Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Deer camp characters

It's time for a break from politics. Time for a diversion.

Camp characters. Everyone's got at least one. Ours was Hillbilly Bob. Bob was a "local" who visited all the camps in the area. Good guy. Quiet, and absolutely terrified of women. 'Kept an eye on all the camps for everyone. We used to go over to the neighbors camp for spaghetti dinner on the afternoon before the opener. Typical deer camp stuff. A few bottles of adult beverages, some card playing, and a lot of lying about the big buck.

And then there were the skin flicks, or as the neighbor boys called them "training films." Ol' Bob always showed up for the training films. He'd sit there watching the girls do their thing, and then silently get up and leave. We had a female game warden up there at that time and we'd always say Ol' Bob was going to make a "service call" at Hilga's office.....

Another one that comes to mind was the old timer who lived down at the bottom of our hill. He didn't hunt much anymore, but always stayed outside doing chores on the opener just in case one came by. He'd be raking leaves, burning brush, and doing whatever else needed attended to. I can't tell you how many deer he killed down there with his old 32-20 while tending a smokey fire, wandering all over his little corner of heaven, and making lots of noise. 'Seemed like most years he filled his tag right from the fire ring.

In 1969, fresh out of high school we started camping in the summers and camp/deer hunt in November on Upper Cherrytown Rd. in Kerhonson NY. We met quite a character up there, named Eustace M Gray. He lived just down the road a piece from our camp on Samsonville Rd. He was a local, and lived there all his life and wasn't especially fond of outsiders, but he sort of took to my friend Barry and I. One time he even came to our camp with the girl Becky that lived across the street from him.

He was often called "Useless" by outsiders so I could understand the way he felt about outsiders. He had had a stroke so the whole left side of his face drooped and he talked with a slur because of it, but he had all his marbles and was sharp as a tack. He drove us around and showed us, and taught us a lot about the area and while he was indeed a character, he was a hell of a nice guy to us.

He sold deerskin products out of his cabin, moccasins, gloves, etc. and we spent a lot of time at his cabin buying such stuff and talking about deer hunting. He had some very large deer heads hanging in that cabin and said he lost some others due to a fire years ago.

Rumor was, according to his neighbor Becky that he was a big time deer poacher in his younger days. He was to old to hunt anymore, but you could still see he loved it when he talked about it and drove us around showing us spots to hunt, etc.

One time I said to him, hey Eustace, when does deer season open this year. He looked at me and with his slurred speech said ahhh haven't you heard, they changed the rules, open season all year now and no bag limit.

He died in 1972, we didn't have him around long enough!!!! He's buried in Palentown Cemetary right down the road from his cabin. I'm going to go up this spring and see if he has a gravestone and if I can find it once the weather is better and there's no snow on the ground.

Sounds a lot like Hillbilly Bob. Thanks for posting.

Lol Jeff I was afraid you were telling guys on here how weird we were this fall

My dad had a friend who owned a camp in PENN and would bring his friends for opener of archery. It was more like "beer" camp as hardly any of them hunted, just drank lots of beer and hung out.

......What's said at deer camp, STAYS at deer camp........

What happens at camp, stays at camp!

We had an old timer that started comeing up to my dads buddies place, a mile from our camp, old Hank, he didnt hunt, but liked the guys he came up just to cook! and have a few drinks in the evening after the guys come in. 1st thing he would do was empty the cabnets of all the dishs & cups ect. and wash all of them, even if we had been there doing it! And he could Cook! was a Great old guy, his wife got sick and he had to stay with her, she passed on and he said Ill be the Cook this year at camp! but died a few weeks before the season. we hoist a glass to Old Hank every year! now my dad and they are all gone, Im the only one from them camps left! I hunt with a new group now all younger, Guess im the old Guy now.

Sounds like you great mentors John.

I bet that many of us here are broaching the realm of "deer camp characters" to the younger hunters in our respective camps.

In the eyes of my two son's, my cousin and his son, my long time hunting buddy and I would qualify as characters.

Take my buddy for example, he comes up to camp with bulk foods that he takes out hunting. This year he brought up two ice cream buckets of fried perch fillets that we ate cold each day out in the woods. One year it was a whole bag of baked potatoes, and a pot of left over baked beans..another year it was rubbery boiled whole chickens that he had just butchered from his flock at home. The beer is always cheap and in the can.

We have never really planned or given much thought about the type of food we bring out, just bring up what is on hand, and focus on hunting. Our menu for dinner picks up when we have some fresh tenderloin or a few grouse for the pot. We also use the same old threadbare and beat-up gear we have had for well over 30 years.

It is great to eat all the fancy food, and see all the new gear the young guys bring up every year. They seem to really get a kick out of our "character" traits like getting up at 4:30 AM, and out the door well before first light, while they are still back in the cabin organizing their gear and food for the day.

They give us some good natured ribbing about us falling asleep in our chairs shortly after dinner, when they are just getting warmed up for party time with their craft beers and fancy mixed drinks.

What they add to our collective kitty of food and drink is enjoyed by all. But if it were not all there, we wouldn't really miss it…or maybe?

Regarding their new fangled gear, I don't know…they are starting to do pretty well hunting and all, but give me a good rifle, a compass, a knife and rope, and I am a happy character.

One guy, I'll call "the troll", because he was just a little guy with a long beard, looked like a troll. In a semi circle of camping trailers, he had a habit of throwing bacon grease and frying pan leftovers out the front door of the trailer In grizzly country, and having been told by F&G that a griz sow with 2 cubs had been living on the river drainage next to the camping site, I was none too pleased with the troll's habits; another one being fleshing out a deer skull under the hang pole in the same area. He also had a habit of rushing up a wooded ridge ahead of his hunting pards, and shooting at game, scattering other deer, which his pards were wary of shooting at, because they didn't know where he was at in the woods. Few years later, I read that he was an NRA safety class instructor for new hunters.
Go figure.

I used to go play cards with the guys in the camp across the trail from ours until I figured out that one of their guys always supplied the cards, and won a lot. I made sure I brought a fresh deck of cards one night, and everyone but him took a few pots. I bumped into him out in the woods one day and told him I knew he was playing with a marked deck. Shortly after that, there was some camp drama over there and he never came back. I don't know what they feuded about, but he was told he wasn't welcome back.

Had a fellow that used to like to drive deer with us! Crazy Frank Z, he clamied to have steel plate in his head from Nam. Had Crazy Laugh, he was a nice guy but was a bit "OFF" he hunted with a Rep Colt Walker pistol & and old Black Powder 10gage with hammers! some times before a drive would start he fire that walker pistol into the air and laugh like hell! said he did it to see what way the wind was blowing! one time there was abig buck running out front of the drivers, my Dad saw it twice, was near the end of the drive, and was heading right to Crazy Frank, my dad got behind a big tree, he didnt want to get hit by the Buck shot! He heard a loud Click, then another Click then Son Of a Bitch! Frank had forgot to put the caps on the nipples of the big 10 gage! the buck just troted by at 10 yrds! them were the days! Frank was called Click Click after that!

I remember two gentleman from my first day at camp, the first was named Cecil, he didn't know me or ever met me but treated me with the utmost of respect. I was 14, he was over 60. He had a bad hand that was missing several finger and arm was mangled (I never asked from what), he could play several musical instruments and hand made muzzle loading rifles and shotguns. An excellent shot, I still remember him laughing at me when I flinched so bad the first time I shot a flintlock he had made.

The other was named Croomer, he had a love for LC Smith shotguns and had several. He was a tremendous wing shot.

Both of these gentleman were great mentors and I was honored to say I shared a campfire with both of them. This was before the idea that you were not a successful hunter unless you killed the biggest buck, or jealously took over so bad it destroyed our camp 35 years after he was established.

Several of us that now have kids of our own have started a new camp with our kids and try and rekindle the things that made our old camp great.

Now that is some good reading right there. Wish there was more of that here on the fire.

We didn't have a camp per say, we day hunted for blacktail deer from home, but dad and grandpa were characters sure enough. Did lots of driving thickets in those days, and I remember listening for the crack of dads 30-30 Marlin or the roar of grandpas 30-06 Remington 740 as mom and I pushed the deer towards them.

Lots of hunting stories about deer that were just too smart to fall for being driven, and of big bucks that crawled away on their knees to avoid being spotted. Red wool coats with a sandwich and a candy bar, bib overalls, White logging boots that needed constant waterproofing, and the Marlin 30-30.

They didn't need no stinking backpack, gps, and all the other 25 lbs of sheit kids think they need to hunt now.

Before '86 I was mentoring a couple of college kids on reloading/shooting & hunting. We had a task of dispatching a mangy dog. The 3 of us lined up, head - lungs - liver. On the count 3 we fired.

Dog dropped, we checked for bullet placements.

# 2 aimed for lungs -- no wound ?? He said " I shot ", boy checked his rifle <EMPTY> chamber !! After a good laugh we called him "cheap thrill".

Jerry

I had the opportunity to go to deer camp with my Father and his crew of, mostly, WW2 USMC vets each November from 1967 thru 1976. One of the few men in camp who wasn't a USMC vet, was "Sarge". Sarge, whose given name was George, was a disabled USA vet who had lost most of the use of his left arm when he was 19. He was a crewman on an M-10 tank destroyer when it was hit by a German anti-tank round somewhere in eastern France in late 1944.

Despite having only one good arm, Sarge was a successful hunter and fisherman. He almost always punched a deer tag even though his only deer rifle for many years was a well worn Winchester Model 07. Somebody in a V.A. Hospital orthotics/brace shop had built him a harness that fit around his neck and shoulders and allowed him to carry his rifle in a manner similar to the way today's soldiers carry their M4s.

my dad used to bring some of his buddies to our camp for deer and small game. all of them including my dad were ww2 vets. lot of interesting stories of b17 bombing runs, kamikaze attacks, battle of the bulge, etc. one guy was named joe. he was a real character. he could cook a dog turd and make it taste like roast beef. for a number of years he owned an old caddy limo that was held together with tiger hair and brush painted. he had a few old beat up guns and used to handload his own paper shotshells with BB gun BB's. he would lead a charge of us on small game drives and then make rabbit and squirrel potpies and we would have to chew careful and spit out the bb's. he interpreted the game laws as a suggestion rather than a requirement. nothing serious but a serious bending of the rules. he taught me how to catch snapping turtles and make soup. quite a process. his own kids were kind of sissified so he and i hunted a lot together.

those guys are all gone now but when i am sitting at the camp on the same chairs they used and eating off the same plates they did, i can still picture it. good memories.

You are blessed to have those great memories.
Great story there.

Not really a deer camp in the realm of some described above but there is a small group of us that hunt together on a buddy's farm. Our camp is pretty civilized ( no drunken capers or dancing girls) but we usually cook a good meal or two have a couple of beers and sometimes manage to collect a deer or two. We have also managed to help a few new comers get their first deer along the way and I will agree with a quote I read by Gene Hill something to the effect that the best deer you will ever kill is your first and the second best is when you help someone else get their first. There was also another group of older fellows just down the road that we managed to visit with each year but sadly they are all gone now and their place was sold a couple of years ago. The sad thing is most of us in our group have 60 in our rear view mirror so in the next 10-15 years or so Id say our time will be done too.This thread makes me feel a bit sorry for those on the "Are you a serious hunter" thread. Sad to see people that get their ego wrapped up in being a "serious hunter" more so than the enjoyment of good friends and just being in the woods with your friends. Oh well to each their own. I wish them well.

Lots of characters through the years.

My buddy graybird keeps me laughing year round but each year if I am lucky enough to be part of elk/deer camp he makes each day very special

We have had some legendary snipe hunts when a newbie shows his face at camp. We actually suckered one guy twice-in the same year. Funny-he never came back with us to hunt again.......

Hands down at the camp I hunted out of was my friend Randy. The first year I took my son "High Brass" to camp Randy got a doe. He skinned the head out and then walked around the cabin with his hand inside the head like a sock puppet. Another time another guy at camp came in the door and told the camp owner "Bob the deer are hanging around in the bottom like they're spying on us". I saw a hand come up and knock on the kitchen window and then a doe's head pop up like it was looking in. The second week of buck season one year Randy found a 10 point someone had shot and wasn't found by that hunter. It was frozen so Randy propped it up against a tree so it could be seen from the road. The next day someone shot almost a whole box of shells at it.

This is so true.

The deer camp I go to is in some of the best moose hunting there is in the province, no deer. Last year on the last week of deer season I saw one lonely deer all week but spent that same week with a good friend and his curmudgeonly father. I get invited back every year and wouldn't miss it for the world.

Easy for me to agree and disagree at the same time.

We spend time with family/friends out of doors all year long. We cook out, eat, have a beer or drink, fry fish, bbq and so on all year long. Often there are months in a row where not a weekend goes by without cooking/fishing or something.

So when deer season rolls around, we are with the same group to an extent and we all like to hunt, so then is when we become serious about hunting.

I feel for the folks the most, that only have a short amount of time to be out in the woods with friends.

Killing is not much important to me, at least not large animals, but we do like teh meat for sure, but just killing a handful of deer is not hard for us. But I sure do enjoy the season when we can sit out and watch nature and deer and maybe take something.

Times for all things I believe the good book does say.

Dad started taking me to 7-11 Deer Camp when I was ten years age. Had several of the fellows that would stay up until 1-2 AM playing cards and drinking whiskey...keeping most folks from sleeping! This was right about the time hunters starting using scoped rifles. After that bunch dozed off...I'd slip out of bed, unscrew the adjustment covers on all the scopes and rotate at least 5-6 revolutions and then slip back into bed! Needless to say...over the next several days there were lots of deer missed and banging away checking the rifles to get zeroed again. I told Dad what I'd done 20 years later! He got a good laugh out of it!!

As a youngster I was entertained in WVa camp by one insisting that scopes should only be zeroed via off hand shooting. When he got a single 30-30 round into the paper plate at 100, he was good to go with all the confidence in the world. Obviously, we were not in big sky country.

I was talking recently with a friend in PENN and he said most of the older camp members have passed on and few of the younger kids want anything to do with hunting, but want to party at the camp on weekends during the summer. His oldest brother who inherited the camp from his father is talking about selling the camp, but only to another family member.

Damn, I knew I liked you for some reason.... I may know someone that did exactly the same, for exactly the same reason....

I believe thats called great minds....

Did you have some sort of death wish? I personally would find no humor in that activity.

Don't forget the "camp idiot" that Patrick F. McManus writes about. I'm paraphrasing here

"every camp, no matter if you have 4 members or 40 has a 'camp idiot'. If this person does not immediately come to mind; it's probably you."

Well at our camp, this person immediately comes to mind. LOL

I have way too much cuture to be a " character"


Camp Cisco

We had Rabbit, Digger, Baby, Floyd, The Maz, Bubba, and a host of others.

Great memories.

We have had a lot of drunk bastards.

Lol! I think a lot of deer camps have!

I dont mind people drinking, but if you dont know how to behave yourself.......