Originally Posted by powdr
I came from a long line of hunters but I often see guys that say there ancestors did not own guns or hunt and in some cases even were against it. My father was a hound man and excellent deer hunter as well as my great grand father. My Dad used an old sporterized Enfield in 30-06 and my great grand father a '76 Winchester in 32-40. I was following my Dad around when I was about 5 years old killing squirrels and climbed into a tree stand w/him in the hill country of Texas when I was 6. This was about 1957-58. I can't remember a time in my life when I was not consumed w/deer hunting. I'd like to hear from some of you other fellas about how you became a hunter...especially those that didn't come from a hunting back ground and how you became one. powdr


both of my granddad's killed game year round.... one had a 1300 acre farm, and shot any deer on that property he wanted....legal or not, didn't really matter in those days....this was before I was born...

my other grandfather, sold his farm after WW 2, and opened a store, welding shop, car repair garage with gas pumps...where he lived, deer were thick, and many of the locals just took deer year round.. wasn't much law in the county to speak of, and for many people deer were subsistence.....

both owned a 30/30... had the one my GrandFather on my mom's side used that he bought in 1935.. some [bleep] stole it back in the early 1990s....I still have his Savage 24, with the 410 on the bottom and 22LR on top.. the 22 barrel is actually shot out...it accounted for a lot of squirrels and rabbits.. two game animals he preferred over venison...

Growing up as a military dependent and living overseas from age 11 to 14, I didn't get to start hunting until I was 14....then dad went overseas to Vietnam in 68, and I didn't have an opportunity to hunt again, until after College and my stint in the Army.. that was 1980...

bought me a Rem 700 in 06 in 1980 and a 444 Marlin in 1981...
still have both...biggest deer I ever shot, was with the 444 in St Louis Co MN, about 60 miles south of International Falls.. it was about 30 below the morning I shot him in 1984...field cleaned at 265 lbs, and the DNR estimated his 'on the hoof' weight about 340 to 350...last few days of the season...

we removed the saddle before we gutted him... grin

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he was one of about 40 something deer pushed out of a swamp on a deer drive...it was cold enough they were laying down in there piled up on top of each other like snakes do...

Check out that 4 power Tasco scope on top, mounted on top of see thru mounts.. how's that for a Northern MN back woods rig... grin

overlook those glasses if ya don't mind... and that was back before my hair turned "blonde"...like it is now... whistle

Hard to believe I still have that jacket, those camo'ed pants and that wool hat with the polypropylene inner lining...