Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Dad got his 1895 back

Back In 1900 Oscar Quisla Bought an 1895 Winchester rifle at a hardware store in Portage County, WI. The new rifle (serial number 749) and 3 boxes of 30-40 Krag shells cost him $45. He took that rifle on many deer hunts in WI.

There were no deer in Portage county at that time so Oscar and friends would board a train and ride North until they reached a logging camp where they would hitch a ride by horse and wagon where they rode with their tent, blankets and food until they reached the winter deer yards where the deer would congregate to eat slashings left behind by the loggers. The picture below was taken in 1905 when Oscar (far left) was 25 years old. On this trip they returned with one buck and one doe for each man. Oscar is holding the 1895 Winchester which has a shiny receiver. Most guns back then had a black or brown finish.





My Father�s family farm was only two miles from the Quisla Farm and since My Grandfather did not hunt, my father learned about hunting from Oscar. In 1958, when my Father was 23 years old, Oscar sold him the 1895 Lever action with 3 boxes of 30-40 Krag shells for $45.

In 1961, my Parents moved to Milwaukee and my Father left the 30-40 Krag back at the farm since he had no use for the Rifle in the city but he would travel back to the farm each year to deer hunt with the krag.

In 1964 Oscar Died at the age of 84. That year, when my Father returned to Portage County to live and farm with his young family, he went to the home farm to retrieve the Krag. His older brother who was never happy about my Father leaving the farm for the big city, told my Father that the gun was no longer his and that his older brother was keeping the rifle as a remembrance of Oscar and that is �Farm property�.



As the years went by, my Father made attempts to get the rifle back but was unsuccessful. In 2008 with his brother having died in his 80's, my Father was back on the home farm doing some repairs and when finished, his sister asked how much she owed him for this troubles. My father said that he would like to have the Krag back. His sister went to the closet and retrieved the old rifle and gave it to him.







[img]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/OscarQuisla9.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/OscarQuisla91.jpg[/img]

I asked my Father (now 79) what he had planned for the 118 year old Krag and he said �I�m gonna shoot a deer with it�

[img]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/OscarQuisla8.jpg[/img]

My oldest brother who reloads will make a few boxes of 30-40 cartridges for him and after the rifle is thoroughly cleaned and inspected, I would expect to see my Father in the woods at some point with the Krag.

So that was back in 2007. Since then his health has not improved. He tried once to hunt with the Krag but no luck. This 2014, I expect him to finally score based on a variety of reasons. The events are reminded to me because his other brother died a couple weeks ago. He and one other brother are the only males left in the family of what was 14 brothers and sisters.

Wonderful story and pictures. I hope your dad gets a big one with the Krag.

bad ass story, that is too cool!

Awesome! I hope he scores.


Kaiser Norton

Awesome! Great story, and great history!

That's really a great story. I look at my old ones, and wonder of the things they have seen, and the men who carried them...

Friends, he is deserving. We should pray for his success, whatever that means to him.

edit: That really came home to me. Back in the '30s Daddy bought a Model 92 Winchester in 32-20. Still was living with his parents at the time. Came a day when the 92 was missing. Turned out Grandaddy had traded it to one of Daddy's bro-n-laws for some other something. Daddy pitched a fit all the way around but never got the rifle back. First I heard of it was when I was a teenager and next time I got around my then uncle I approached him about it myself. Neither one of us walked away happy, but I walked away empty handed. After he died I approached my aunt and she claimed to know nothing about it. Yeah, right. So, glad to hear of one that turned out right.

Great story and pictures to back it up.

Awesome story and pics to boot! LOVE to hear stories like this that tie our hobbies together with personal stories.

Thanks for sharing,
dave

Great Story! I'm Glad the 1895 Winchester has found its rightful owner.

Thanks for sharing, dont get mutch better than two old friends getting back together. GW

Nice rifle. Great story.

Fantastic story, hope he tags out this fall with that rifle out of the new stand you built him.

Gunner

Awesome, I hope you follow up with a hunting thread. Even if your old man doesn't end up with a deer

Glad to see your Dad got his rifle back, but IMO, your Dad should've put a boot in his brothers ass and taken his property back years ago.

Im hoping he scores. He does not have many hunts left in him. A heart attack and 5 stents, twice blocked carotid. No hearing or teeth left and both knees replaced and bad eyes.

wonderful story. one of my favorite rifles. My dad shot a bear when he was 12, with a 12 gauge shotgun in Wisconsin. Mole lake area. left it with his bil when he moved to calif. Dad has been gone 16 yrs now. would love to get that back.
bring him out here. I will guarantee him a deer. but I just bet he has his heart set on a certain logging area.

That is the best story I've read in a long time. That's a happy moment!!!! Thanks for sharing this!

Good luck to you dad! Great story. I took my 81 year old dad on a management hunt last December and though the weather was near blizzard like dad hung tough and killed two does. I killed another doe right at dark to round out a great day.

You going to put a corn pile out for him?