Question for the "old guys"...Is it just me or are there others?

[wmaser]

What took you so long getting to where you are now? I'm 57yrs old but I've been developing old skills and doing it the old way all my life. I'm a retired bridge construction engineer but I refer to myself as an 18th century tinkerer now. I'm primarily a gunmaker but also a blacksmith, horner, wheelwright, cooper, leatherworker scrimshander, etc... Lately, I've been teaching my grown boys how to set snares, make fire with a bow and drill and make Osage Orange longbows and arrows. They don't have the patience for building things but they like the woods crafts.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Love your attitude.
Carry on and enjoy. :thumbsup:

 

[Crow Beads]

My wife started quilting when she retired from IBM Global Services a year and a half ago. I've been making keyboard instruments from the 18th century for the past twenty-six years. Does that count? Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were fine harpsichordists. The latter even kept one in the White House.

To the gentleman who regrets being unable to do regular maintenance on his car. I found the cure. It's called a 1966 MGB roadster. Just like a lawn mower but with three more cylinders and an extra carb.. Carburetor? What's that?

Oh and the whiskey comment struck a chord. Bulleit and Talisker float my stick.

 

[fraungie]

Pure and simple That was beautiful

 

[RevGeo]

I just turned 59 and feel pretty much the same way as most of the posters in this thread. I'm a disabled vet and teach guitar and have been playing in bands all of my life. Still go on the road playing now and then, but less and less all the time. I like old stuff (fortunately so does my wife) and I like building gourd banjos,making whisky, tying flies, reloading my CF ammo and shooting my muzzleloaders. Been living in BFNW North Idaho for 20+ years now and I'm constantly surprised by all of the 'city folk' moving up here to 'get away'. Most of 'em don't know how to split wood, much less cook over an open fire or take care of themselves in the woods. Oh well, lots of 'em leave after one winter anyway. The older I get the more I love history and have been collecting history books for a long time now. I read 'em as well. You're right - must be an old guy and gal thing...

 

[canepole]

A Davy Crockett set,won at a school fall festival bingo game did it for me. There was a coonskin hat, plastic powderhorn, and a pouch. My mother was the bingo player,I was the proud owner of the outfit. I too am retired, and make those same items for myself today. I've just finished a 32 caliber Tennessee squirrel rifle,and have a powderhorn,ballhorn,shooting bag,knives,etc.,that I've also made. That Crockett set was in 1955 by the way,I was in the first grade. I can hold my own hunting,fishing,gardening,and piddling in my workshop.I used to dream of great adventures in Alaska and similar places.Now that I can afford to go,I'd rather play with my grandchilren.

 

[hanshi]

Well, I don't get out as much as I use to but when I'm in the woods with a firelock I feel "closer" to our past as many of the other members do also. History, natural history and American history, along with the outdoors, hunting, shooting and similar things have always held my interest. Davy Crockett was a favorite and helped spur my interest but truthfully I was born with this pioneer mindset engrained in me I think. Growing up as a boy in the country, poor, builds strength, I believe. I'm not a Luddite but I don't care that much for technology and "modern" stuff. Sometimes I feel as if I'm settled in place watching the world go by. At least we know where we are.

 

[tenngun]

Been better then 35 years I've been lost in the past. even as a little kid when I watched bonanza and the rifle man I wondered what the west was like before the ranches and the mining towns.I remember the old lewis and clark movie and thinkig what happened between them and marshal dillion :haha:

 

[Sunkmanitu Tanka]

Well, I was born in '52, and lived for a great many years in the city or suburbs of Antwerp (Belgium). As a kid I was fascinated with anything that had to do with the old west. The craft book of Ben Hunt was one of the first books I possessed and boy - did I have a great time trying out all of his projects! Then there were the books of Karl May - you know the Winnetou and Old Shattrhand serries... I read these till they fell apart! The Davy Crocket and Daniël Boone series were shown here as well and I remember them well. For the rest there was only the boy scouts that gave the opportunity to live the outdoors... I was nearly 20 before I realised that quilled moccasins didn't have the quills 'as is' on the animal but that they where sewed on in nice patterns! :redface: That's just to show how little information we had over here... :idunno: I was in my early twenties before I handled my first BP gun and since I am really hooked... We used to camp out with a teepee but bought ourselves a wall tent last year because the old back is to worn out for all the work that comes with them... I am just a pensioner since december and already made and bought several pieces that will still enhance our pleasure in this great hobby. I only wished we had somewath more liberal gun laws - especially for BP guns. But yeah - that can't be helped...

 

[Bob E]

Bob P, You are just plain nuts! Cheers! Bob E
Enjoy it while you can

 

[canepole]

Your post sounds like coming attractions for me. I can still squirrel hunt,and fish though,if you weren't so far away I'd bring you a mess of both occasionally. Your main talent might be to interest some of those Texas teens in some of our interests. Then you could listen to their stories,and tell yours to them. Kind of like outdoor fun by proxy.

 

[art kunstmann]

I just turned 62, but i've always liked doing it the old fashioned way, grew up around a bunch of crusty old fishing/hunting guides, always felt jealous that i was born 50 years to late...I bowhunt with a recurve, wood arrows, etc...rifle hunt with 30-30 that i've used since 1962, and now i'm into the BP...also started blacksmithing a few years ago and that has pretty much taken over my spare time...its come down now that the rougher the hunt is, either by weather, terrain, equipment failure the better i like it....

 

[Shooey]

Bob P., you are not alone, I feel much the same as you. I am 52 and enjoy working with my hands, so the whole BP hobby is enjoyable for me.

What I find interesting is how the BP guns got me interested in learning more about our colonial history. I got my first BP rifle just to start hunting deer earlier in the season. Pretty soon I built one from a kit. Next was a flintlock, the shooting bag, etc. As a result of all this I got interested in the early history of our country. Now I'm reading about Lewis and Clark, our founding fathers, and others. This hobby kinda grows on you doesn't it? Thanks for your post.

 

[sarcasmn]

I work in the modern day hustle filled frantic world. I love my time away to recharge my batteries. I was lucky enough to grow up being taught a love for nature and how to get along in the woods. I also love history and learning from those that came before us. I think there is a great satisfaction from being able to go into the woods and survive by your own wits.

There is nothing better than spending a couple of days in the woods doing things the simple pure old ways.

 

[D.Summers]

This was a great thread! Loved it. So many people here shared so many experiences that I had! Very happy to read it!!

 

[Brazos John]

This was from 9 years ago, and I recognize a bunch of the names.
They were old back then, so imagine how old they are now???

 

[Omahkapi'si]

I thank the Lord I wasn't born no later than I was.

Turning 65 this weekend.

Enjoy life whatever way suits ya, we're a long time dead.

 

[D.Summers]

Happy birthday, RanchRoper! I always enjoy your posts!!

 

[SOLANCO]

My mother grew up on a hardscrabble farm in the hills of SW Virginia during the depression. Spent a lot of summers visiting there and I was NOT supercargo. As a kid used a dibble to plant tobacco. Picked worms off it later in season. It was the early '50's and those farm houses had wood heat, water hauled in buckets from springs, and out houses. Grandparents had a bedroom on the first floor. Rest of us slept on pallets in the attic. Someone always got up early to shoot breakfast meat. Squirrel or groundhog.
The hounds got the left over home baked breads and biscuits from the night before. I can remember when the farm finally got electricity in the mid 50's. Granny got a TV and no one watched the shows. But we all got up and danced to the hillbilly music in the local commercials.
Kitchen had a wood stove. Saturday nights they put a washtub on it for hot baths.
Not all change is progress.

 

[Eutycus]

I thank the Lord I wasn't born no later than I was.

Turning 65 this weekend.

Enjoy life whatever way suits ya, we're a long time dead.

I'm few years older than yourself but I also thank the Lord for letting me be born in the 50s Plus the where had alot to do with my mentality/character/who I am/ whatever you call it?I was raised on a farm, thank Heavens.