18 wheeler and the gush of wind blowed the plywood camper plumb off the truck and in the ditch and all our stuff was scattered up and down the roadway..

We got some nails and nailed it all back together and made it to Dodge City Kansas that night...

On day 3 we finally seen that sign that said "welcome to Colorado." Somebody had told Dad that if he was ever in Rocky Ford Colorado, to buy some of them Honey Doo Watermelons. Dad talked about them melons all the way out there and when we got to Rocky Ford, he just couldn't wait to git him some of them melons. He bought a whole big box of um and while I would drive, he'd eat them melons.

I member seeing them big piles of what looked like Taters to me, but come to find out it was Sugar Beets piled up 50 yards high and a quarter mile long. We'd never seen nothing like it. Ya'll ever seen them piles?

Anyway, by evening of day 3 we made to where we was huntin. It took us 3 full days to git there and nowdays I do it in a Quad Cab F350 Diesel at 80 mph in about 18 hours flat.

The next morning I was fired up and ready to shoot Deer, but Dad had the full blown shiiitts from eatin all them Honey Doo Melons. He couldn't even walk 30 yards without having a blowout. I'm talkin high speed projectile kind of blow outs.

So he didn't do much walkin that day, but I hunted hard.... and low and behold Jack Occoner hadn't lied to us. They was deer as far as the eyes could see. I never in all my life seen so many deer. We had a buck tag apiece and several doe tags and I was knockin um down right and left.

But Dad still hadn't left camp because of the melon shiiitts. He had an old Japanese Army rifle he'd traded for somewhere, but it had the rifling shot out of it and sometimes the bullets would hit the target sideways makin an oblong hole. he shot at several deer but I don't think he even hit the mountainside.

But there was so many deer that finally an old wide horned buck ran by him at 10 yards and he stuck that Jap rifle out and killed it. I still got it mounted on the wall to this day. It's a 32 inch 5x5.

Dad had sold a load of Hogs and seen to it that I had Winchester model 70 30:06.. It was a killing machine, but like most stupid kids I sold it and bought a motorcycle. I've kicked my azz a thousand times for that. Broke my dang leg on the cycle too.

I've thought about that huntin trip a lot since. I had that nice Model 70 and Dad had that old worthless Jap rifle... Aint that just like a Dad to see to it that his son has the good stuff?

Anyway, we loaded our deer and headed for home and Dad talked about how Jack Occonner was the greatest man alive all the way home.

Each year since then when I pass by Rocky Ford , I chuckle when I think of them Honey Doo Melons... hehe

Somewhere there about Gunnison there's a Caf? owner that I owe an apology too, cause Dad plumb totaled out his restroom...

Gosh, this here story got long.. Sorry for that.. I could easily write 10 more stories like this un but I'll spare ya'll.

But right here is why these hard to git tags are so sad these days. I made lifetime memories back then and young folks today wont get the chances because hunting is getting harder to do.

Anyway, thanks for reading me carrying on for a bit.

 

[DW]

Longshot, git to written! That was awesome!

 

[BeanMan]

Lucky,

We've got a retired Gal who is an Oldland doing volunteer work at the research farm. She grew up there and has many tales. She wanted to volunteer somewhere but being a ranch gal didn't feel comfortable at the Chamber of Commerce.


I can remember crossing North Park in the late 60's in winter and seeing huge herds of yarded up deer. you don't see that anymore.

There are a lot more elk now though...

 

[Longshot349]

>Longshot, git to written! That was
>awesome!

Thank you Sir for the kind words.

 

[Zeke]

Yup, Thems was the good ole days...

BUT... that was then and this is now.

There are still critters to hunt every year if a guy puts a little thought and planning into it. However, there are tags that a guy will never have because they so limited and on a draw basis for reasons already articulated.

More people, fewer critters, less habitat, greater demand. Sad but it won't get better so we best get after what we can while we can.

Zeke

 

[gettinold]

Well put Zeke!!

Not all who wander are lost!

 

[ICMDEER]

Longshot, that's one of the best stories I've read. Made me laugh and I also want to congratulate you on the great hunt with your dad. Those memories are what makes life worthwhile.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Elkduds]

Good yarn, Longshot. The Piceance used to be as epic as you described, deer like rabbits. Here is a sobering thought: For youths today, these are the good old days. How bad will that future suck?

 

[DW]

Hunted the Piceance several times in the early 90's, they were like rabbits even then. Didn't see it prior, perhaps they were even thicker. They were doing an age structure study and gave out 2 doe tags per license. Most of the does shot were gummers. I'm not buyin the deer won't be back in the future, a coyote die off after some good fires would do some interesting things.

 

[Farms99]

I grew in the 80's and 90's.

I remember shooting pheasants along the front range.

I remember shooting a limit of geese was something very special. Ducks in crazy numbers. Now geese far outnumber ducks.

Couple buddies and I shot 12 snow geese the first year the spring season opened for them. We thought that was the greatest thing ever.

We would have 6 elk tags and at least 3 buck tags every fall and would more often than not tag out third season. Never got skunked till the mid 2000's. Family has hunted this same area since 1973. Deer had a 3 point restriction for a few years so you had to count points on the little guys before pulling the trigger. Doe's were everywhere.

There would also be a foot of snow or more on the ground the first of November and very cold. No hunting in t-shirts for sure.

Never saw lion or bear track, let alone the animal. Never heard of anybody else seeing them either. Not uncommon to see them running around now, especially bears.

A lot has changed for me and I am only 39. I cherish those memories.

 

[stinky]

Funny, I think that I only saw it touched on once...predators being the reason for the dif. Ranchers and others, used to poison yotes and lions. They used to control the critters that ate the deer. Not so anymore.
John 14:6

 

[Bwht4x4]

>Funny, I think that I only
>saw it touched on once...predators
>being the reason for the
>dif. Ranchers and others,
>used to poison yotes and
>lions. They used to
>control the critters that ate
>the deer. Not so
>anymore.
>John 14:6


People always ask why were there so many deer back then and not now. Sure in some areas it's been habitat loss/degradation, but in a lot of areas this is not the case. The habitat is totally fine and capable of holding increased deer numbers.

Stinky nailed the reason why there were so many deer back then and why there isn't now. Since we're not controlling the predators like we use to, I doubt you'll never see see deer numbers like had been seen in the past.

 

[littlebighorn]

" The habitat is totally fine and capable of holding increased deer numbers. "

I just read a study where in the last few decades juniper/pinion trees have increased at a rate of 65 to 90% . That means there are double the worthless trees from the deer's glory years. The J/P encroachment displaced deer sustaining sage brush that helped to maintain high mule deer numbers for decades. The diminishing brush communities make it impossible to increase deer numbers. These studies show pictures of many open sage hillsides, from the "good old days" but present pictures from the same spots now show dense timbered hillsides were deer can't subsist. If you seriously look at where deer lived back when there numbers were so high, it is evident that half of their habitat, especially for winter, is now gone.

Yes predators play a big part, but if deer don't have a place to eat in the winter, they might as well be coyote bate because they will starve anyway.

I believe the solution is much more complicated than any of us can imagine.

 

[HiMtnHntr]

"I believe the solution is much more complicated than any of us can imagine."

I belive you hit the nail on the head with that statement.
. .

 

[Snoopdogg]

Longshot, great story. Feel free to throw another up.

 

[Bill_in_MI]

Great story longshot. Please share another.

 

[Longshot349]

LAST EDITED ON May-02-16 AT 03:27PM (MST)[p]I made another thread cause this one quit working for some reason and wouldn't let me post. I prolly don't know how to run this puter though