old style hunt

[Travisc406]

I look alot at the pix from back n the 60's when they would go out in the woods with a wool blanket and tarp rolled up with a rope holding it over there shoulder. I thought what a fun way to spend a solo weekend. What do you think would be things they carried for food, survival, comfort, etc. and do you think they had a wool style sleeping bag or was it jut a wool blanket? Travis

[Whip]

I would guess it would have been just a wool blanket.  People have been doing that for centuries, so you could go with anything from modern backpack gear all the way back to using gear that would be authentic to the period you are trying to emulate.  People that are into historical trekking pick a time period and try to use gear that would have been appropriate to the time.  

It would be pretty cool to do the research to figure out what a person in the 60's would have had and outfit yourself accordingly.  Old recurve, flea market camping gear, etc.  I would guess it would limit the items you could carry simply due to the weight, and you would really figure out what is truly important.

[WindWalker-AK]

Mr. Travisc406,
We used military surplus: mess gear, wool blanket, 1/2 pup tent and canteens.
For food we carried hard boiled eggs, spam, cans of beans and sardines, etc.  Also military food rations when we could scrounge them.  Hot dogs were a staple.
Best Wishes

[d. ward]

My father used an old army surplus goose down mummy bag for a good many years very light weight and warm.bowdoc

[Travisc406]

WW AK that are some things I had in mind. I might be thinking earlier than that.  Iseen on a muzzleloading forum where he took out on a weekend trek and used a canvas tarp and wool blanket. I thought of carrying a bedroll per say of a wool blanket, some K-rations, a tarp and rope, and a flint style fire starting tool. Also, I guess a flashlight or maybe a candle? an old compass I have that my dad got when he was 12 (1951). I would use my soon to be Bear Kodiak hunter and woodies. I am contempating building some broadheads out of a sawblade I have or maybe using some old 1961 bear razorheads. hmmm. Any suggestions?

[Travisc406]

oh yeah, my dad said flannel was the camo. And surplus wool pants were the thing as well.

[Ray_G]

Travis,

Be sure to get a good quality wool blanket if you are going to be out when the weather is cool or cold.  I bought two military surplus wool blankets for a buckskinner rendezvous (we shot long bows there too) and I liked to have froze and we were in a closed tent, not a tarp shelter.  We had a snow shower so that gives you an idea of the temps.  You need to look for one that has good loft and weight.  The good ones are pricey but taken care of properly should last a long time.  PM me if you want some links to sites that may be helpful.

Ray

[sweet old bill]

At 68 when I think back to my first hunts we had nothing in the way of camo, it was flannel shirts, a used  army sleeping bag if we could find what was cheap from Ramsey NJ outdoor store in Paramus.I got amy first gun a used WWII 303 Brt rifle at this store for $29.95.

We had a old painting tarp that we would use as a tent, it was a full 10 x 12 feet that with rope tie downs would be drapped over a tree and tied down. Now food was not a big issue, we would take span,coffee, hot dogs, hamburger, beans, and also other can food.

 Our backpack were woven baskets that were used in that time for carrying traps. My dad hunting buddy had made a carry in cart made from two old bikes that had been put out as junk, he welded the bikes frames together so we had a push / pull carry in trailer. Our goal was to camp for a week at a time in the area outside of Liberty NY.

The bow season was when I could go as a kid, I could hunt with my pearson 45 lb recurve, wood  arrows and or try to get supper of rabbit or whatever. The way you hunted were a lot different, there seemed to be names for all stands like the old stump which was my Day best buddy father-in-law place, or the slant rock which was my Dad, or my place was the bent pine.

 At night after we all helped cook, we always had a big fire and as a kid I would hear all the old stories over and over each year of who missed what shot with the gun or bow. Each year the der seemed to get bigger and or the miss shot bigger as well.

At that period of time in NY you could go days without seeing a buck.  The doe permits was 3 hunters together on a permit to take just one doe.


thanks for taking me back to my youth and the great people I had to hunt or fish with.


Bill

[Biggie Hoffman]

Teddy Roosevelt was the King of that type of hunt IMO. He would throw a bedroll and a frying pan on a horse and stay in the Dakota wilderness for a month or more, in the winter!
Tough old coot wasn't he.

I've done some saty out with nothing hunts before but only a night or two. I believe in my comfort  :-)

[Travisc406]

it is fun to remeber the old days. Not as far back but my dads first deer with a bow story: My dad told me about the first deer he got with a bow. He had just got back from Viet Nam and was working at Hormel in Austin Minnesota. His buddy he worked with talked him into buying a Hersters bow and three arrows one green one yellow and one orange. He paid 25.00 for it and practiced for two months with it and went out. he said he stood by a trail and waited and here come two does slipping through the woods at 15 yards. he waited until they got real close and drew back and said the lead doe seen him draw back and began to run off and he lead her and let it fly. He said that at first he didn't know if he had hit her until he found blood. He recovered her with the help of a few freinds and said he was hooked at that moment.

[George D. Stout]

They made sleeping bags in the 1950's 8^).  Army surplus is always a good start for such treks.  Get a copy of "The Oldest Game" video, of Fred Bear and Chuck Kroll bowhunting whitetails in Pennsylvania in 1961.  Their outfit is probably what you would be seeking.

[reddogge]

As a scout in the 50s we used mostly WW2 and Korena war surplus stuff.  For some primative ideas you should read some books by buckskinners on primative camping on what to make and carry.

You can make a waterproof tarp shelter out of a painters tarp by coating it with Canvak.  Most use a sleeve made out of canvas to put their blanket or sleeping bag in to keep water off and act as a ground cloth.  Paint it with several coats of linseed oil to make it an "oilskin".  Make a little candle lantern and carry a whittled fork, spoon, and bowl and flint and steel fire starting kit.  Put it all in packbasket and off you go.

Most important, be young enough to haul this stuff in a packbasket on your back and sleep on the hard ground.  Those days are over for me though.

[Travisc406]

great ideas guys keep em coming.

[RC]

My first camping trips on the River were with a quilt my grandmother made.It was about 3 inches thick and would make you sweat with a frost on the ground.We used an old canvas for cover and ate a lot of fresh caught fish . A good can of "Cambells" soup was hard to beat after a hard day afoot.RC

[Ron LaClair]

Deer hunting back in the 60's?. It really wasn't that long ago....was it?    :eek:

I started bow hunting deer in 1955 with a new Bear Kodiak and a Bear Center back quiver filled with cedar arrows. By 1959 I had a 9X9 Umbrella canvas tent. The Army Surplus stores were full of stuff for the hunter that wanted to camp out..sleeping bags, mess kits, surplus boots and clothes...you name it, the army had it and after the war they were through with it.

Here's my bow camp in 1959 in the Jordan River State Forest in northern Michigan.

The rubber two piece bow quiver was made by National and was full of big two blade Goshhawk broadheads with no guard over the blades.

   

[Ron LaClair]

By 1961 I had upgraded to a 60# Bear Kodiak Special, a  St Charles back quiver,  cedar arrows with M-A 3 blade heads to take my 1st deer with a bow.

   

[Mo. Huntin]

I like them pics

[jcar315]

Great pic Ron! You must have been optomistic about the hunting with all that lard on hand!!!! You guys were ready for some eating!

[Ron LaClair]

Here's one from my first year. That's a 1953 Mercury in the picture.

   

I got $5.00 bounty for this fox...that was good money back then.

   

[Travisc406]

that is pretty cool pics Ron. thanx Travis