Wow fellas! The brain-trust on this thread is very impressive.

Personally, I admit, as these pursuits have evolved and life moves forward, I find that the basic skills I gained as a youngster with a Sheridan pellet rifle or a little .410 are what I find most precious and pretty much now instinctive. (Funny what a hunter can kill with ‘little’ guns - I guess we’re all being reminded of this fact these days) With these early skills, I’m sure all of us older-time hunters & shooters have been able to adapt the new technology to make us more comfortable or more efficient but really dollar for dollar not all that much more effective.

How many frigid days did we all spend in Wranglers, a heavy set of Porro Prisms, normal hiking boots, aluminum frame packs and those cursed fingerless rag wool gloves freezing numb while we gutted some bomber game and God forbid didn’t even take a pic when that old 35mm film roll froze and wouldn’t advance thru the Kodak. Most of my best memories and relationships included a fair amount of suffering & sweating to achieve a goal.

Not sayin’ I want to go back to those pre- Goretex, Kuiu, rangefinder, dials & great bullet etc. eras but certainly look very closely at new ‘developments’ with a dose of skepticism as to what will actually benefit the cause.

Thanks to each of you for what you’ve shared. It’s a joy to know that many of us have quite a history to reflect upon.

Tim