period correct bags

[stevew]

Why were the shooting bags back in the day so small. Seems like all the H/C bags I have seen are on the small side. Why was that?

 

[TDM]

The men who used them might travel quite a ways to hunt or trade. And if they got into a fight, they’d have to move fast. So I think weight and smaller size to move through brush was a major reason. Plus back then they kept only the bare essentials to keep their rifles or smoothbores fed, powder and ball. A bullet mold for a recovered ball. I’d imagine most of the stuff we think we need so badly they would pick up off the ground. A different time for sure.

 

[user 48679]

There were likely at least two reasons:

1) Folks hunted their own property, near their home
2) Businessmen didn't want to encumber themselves with excess gear

Long hunters also needed to carry other essentials, like bedding, an axe/hawk, cooking gear, etc (if they didn't have an animal to pack that stuff along

My late friend used to hunt everywhere with only his gun and an inline capper, a few paper-wrapped reloads, a knife & a compass in his coat pockets - he figured if he couldn't fetch a deer with 4-5 loads, he had no business being out there hunting.

Also known as the K.I.S.S. principle

 

[nchawkeye]

How much crap do you want to carry???

 

[garypl]

My lunch!

 

[tenngun]

They kept extra stuff on horse or in canoe. In the case of a day hunter home was near by.
Fill up any big bag then keep track of what you use on a typical day in the woods or at the range. If you don’t use it in a few trips leave it at home

 

[jackpine54]

I started carrying one of those small bags to see if it was practical. In the bag I usually have 5 or so each loose round balls and lubed patches, a powder measure and a small flint wallet. The flint wallet has a couple flints, a turnscrew, jag and a couple cleaning patches. My vent pick hangs on a short chain. It's been working so far.
My buddy carries a ball bag, tin with patches, extra patch lube, short starter, bag of tools with mainspring vise and punches, brass primer, cleaning jag & worm, cleaning patches, oil and more, flint wallet with 6 flints and extra leathers and more that I don't even remember. He needs the XL bag.

 

[Horse]

Travel light travel right

 

[Coot]

Why were the shooting bags back in the day so small. Seems like all the H/C bags I have seen are on the small side. Why was that?

Because the shooting pouch only carried that which was needed to shoot the gun a few times. No car keys, no cell phone, no wallet, no snacks - all stuff that should be in another bag (say small snapsack) so as not to make the shooting bag into a "man Purse".

 

[necchi]

Why was that?

Simple,
By the time they were ready to go in the field to shoot something to eat,,
,they already knew how to shoot the gun and have it in proper condition.

How many shot's do you think you gotta make to kill something to eat or tools needed to care for the gun?
If it's more than one,, then go back and learn how to shoot the gun before you go in the field.
That's how Dad taught me, and I'm 20th century,, I have a pocket, don't need a bag.

 

[Packrat]

My first shooting bag was small, it was perfectly practical. A member died and his family was selling off his plunder, I bought his "LARGE" shooting bag, now I have so much stuff I need a horse just to carry it, going back to my original small bag

 

[Brokennock]

They didn't carry as much non-shooting stuff in their shot pouch as folks do today. Instead what was needed to make the next shot and maybe you "quickly" clear a problem of the gun didn't go bang (quickly being a relative term).

I'm sure a lot of stuff folks carry in their shot pouch today was carried then, just in a separate bag or rolled into a bed roll. I have wondered if a few of the things we have seen in or attached to the few extant bags available for study, or reported to be in or on them, were stored with the bag at home/camp to make sure they were brought when the gun and bag were grabbed to go, and then transfered to another pouch or onto one's person so as to not be in the way when loading?

 

[Fitzhugh Williams]

Each year I shoot a Woods Walk at a club in western NC. The shoot runs up the side of a mountain, has 20 targets and takes about 2 hours to complete. Before I leave the range I have to decide just how much "stuff" I need to carry with me, and it is a LOT less than I would carry at the range. Especially since I have been getting somewhat older each year. By the time you get to the top of the mountain everything is heavier than it was when you started. And, by the way, that is some beautiful country and the view from the 20th target is something to remember.

 

[Capt. Jas.]

The "shot bag" as it is frequently called in period writings held the ammo to fire the rifle or gun. Short starters, spring vises, bullet molds, sammiches etc. IMO were not regularly carried in the bag.

 

[Dale Lilly]

Each year I shoot a Woods Walk at a club in western NC. The shoot runs up the side of a mountain, has 20 targets and takes about 2 hours to complete. Before I leave the range I have to decide just how much "stuff" I need to carry with me, and it is a LOT less than I would carry at the range. Especially since I have been getting somewhat older each year. By the time you get to the top of the mountain everything is heavier than it was when you started. And, by the way, that is some beautiful country and the view from the 20th target is something to remember.

Older each year??? Unbelievable

 

[Montgomery]

If it is not for the rifle, ie., shot, powder, ball, patch or flints, tool, patch puller ,ball puller. It should not be in the "shooting" bag. That is what a "shooting" bag is for. If you need other items you should have a small/medium knapsack, bread bag or backpack, to carry food, water, fire starter or other emergency gear. IMHO If I go into the woods I always take some emergency gear. Always. It is stupid not to IMHO, Anyone can trip, stumble, fall etc, and at 73 it could end up poorly. You should always have the means to keep your self alive for a day or two. Just one mans opinion.

 

[tenngun]

Older each year??? Unbelievable

When Ben Franklin turned seventy he started growing a year younger each birthday. He said he couldn’t find a rule that said you had to add a year, and he thought subtracting a year was at least as good an idea.
I’m sixty five, and expect to be sixty five again in 2032

 

[Dale Lilly]

I'm 90 and I love it. I'm adding years without regret. I won't live a lot longer, but I sure enjoyed life as it has progressed. Gotta run, a knife to finish.

 

[waarp8nt]

As a young man I carried so much extra ammo and gear it was as if I was going into battle. I suppose part of that was my brother and I got put back into the truck by a pack of farel dogs, on another occasion we had to wait the dogs out while we were stuck in a gravity wagon. Over the years, even with the dogs, I realized it only took a shot or two to get the job done. In fact I only remember needing a follow up shot twice in nearly 40 years of hunting.

I do carry a small Duluth Pack bag, its canvas and leather, it contains powder, patches, balls, patch knife and ball starter. Here in Illinois we are required to wear orange during some seasons, the weather requires a light jacket during early season and usually an arctic coat during late season. Too many pockets to lose stuff in or forget in another jacket so I use the small bag. I can grab it and go, no worries about permits or licenses as they are in the bag.

 

[Red Owl]

I'm with Montgomery. The powder was in a horn, the patches were in the patch box and so all that was left was the balls/bullets that were carried in the hunting pouch. As far as "Tools" as stated, carried some place else. Not used that much.