Just one well-placed shot

[Marshhawk]

I really like your discription of Curt Gowdy. I hadn't thought about that show in a long time, but remember it fondly.

Yep. Loved that show as a young teen. Helped shape my views on hunting and fishing.

 

[Atticus69]

aged 1-12 my father knew and could do everything and anything
aged 12 to 22 my father knew nothing, but could do anything
aged 22 to 30 i could tell everyone everything and could do anything
about 30 my dad got real smart again.
at 45 i lost him and in the intervening 30 years, not a day goes by but i have a question only he could answer.

ps. trees are for cats, squirrels and birds. have only been the one ground blind.

When I was 14 the Old Man was so ignorant that I could hardly stand to have him around.
By the time I was 21, I was amazed at how much he had learnt in just seven year

 

[Atticus69]

When I was 14 the Old Man was so ignorant that I could hardly stand to have him around.
By the time I was 21, I was amazed at how much he had learnt in just seven year

quote of Mark Twain

 

[rpatmuck]

I am 78 now and grew up hunting rabbits and such till I was 14. Dad gave me a used rifle to hunt deer with and I still have it. As a kid I always wanted a muzzle loading rifle but there were none where I grew up. I had seen one an old man hunted with at about age six. It was 1971 before I got one. I have hunted all kinds of game with it up to black bear, moose, and elk. I never felt I needed more gun. A gun dealer for many years in Austin Texas had a good customer ask him for a gun that would shoot far and flat. The dealer told him he just needed to become a better hunter! I always believed in one well placed shot was what hunting was about and was all a good hunter needed. It has always worked for me.

 

[appalichian hunter]

I like the old ways, but depending on what and where I am hunting, I will go the modern route, as to the weapons of the hunt I mostly use a single shot, muzzle loaders are my main choice, but I have been known to tote a Ruger #1 at times. As some here I was taught at an early age make the first shot count and you do not need a second shot., I like rabbit hunting started off with a stevens 20-gauge single shot, still have it. was handed 5 shells the rabbit limit was 4 gave me one miss after a few seasons 4 was all it took; I became very proficient at catching rabbits sitting. No misses there.

 

[dave951]

One thing that I always point out to the kids I'm working with is that in learning, understanding and enjoying the old ways makes you appreciate that much more what they have today. It also fosters admiration for what our ancestors were able to accomplish.

 

[Walaw717]

I think most would use more modern weapons at times. That was never what I started with was about.

My initial post was a wee bit of nostalgia about youth, grandfathers, fathers, the American sportsman, and the hokeyness of modern hunting shows that are consumed with conspicuous consumption.

Daniel Boone would have likely worn heated underwear if he had it.

Do I think relying on one-shot makes a better hunter - no, it makes one a better marksman. Does mossy oak make one a better hunter? not really, and that is simply an example of getting caught up in consumerism and corporate manipulation. Do I care in the end how anyone hunts - only in so far that they are ethical and not a total jerk about it. However, it is terrible to hijack conversations and make them about something they were never about. One person did that, and I put them on not following. Because it was simply bad form and all about him winning some argument he started. If this keeps up, I will need to delete the thread. I said in the initial post this was not to create an argument..

 

[flashpoint]

I reflect a great deal about a childhood and youth of hunting in the woods of the Appalachian Plateau and the Blue Ridge with my father and grandfather back in the 1950s and ’60s. We all hunted with simple guns, and my grandfather always carried his single-shot rifle and shotgun. He rarely missed and learned to shoot in the 1910s and ’20s.

Of course, we did not use muzzleloaders, so reloading was faster and simpler.

And hunting clothes were simple as well. Maybe a canvas over-suit. But usually just a shooting jacket and casual trousers, no camo and only later orange vests.

I also think about Sunday’s spent watching The American Sportsman with Curt Gowdy and the charm and sophistication he and his guests displayed. I have attempted to watch newer hunting and fishing programs and generally find myself turned off by the lack of sophistication and the mossy oak gimmick-filled hunting conversations and quasi redneck delivery. Gowdy and crew made the shows about the hunt or the fishing, the new shows are about the host and his gimmicks. The old American Sportsman had a feel like a movie we all love to love, Jeremiah Johnson, some talk but more about visuals and telling a story through actions and a soft narration about the land and the “game.”

Thinking about and reading about frontier hunters and muzzleloaders has taken me even more into the thought that the past hunters were much more proficient than today – no mossy oak, no commercial gimmicks, no semi-auto with mags bristling with high-powered ammo.

View attachment 119229

(frontier mossy oak??? hmmmm)

Just one well-placed shot as if your life depended on it. And it did. That is how my grandfather learned to hunt.

I am looking forward to not only building this Hawken gun when it arrives but working on that one-shot mentality my grandfather had.

I do not want to start an argument, simply sharing a thought like one might among a group at a local restaurant over coffee.

Will Law

Amen and Amen

 

[flashpoint]

I really like your discription of Curt Gowdy. I hadn't thought about that show in a long time, but remember it fondly.

Anyone remember Gad-about-Gaddis?

 

[Walaw717]

Anyone remember Gad-about-Gaddis?

nope what was it like?

 

[Snooterpup]

I think most would use more modern weapons at times. That was never what I started with was about.

My initial post was a wee bit of nostalgia about youth, grandfathers, fathers, the American sportsman, and the hokeyness of modern hunting shows that are consumed with conspicuous consumption.

Daniel Boone would have likely worn heated underwear if he had it.

Do I think relying on one-shot makes a better hunter - no, it makes one a better marksman. Does mossy oak make one a better hunter? not really, and that is simply an example of getting caught up in consumerism and corporate manipulation. Do I care in the end how anyone hunts - only in so far that they are ethical and not a total jerk about it. However, it is terrible to hijack conversations and make them about something that they were never about. One person did that, and I put them on not following. Because it was simply bad form and all about him winning some argument he started. If this keeps up, I will need to delete the thread. I said in the initial post this was not to create a statement.

Please don’t delete the thread. I agree with your thoughts and observations completely from Fathers, Grandfathers, real sterling gentlemen like Curt Gowdy and others in the past that spoke simply quietly and kindly with dignity and class.
I often think of my dad, now long gone, his ability to think and do just about anything he set his mind to. He was taught from his dad to make the one shot count and always told my brother and I that if you can’t get it in one well placed shot you don’t deserve it.
I agree that almost all hunting shows seem to be about the about the “dudes” and their adolescent antics than the experience of the hunt, the woods, fields, and the reverence of nature.
Just ignore those troubled souls that either do not get the point or need to argue their misunderstood position. This forum needs more folks like you!
A hearty belated welcome from a kindred spirit in Minnesota that values memories and decency of the past.

 

[flashpoint]

One trip to box stores (including sporting goods stores) tells the story. Most every gun is plastic. Hunting ammo (even in normal times) is limited. Muzzleloading is pellets, not powder. Only thing resembling a possibles bag will be in ladies' purses. IF a single box of swaged roundballs is there, it will be dust-covered, in an oddball size you never owned.

Outdoor channels portraying "hunting" as sitting in an elevated, heated blind over a feeder or food plot don't help. That's killing, not hunting. Same thing for "tournament" fishing in my book. Gowdy had class. Rowland Martin was real. Fred Bear - a true sportsman. I'd rather watch "Swamp People" than professionals dressed like Nascar drivers.

Best I've seen this week was two "Good ol' boys" win a Crappie tournament using a 12-foot jon boat, rods with no reels and 12' of line.

Right on! What's even worse is when they put a little kid in a heated and elevated box blind along with a mechanical support that he can swivel and rest his gun on and then wait till 10 or 12 trophy sizes bucks come walking out 40 yards away and start eating a baited field which by the way looks like a golfing green. Then of course there are the Hi-5s after the shot. It's really sad to introduce a kid to hunting (not hunting) in that matter.

 

[Walaw717]

Please don’t delete the thread. I agree with your thoughts and observations completely from Fathers, Grandfathers, real sterling gentlemen like Curt Gowdy, and others in the past that spoke simply, quietly and kindly with dignity and class.
I often think of my dad, now long gone, his ability to think and do just about anything he set his mind to. He was taught by his dad to make the one-shot count and always told my brother and me that if you can’t get it in one well-placed shot you don’t deserve it.
I agree that almost all hunting shows seem to be about the “dudes” and their adolescent antics rather than the experience of the hunt, the woods, fields, and the reverence of nature.
Just ignore those troubled souls that either do not get the point or need to argue their misunderstood position. This forum needs more folks like you!
A hearty belated welcome from a kindred spirit in Minnesota that values memories and decency of the past.

Thanks. I work daily with broken people and franklky was really enjoying this, at least the 99.9 percent. Men need to talk more. thanks.

 

[flashpoint]

nope what was it like?

I may be spelling it wrong, but he was a friendly old codger who had a show called "The flying Fisherman" around the time of Curt Gowdy.

 

[Walaw717]

I may be spelling it wrong, but he was a friendly old codger who had a show called "The flying Fisherman" around the time of Curt Gowdy.

Never saw it, sounds interesting.

 

[user 49399]

I reflect a great deal about a childhood and youth of hunting in the woods of the Appalachian Plateau and the Blue Ridge with my father and grandfather back in the 1950s and ’60s. We all hunted with simple guns, and my grandfather always carried his single-shot rifle and shotgun. He rarely missed and learned to shoot in the 1910s and ’20s.

Of course, we did not use muzzleloaders, so reloading was faster and simpler.

And hunting clothes were simple as well. Maybe a canvas over-suit. But usually just a shooting jacket and casual trousers, no camo and only later orange vests.

I also think about Sunday’s spent watching The American Sportsman with Curt Gowdy and the charm and sophistication he and his guests displayed. I have attempted to watch newer hunting and fishing programs and generally find myself turned off by the lack of sophistication and the mossy oak gimmick-filled hunting conversations and quasi redneck delivery. Gowdy and crew made the shows about the hunt or the fishing, the new shows are about the host and his gimmicks. The old American Sportsman had a feel like a movie we all love to love, Jeremiah Johnson, some talk but more about visuals and telling a story through actions and a soft narration about the land and the “game.”

Thinking about and reading about frontier hunters and muzzleloaders has taken me even more into the thought that the past hunters were much more proficient than today – no mossy oak, no commercial gimmicks, no semi-auto with mags bristling with high-powered ammo.

View attachment 119229

(frontier mossy oak??? hmmmm)

Just one well-placed shot as if your life depended on it. And it did. That is how my grandfather learned to hunt.

I am looking forward to not only building this Hawken gun when it arrives but working on that one-shot mentality my grandfather had.

I do not want to start an argument, simply sharing a thought like one might among a group at a local restaurant over coffee.

Will Law

It seems we shared some similar experiences growing up. I grew up watching Daniel Boone but somehow missed the Curt Gowdy shows. Maybe they weren’t aired in this area.

I grew up in Powell Valley of East Tennessee not far from the Cumberland Gap and always had a hankering to be Dan’l Boone. My folks were from southeast Kentucky so it was fun as a kid romping through the woods where ole Dan’l Boone once roamed.

My father and grandfathers all hunted exclusively with single shot shotguns and my first real gun was a single shot 410 which I still have. Back then we didn’t have anything camouflage or muzzleloaders. Those fellers just used their work clothes for hunting. I always pretended those single shot shotguns were muzzleloaders since no one I knew had one, but I always wanted one like Dan’l Boone. For us, hunting was more about spending time in the woods together and any game taken was a bonus.

I now use only muzzleloaders for all my hunting and 99% of my target shooting and plinking. Most of the modern hunting shows on TV nowadays seem silly to me. I’d much rather watch YouTube videos like Black Powder TV, Black Powder Maniac Shooter, Hickok45, Duelist1954, Folk Firearms Collective, Ramshackle Homestead and a few others.

 

[Walaw717]

It seems we shared some similar experiences growing up. I grew up watching Daniel Boone but somehow missed the Curt Gowdy shows. Maybe they weren’t aired in this area.

I grew up in Powell Valley of East Tennessee not far from the Cumberland Gap and always longing to be Dan’l Boone. My folks were from southeast Kentucky, so it was fun as a kid romping through the woods where ole Dan’l Boone once roamed.

My father and grandfathers all hunted exclusively with single-shot shotguns, and my first real gun was a single shot 410, which I still have. Back then, we didn’t have anything camouflage or muzzleloaders. Those fellers just used their work clothes for hunting. I always pretended those single-shot shotguns were muzzleloaders since no one I knew had one, but I always wanted one like Dan’l Boone. Hunting was more about spending time in the woods together, and any game taken was a bonus.

I now use only muzzleloaders for all my hunting and 99% of my target shooting and plinking. Most of the modern hunting shows on TV nowadays seem silly to me. I’d much rather watch YouTube videos like Black Powder TV, Black Powder Maniac Shooter, Hickok45, Duelist1954, Folk Firearms Collective, Ramshackle Homestead, and a few others.

I, too, like most of those shows. Interesting that you, too, started with single-shot guns. I wonder if that was mainly Appalachian experience related to the area's history. I first learned to hunt deer with a 20 gauge and slugs—single shot. I was also taught to have some respect for what I shot - not all high-fiving like happens so often now. It was an issue of respect for the life you just took. For me, that respect is part of ethical hunting. As a culture in America has become disconnected from and a sense of connectedness in the wild. Like the guy I read about today in SD who killed dozens of deer because they ate his new pines. . A truly non ethical person IMHO

 

[Wisconsin Relic]

Wayla
insure agree with you, too, on all you said. I’ve been hunting with traditional muzzleloaders since I built a Kentucky .45 long rifle in 1975. In 2016, I built a Hawken style .50 and since have been hunting with it. I don’t use a blind, use still hunting and stalking. I drive a pickup I paid $2200 for. I loved watching Curt Gowdy back in the 60s and also Gadabout Gaddis, the Flying Fisherman. I use snowshoes, never a snowmobile. I hike, don’t use a 4-wheeler. And I tent camp during winter deer hunts. I wear wool, too.

 

[user 49399]

For my family and a lot of others around here it was more of an economic issue. They simply did not have a lot of money to buy several guns and the old single shots were inexpensive but well built and versatile. My father used “punkin balls” for deer and shot shells for everything else. I guess that’s why I now like my Fusil de Chasse so much. It’s an all around gun like those old shotguns were.

It’s kinda funny I guess if you stop and think about it. My ancestors lived in the area of Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia all the way back to colonial times and no doubt some of them probably hunted with a Fusil also. Now, I can’t verify it and have no documentation of it, just speculation on my part.

 

[Electrod47]

I really like your discription of Curt Gowdy. I hadn't thought about that show in a long time, but remember it fondly.

That was a great show. I remember when one of the celebrity hunters was Capt. Kirk going after African Buffalo with a recurve bow. As Spock would say, Fascinating!