Waxing Nostalgic

[Hopewell Tom]

"the arrows are long gone."
At least some things don't change...

[ron w]

Originally posted by GRINCH:
Dave there are alot of two by four technology,floating around our woods,when I see one I start looking for a place to set up a ground blind now.

Exactly what I do now......Got my first bow, a Browning Nomad Stalker for $37, didn't have the $47.50 the Bear Grizzly......matched arrows??? LOL!  

[lpcjon2]

As a kid I remember True Value hardware store sold wooden arrows and Ben Pearson Jet bows(red fiberglass kids bows) we used to save our allowance to buy arrows for frog shooting.

[olddogrib]

Fred on American Sportsman.  The "outdoor" shows of today are pathetic by comparison.  That theme song still plays nonstop in my head!

[lpcjon2]

Marty Stoufer's Wild America

I have most of my Outdoor Life and Sports Afield magazines from my teens.  They cared about the health of wild places and wilderness, real pollution and encroachment, not this phony climate change crap that we are getting fed today.  Outdoorsmen used to be environmentalists. The environmentalists of today are liberal wimps that don't have a clue what real pollution is.

[TSP]

Yeah I remember.  Red Ball Jets; "a little dab'l do ya"; hula hoops; juke boxes; 5 cent popsicles; plaid hunting clothes; product quality; haircuts (not 'hairstyles");  respect for others; belief in tradition; getting Dad's last sip of Pabst Blue Ribbon.  Sweet Lord, take us back!  Funny thing is, sites like this one are one of the very few 'pseudo time machines' that can take us back, at least just a little bit, to how it used to be.  If only we could each bottle what our memories remember as the best things in life, the world would be a much happier place!

[nineworlds9]

'it's nights like this that i think about..a pure and simple time..'  

as a young'un i love hearing about this stuff.  will do what i can to keep the spirit alive!

[wapiti]

Yep , I sure do remember those days!

[njloco]

You guys are lucky, all I knew and did was shoot, I hardly knew anything about archery including Mr.Bear and all the other guys, I didn't really get to hunt until 1996, that's right, 1996 ( this is excluding rats and pigeons ) and I ended up spining my first doe with my Ben Pearson, made the mistake of going out and buying a wheelie bow to avoid this happening again, and that worked very well but really got boring, so I switched back to Trad. and have never looked back, but I have missed so much that now I am trying to make up for lost time, and having a blast.

Go ahead Charlie, rub it in why don't ya.  

[Bladepeek]

I can remember before they had a special archery season. There weren't any (or hardly any) deer in the lower peninsula. Everybody headed up to the U.P. School didn't close for opening day, but it was an automatically excused absence.

Cars were lined up for miles at Sault Ste Marie for the ferry boat (these were pre-Macinac bridge days), with guys walking back and forth from car to car swapping lies about last year and trying to stay awake.

Good memories  

[Possum Head]

The old hardware store just had a certain smell to it that I'll never forget. And like mentioned earlier the Pearson glass bows were what we learned to shoot rabbits and Robins with!

[Gerry]

Grew up NJ started shooitng in 1969 - and started hunting in 1972.   I rememnber hunting archery season in NJ and only seeing 1 or 2 guys on public land!   I thoguht I was in heaven - no tree stands so I learned to hunt on the ground and still do.  I do miss still hunitng now becasue the woods get crowded.

[Hoyt]

When I started out it was quail hunting. Riding in the back seat with the bird dogs to my grandmothers farm. Corn cribs, hay lofts, cold trips to the out house, no running water, milking cows and the whole family sitting in front of the fire place staring at the flames for night time entertainment.

Cold lanolin floors in the winter and every bedroom had a fire place. Lights on the ceiling had a string tied to the pull chain.

When we moved to a part of the state that had deer, I got my first big game bow at a White's Hardware. Stood in the crotch of a limb for about 4hrs.

Never will forget the first shot I took at a deer. Big old doe stepped out in a firebreak at Ft. Stewart, Ga. I drew my old 48lbs Cheetah Supreme back and sent a Bear Broadhead on it's way. When it hit the dirt about half way to her..I still remember the sinking  feeling..like.."This ain't goin to be as easy as I thought." She was probably was a good 45 to 50yds..but sure did look big. I don't even think she knew I shot at her..just walked on off.

[Owlgrowler]

Every bowhunter in my neck of the woods was a "Two season hunter", bow season started the first Sat in Oct and everybody was out. As the season progressed hunter numbers dwindled, (and not because they were tagged out). Rut. What rut? Whole less lot knowledge that's for sure.

[vermonster13]

I remember what a big deal it was when they allowed does to be hunted.

[turkey65]

Grew up in NJ back in the fifties we could hunt non stop from property to property never had anyone say we were trespassing,a simple way of life that everyone accepted and if you were lucky and killed a pheasant,rabbit,or squirrel you offered the land owner some to thank him for letting you hunt.I remember my first hunting bow a York lemonwood long bow always marveled at the flight of the arrow because the bow was soooo slow the arrow always had a graceful arch.The fever really hit when I saw Howard Hill put a demonstration on in Bambergers department store in Newark NJ haven't been the same since and I'm 72 Great times in our history and my life My dad was a master machinist by profession and he made his own fletching gigs and tapering tools etc we made our own equipment and one of my jobs was to go to local butcher shop when they were killing holiday turkeys and pick the wing feathers when they were hand plucking,these were the old bronze turkeys and were as good as our wild turkey feathers.Whoa what memories come flooding back, miss those good old days, life was fun and easier technology stinks.

[Tedd]

White tube socks from kmart with the elastic worn out that always worked down to my toes in 5 minutes of walking. Mossberg shotgun from the local hardware store bought for $90 earned by selling my beagle pups. (i thought we were just going for pipe fittings) First bow was my dad's old 56lb Pearson recurve, all types of arrows and no two the same! no shooting glove or arm guard, no instruction, hay bale target, wore the finish off the aluminum shafts, only 2 broadheads for hunting season sharpened into odd shapes, rubber boots with no insulation for hunting in the snow or trout fishing with water pouring in the tops, CCI stinger 22 ammo (just for looking at in the store because "thats stuff isn't accurate")

[MR BILL SHORTY]

I can remember the first time i saw a tree stand, I was in awe. [I think it was a baker?]  Back then we would just climb a tree like a kid and stand on a limb. Now some days it's a chore to climb the stairs. American Sportsman was the best.

[Tedd]

4 men in the front of a single cab pickup, pump it to get it started and keep pumping! No seat belts, a new set of bias ply tires on the back of the truck for winter, putting wet gloves under the truck heater to dry them,  cars that needed the new  unleaded gas, Penn state football on AM radio, My first open face spinning reel, unkle mikes salmon eggs, hearing the term "Ultra light" spinning rod. Seeing and hearing pheasants everywhere! Making horrible noises with a turkey mouth call, Sneaking after rabbits, but making sure the rabbit had a backstop in case of a miss to save the arrow. Doing battle with groundhogs that seemed to soak up arrows like a cape buffalo. Shooting pigeons off the barn roof with the bow and never hitting the tin,  Knowing there would be no replacement when the 56lb Ben Pearson recurve limb let go the day before the deer season opened. Being the first to go to our camp in the early fall to hunt deer with a bow!!!!! "you don't go to the mountains and scare up deer before rifle season, thats just dumb!"
Hoppes #9, listening to outrageous claims of performance of the 7mm Rem mag,