Papa Bear said.....

woodchucker · November 21, 2009, 05:19:00 PM

"Be a 2 Season Hunter"

I remember that advertisment just like it was yesterday.(instead of over 30 years ago) I have always considered myself just that,and I am proud to say I am a 2 Season Hunter!!!!! For years I bowhunted during the bowseason and then picked up my old 16ga.Ithaca "DEERSLAYER" and headed for the woods on the opening day of "gun season". I started bowhunting with an old 50# Bear "Alaskan" recurve,and cedar arrows tipped with Bear "Razorheads". I hunted with a recurve for about 5 years before switching to a compound for another 4 or 5 years.(I still had and shot a few recurves but didn't hunt with them though) Soon,I became "dis-enchanted" with the compounds and gave up bowhunting. I continued to gun hunt every year but something was missing..... BOWHUNTING!!!!!

Fast Forward to 1999 and enter my good Friend and fellow TradGang member Joe Skipp. Joe sold me a 55# 1967 Bear "Kodiak Magnum" and a dozen cedar arrows that he made,and I returned to my roots. I was reliving my youth all over again!!!!! Over the years,every season,I hunt with both bow and gun,Just like I did years ago. A few years ago, I realized just what it was that was missing. It wasn't bowhunting,it was "tradition"..... That old Deerslayer is as "traditional" as my recurves and longbows are. It has stood the test of time,just like my old Bear recurves,and I have killed many deer with that gun and I have fond memories of many days afield with it. I like "old things" and I have a tendancy to "shun" technology. I have no use for scopes even though they have been around longer than I have LOL. With my eyesight,my effective range with that old Deerslayer isn't what it used to be!!! Actually,it's probly about 40 yards.(double my 20 yard bow range) I totaly respect my fellow TradGangers who go "Bow Only" but for me,something would be missing. It just wouldn't seem "traditional".....

I'm a 2 Season Hunter!!!!!

ron w · November 21, 2009, 07:45:00 PM

Thats why they have more than one season Chuck.Its to bad some people never had some of the experiances of some of us old guys...lol!!! Back when a new bow cost $ 37.50 and you spent a rainy afternoon going over the new Herters catalog, Sears and Wards had a sporting goods section and no one was offended by it all.

woodchucker · November 21, 2009, 07:54:00 PM

Ya know Ron, Those were the days weren't they!!!!!

The "Monkey Wards" catalog had a Hunting & Fishing section that was a 1/2 inch thick!!!!!

I can't even remember how many dozen arrows I bought from that store!!! Sears and Wards were the "go to" places,long before "Dick's" and "Gander Mountain".....

(BTW,I've still got my old "Western Field" .30-.30)

ron w · November 21, 2009, 08:00:00 PM

lol;;;lol.....Monkey Wards ,ain't heard that in years and years. Another one was the Western Auto store, remember that. Good prices on cedar arrows. Didn't know about spine and didn't care, killed a zillon frogs.

woodchucker · November 21, 2009, 08:05:00 PM

Remember when arrows came in boxes..... OF 100!!!!!

Buy as many as you want,$.79 each!!!

(Hmmmmm..... Dang putor doesn't have a "cent" key) :confused:

centaur · November 21, 2009, 08:25:00 PM

Western Field was Montgomery Wards brand, as I recall. JC Higgins for Sears. Many days were spent looking at JC Higgins hunting stuff in those great catalogs.

sendero25 · November 21, 2009, 08:40:00 PM

How about the old "Herters's catalog"? What a thrill that was!
I loved their adds: "The very finest" "The Herter's .401 Powermag, the most powerful pistol in the world and the very finest"
"Herter's bows, the very finest and most deadly bow on the planet"!
I miss them. A catalog that would take weeks to go through, not just a skinny catalog you can go through in one "bathroom session"
John

ron w · November 21, 2009, 09:06:00 PM

All those memories, the good old days sitting on a stump behind my father and seeing 35 deer walk by at one time.......and now I can't see one.Red wool jacket and pants, rubber boots and being so cold you could hardly stand it. The good old days.

ron w · November 21, 2009, 09:08:00 PM

Oh yea, I forgot, those times are why I became a 2 season hunter.......Thanks Fred

Mr.Vic · November 21, 2009, 09:51:00 PM

good stuff here, keep em coming guys. I remember Dad buying our bows and hunting stuff from Herters. Anderson Archery supplied us as well. And the days when only three bowhunters exsisted in my county. Oh yea the ground we had. Portable tree stands were 2x4's all you could carry. Bread bags were the precursor to gore tex. (I have a tendancy to "shun" technology.) hear you on that Woodchucker.

woodchucker · November 21, 2009, 09:57:00 PM

LMAO!!!!! You remember seeing 35 deer at a time too Ron???

When I started hunting up in Madison Co. there was NO doe shooting North of Rt.20. If He didn't have a hat on his head you couldn't shoot. (unless,you were BOWHUNTING!!!)

One of the BIGGEST reasons that I became a "2 Season Hunter"

I killed 2 does the 1st and 2nd year that I bowhunted!!!

Don Stokes · November 21, 2009, 10:02:00 PM

My first hunting arrows were from Western Auto, PO cedar with Bear razorheads. I still have an unopened package of Bear heads from that store. They're marked 45 cents each. On the back, Fred says to never use the heads without the inserts, because a two-blade head isn't good enough, or something like that.

I loved the Herter's catalogs for the odd stuff they put in, like "He called his son Backhouse, because he liked the name."

Bowspirit · November 22, 2009, 12:30:00 AM

Rest assured, Chuck...

I'm a two-season hunter, even if I only carry the longbow...

woodchucker · November 22, 2009, 11:38:00 AM

Well,There ya go!!!!!

"Little Brother" Chris pulled that nice buck off of an Adirondack Mountain,in the middle of rifle season.....

RIGHT OUT FROM UNDER THE RIFLE HUNTER'S NOSES!!!!! :eek:

Yes Chris,you ARE a 2 season hunter,and a mighty good one at that!!!!!

ron w · November 22, 2009, 11:40:00 AM

Right up near where you saw the buck a few years ago Chuck.......

woodchucker · November 22, 2009, 02:30:00 PM

That's a real good spot!!! (as I'm sure Chris can attest to)

Ken had another stand down the mountain a couple years ago that he put Nathan in. When I saw that big buck,he crossed the woodroad out of range,then headed down the mountain towards Nathan. I was hoping he would get a shot. Later,the conversation went like this.....

Hey Nathan,did you see the big buck that came down towards you???

I saw a big doe!!!

Geez Nathan,couldn't you see his horns???

SHE didn't have any!!!!!

Hmmmmm..... mystery of mysteries..... :confused:

woodchucker · November 23, 2009, 05:47:00 PM

BTW, Just to let everyone know.....

Hunting with a gun isn't a "slam-dunk" LOL

I've still got all of my "un-filled" tags!!!!!

Stone Knife · November 23, 2009, 06:07:00 PM

I remember be a two season hunter, I remember running around the woods all day with my friends shooting our bows I had an old longbow and my friend had a Bear Kodiak and an old Bear fiberglass recurve we all had mismatched arrows, it seems like we never broke them we would just lose them, we could buy new ones at western auto cheap.

lpcjon2 · November 23, 2009, 07:53:00 PM

I do a three season bow,shotgun,and smoke poll(54 cal.iron site percussion cap wood stock hawken style cannon)I got almost all of my guns from my father the hand me downs and wouldn't trade them for a new fancy one. I do remember the sears and roebuck catalog( I was like 10 and the ladies underwear section was also 1/2 in.thick) and what about woolworth and woolco.