Original reason for shooting / hunting bags ??

[roundball]

A question came to mind...and it may well have been discussed in the past....the question is this:
"Why" did shooting / hunting bags originally come about ?
Considering how few items I really need to have on me for a few hours deer, squirrel, turkey hunting...after 20 years I still never use a bag, just pockets instead.

In thinking about it I remembered that a lot of sketches / paintings I've seen of folks way back when, showed them wearing pants & shirts that didn't seem to have any pockets.
And when I see a lot of the period clothing made today like hunting shirts, frocks, buckskins, etc, etc...they don't seem to be made with pockets either, I assume copying the style from those times.

Could the establishment of shooting/hunting bags have been as simple as that...because at that time there were no pockets? And then like most things, they became part of the "shooting/hunting equipment" and continued to made / used even after pockets became common place?

:hmm:

 

[Len Graves]

I suppose you are correct with the pocket theory. I also think the hunter/shooter of old was a lot like me. I put in my shooting bag what I will need for shooting that day (week,month Etc.) It is always there, so when I want to go shooting I just grab the bag,horn and gun and go. I don't want to carry all the sundry articles in my pockets all the time. I know I would forget something I would need. I do replenish the contents from time to time and dump out some of the accumulated junk I have collected. I think even the farmer,when plowing, propped his gun and bag where he could get to it quickly, and not have to carry all the stuff on his person while working. Just my thoughts which, with a dollar you can buy a cup of coffee.

 

At some point in history, people realized that using their pockets required them to fill and un-fill their pockets every time they went out. Someone, somewhere decided to put all his shooting stuff in a single bag, so he could grab that bag when he needed it, regardless of what he was wearing. Probably the same way the tool box, tackle box, creel and other things came to be - convenience. IMO

 

[Capt. Jas.]

Go back to the early days of the matchlock and you can find that riding over the powder flask on the Bandolier belt was a small pouch for the projectiles. This was the "shot pouch". It held shot.

The most common term for the hunting pouch I have found in the eighteenth century is "shot pouch". Eighteenth century writings tell of projectiles being kept in shot pouches. I am sure the odd accoutrement found its way in those pouches but their original intent was to carry the shot .

Pockets on clothing were prevalent in the eighteenth century as well.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Actually they did have "pockets " in the old days. Their "pockets" were simply a cloth bag that hung from the sash. So from a pocket to a hunting bag was no major change. :idunno: :idunno:

 

[hanshi]

I'm thinking that's probably it. I also believe shoulder & sash bags go back a long way, too. I've never noticed much in the way of true pockets on clothing prior to the second quarter of the 19th century except on "gentleman's" clothes and that was mostly coat pockets. And these pockets tended to be large enough to easily hold a Colt Navy.

 

[lakota]

I thought pockets were a relatively modern addition to clothing.

Unrelated-Since I started shooting muzzleloaders I find a shoulder bag to be more comfortable than a day sized backpack and would as soon carry one for short hikes.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Some truth in all the responses.
This opens the old, oft repeated, discussions about shot pouches/shooting bags/possible bags/haversacks/whateverbags, etc.
I subscribe to the 'everything in one place, pick up and go' theory.

 

[LRB]

There is one original hunting shirt that has an inside pocket over the left breast area. I am pretty sure it was an 18th c. shirt. Most weskits have pockets, though some only have the flap.

 

[Capt. Jas.]

Pockets on clothing were prevalent in the eighteenth century as well.

Shoulder bags and belt pouches go way back prior to medieval times. The shot bag was a specialty pouch like a mail pouch or a nail pouch.
I dont know where the idea of no pockets in the 18th century came from but I remember hearing that in the late '80's rondyvous scene.

 

[ohio ramrod]

As the progressive commerical said: " European sholder bag- women's purse." My shooting bag is a women's leather purse bought at a flea market thirty years ago. :idunno:

 

[tiger955]

Oh please tell me it is not the pretty pink one my wife sold out from under me! :rotf:
Sorry, I couldn't help it. :idunno:

 

[Rifleman1776]

Like today, poor folks dressed differently thant upper class. City folks dressed differently thant did rural folks.

 

[BrownBear]

Some of the folks who pay attention to history in the fine details are pretty adamant that there were no pockets, and in some settings no belts either. So shoulder bags seem to fall right in line, though I don't have anything but hearsay.

I will say this though: Back when I put all or most of my shooting gear in pockets I was REALLY good at leaving stuff at home or losing it on the ground. I almost never seemed to get into the field with everything I needed, and sometimes to get home with all I had been carrying.

A shooting bag really helped with my fergetfulness, and in the field had less tendency to drop stuff than pockets. I'd still forget to put things in the bag now and then. Most notably a couple of years back when I forgot spare patches and needed a followup load.

Now I have a dedicated bag and horn for each gun. Seems to be what I need to do, and in the spirit of "grab and go" for the one-gun guy back in days of yore, it seems to make perfect sense.

 

[Fred_Dwyer]

"Why" did shooting / hunting bags originally come about ?

Where else are you gonna carry your Snickers and Mail-pouch t'bakky? Snickers will melt in yur pocket!

 

[ohio ramrod]

Switch from snickers to M&M's they melt in your mouth not your hands/pockets ! :idunno: :idunno:

 

[Robby]

Me too! :thumbsup:
Robby

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I too like the idea of a bag for each gun, though at present I have more guns than bags, but do have a dedicated bag for each gun I use often. I suspect that was the main reason for pouches, to keep every thing needed all in one place and ready to go. I have only two horns, one for 3f and one for 2f. I use metal flasks with charger tips for my revolvers.

 

[Claude Mathis]

Now I have a dedicated bag and horn for each gun. Seems to be what I need to do, and in the spirit of "grab and go" for the one-gun guy back in days of yore, it seems to make perfect sense.

:thumbsup: A basic bag is/was cheap to make and anyone could make one.

 

[hanshi]

A hunt/shoot without a bag is like Abbott without Costello.