Do you remember when…

[Certus]

It is not all bad though.
I can remember when I saw the first Sambar deer on our property - probably about 45 years ago.
Now it is a matter of how many can we see. On our property in the alpine area we are now culling the stags with weak or deformed antlers to improve the herd. The hunting opportunities are now so much better.

Lucky bugger, I’ve seen like 5 deer in Australia in my life and never hunted one or had the chance.

 

[steve white]

Believe it or not, I was allowed to keep a single barrel shotgun (all I had at the time) in my dorm room at North Texas State University with the full knowledge of the lady in charge of the dorm. Of course, I was also a resident assistant, and she approved my plan to only take it to and from my room wrapped in a blanket. I did in some quail and dove in Sanger, just north of Denton. Year was 1975.

 

[Pirkan]

Sometimes just mentioning hunting would get an invitation to come and shoot varmints, ie groundhogs. Come fall the farmer often extended the invitation to allow rabbit, squirrel, .....and ' if you see a fox shoot it!!..' hunting. Farmers, especially chicken farmers, wanted us to shoot anything and everything no matter the time of year, in or out of season, to protect his/her chickens and their eggs.

A good friend of mine comes from a family of farmers and we've been on their land for some recreational shooting a couple times. Most recently his dad offered to overhaul and put up an old hunting tower if I wanted to hunt some pigs and roedeer but since I'm moving in a couple weeks I had to decline. We were shooting among other things a full auto Swedish K into a puddle of mud, giggling like small children, and he came out to join us and had a great time so he's a really cool down to earth guy. Speaking of prices the M/45b was probably bought for 50-100 usd.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Something else: in high school if opening day of rabbit hunting season fell on a school day, those of us that hunted could bring to school and show our hunting license to the student attendance secretary the day before to get an excusal to skip school to go hunting opening day only.

 

[FlyGuy]

- I remember a time when most of the plains game hunting I did was free and on open, no high fence farms in SA and Namibia.
- I remember seeing springbok herds of over 100 000 free range animals.
- I remember being reminded to shoot an extra gemsbok or two for the farmer to give to the local church minister and old age home.

 

[putter97127]

I remember when Copenhagen was .35/can then I got married and couldn't hardly afford primers or Copenhagen.

Remember when Copenhagen went to 50 cents and we all bitched... Then about the time I was in the 8th grade it went to 85 cents a can and we all swore if it hit $1 we were quitting..... Once it hit a buck, you had to be careful who you bummed a chew from because some guys liked to recycle....I must be either stupid or stubborn.. it's basically $8 can now... I'm just stupid I guess...

 

[BryceM]

I remember when the mountains were shorter.

 

[jeanes]

I can remember my wife walking up Congress Ave. in Austin carrying the semi-automatic rifle she had just bought me for Christmas.

 

[MS 9x56]

When you could hike for days and not see another soul.

 

[steve white]

Let's not forget 25cents for a gallon of gas, plus gas price wars

 

[MS 9x56]

When you could take your hunting gun on the school bus and the driver gave it back to you when you got off at your friends house. And nobody called the swat team

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Why stop a "Do you remember when" thread with just primers....
Anyone remember when you could hunt just by knocking on the door and asking?

@steve white
Yes and still can in some places but now it's mostly about the mighty dollar.
Used to be able to hunt pigs for free but now if the farmer has a problem you have to pay him to fix his problem. Gone are the days you were welcomed with open arms and a coffee and told to shoot as many as you can. Now it's more like if you pay me to stay and camp in my place you can shoot some. And they wonder why they have a problem. Money is tight nowadays and travel and ammo cost are stupid high.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Cartons of 550 .22LR for $9.99

@F. Vaccaro
22 ammo for less than 50 cents a box. A brick of 500 was less than five dollars. I shot a lot of 22s back in those days. Usually 500 a weekend just practicing
Bob

 

[steve white]

I remember buying an Remington 1100 before school. Left the gun in my truck during school. Told the superintendent about the gun over lunch. Got pulled out of math class so the superintendent could look at the gun and he asked to borrow it for pheasant hunting that weekend.

We caught our Superintendent poaching with hoop nets one time.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Something else: in high school if opening day of rabbit hunting season fell on a school day, those of us that hunted could bring to school and show our hunting license to the student attendance secretary the day before to get an excusal to skip school to go hunting opening day only.

@Ridge Runner
A hunting season for rabbits surely you jest.
In Australia we hunt rabbit 365 days a week and can do so 24/7.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I remember when the mountains were shorter.

@BryceM
And nowhere as steep.
Bob

 

[Ridge Runner]

@Ridge Runner
A hunting season for rabbits surely you jest.
In Australia we hunt rabbit 365 days a week and can do so 24/7.
Bob

Yes, here in the states, with exception to maybe Alaska. Rabbit hunting is regulated to a fall hunting season. Ohio, Tennessee, and North Carolina open (cotton tail) rabbit season around the middle of November and ends the last day of February the following year. IIRC Arizona has a fall-winter season for cotton tail rabbits and a year round season on jack rabbits. But that was decades ago. I don't know what Arizona's hunting regulations are now.

 

[MS 9x56]

@F. Vaccaro
22 ammo for less than 50 cents a box. A brick of 500 was less than five dollars. I shot a lot of 22s back in those days. Usually 500 a weekend just practicing
Bob

Brings back memories. I mowed lawns to get money for a brick of 22 long rifle shells. On weekends my brother and I would ride our bicycles to the town dump with our rifles slung over our shoulders. We would sit up on the bank and shoot rats until either we ran out of bullets or the rats stopped showing themselves. Ahh good times and a public service done.

 

[mdwest]

Military Mausers in really good shape were $55… enfields were cheaper.. you could get one of those for about $35…

 

[jeanes]

Military Mausers in really good shape were $55… enfields were cheaper.. you could get one of those for about $35…

Yep, and you could buy them by mail delivered to your home.
Bought my first deer rifle at 16. Also, I remember buying shotgun and .22 shells at the grocery store.