Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Generally accepted truths about hunting, ballistics, gear etc. 1980 vs 2021

I think most of the so-called improvements in hunting gear since 1980 are just like much of the fishing gear.....it is designed to catch sportsmen more than fish and game.

I do miss the simplicity of buying ammo that was in the coolest looking box. Amazing that animals actually died!

Two summers ago I found some old Eley Tenex in a moving box that hadn't been opened in a couple of moves. I know the stuff dated to the early 80's, and the lube on them had gotten kind of petrified. Lo and behold it shot as well as a current batch of Tenex I was testing in a Winchester 52, and a few groups were better. Progress?

Tenex was good for me in the 80s, in both a Martini International and an Anschutz 1407 . It was always dear though, so I'd practice and shoot club level comps with Eley Club, reserving Tenex for State and Nationals.

Since then the ISSF targets have smaller scoring rings. Something must have improved ;-)

Harsh to judge it on groups shot offhand with irons though.

FWIW I bought a Rem 700 BDL in about 1980 too, in 6mm. A 6x Weaver scope and a couple of boxes of Winchester ammunition with it, and I took it down the back paddock to try it out. The first couple of groups, shot from prone over an improvised rest (rolled blanket I think) went under an inch each for 5 rounds at 100 yards. I was really happy - after various sporterised military rifles this was an absolute revelation. I then shot away all of the remaining ammunition on rabbits and such, being increasingly impressed with my new purchase's ability to reach right on out there and completely dismantle these critters.

That rifle accounted for truckloads of game over the years.

Factory Ammo ? what's that? where they at ?

I'm glad I'm a handloader.


Jerry

I'm NOT disputing you but that doesn't match my experiences 70 thru 80s.

Jerry

I use to believe that fast bullets was the 'cats meow'. Get it as fast as you can with no pressure signs. I was young, full of piss and vinegar..... "Does it kick"..... "Not too bad"..... "Is it accurate"....... "Close enough to deer hunt with". That could've meant a 1" or 6" group at 100 yds.

Now, like others have said, less recoil, less noise, and accuracy are the ticket. So far, nothing has dodged one of my 30-30 bullets and they're traveling a blazing 2000'/sec. I've got other rifles that go faster, but none are being pushed for speed. Give me an accurate rifle, every time.

Added: Way back when..... .243's no good for hunting..... too fast..... bullets pencil thru..... too small a bullet to kill a deer....etc.
Bullet technology has come a long way!!!

Suppressors

I remember the days before trail cameras.
if you wanted to know that time a bear was coming in, you had to use the clock with string and a pull pin. Bear would use the trail going into the bait, walk over the string and pull the pin out of the clock, stopping it. That’s how you knew the time. We’ve come a long ways in not a lot of years.

I'll join in for what it's worth.

I started actually shooting and hunting a bit beyond 1980. I did not have all THAT much exposure to it prior to that. However, I think I can mention a few things.

Stanmmster is right on clothing. I started off turkey hunting in surplus jungle boots, and an M65 jacket. Mil surplus was considered good gear. I added a commando sweater for warmth. Cotton thermal underwear and cotton "thermal" socks. My first deer kit was similar.

Firearms: Back then, Ohio was a shotgun-only state. You used a 12 GA and slugs out of a smooth bore. There were a few guys using Hastings rifled barrels by the mid-80's. But I don't remember them when I started. In Kentucky, most guys used a 30-30 on deer. One shot/One Kill was somebody's wet dream. You emptied your magazine at 'em. I was rather surprised when my first deer went down on the first shot.

That's one of the biggest things I've noticed over the years-- the number of shots has gone down even though the number of deer taken has gone up.

Back when I started, the whole thing was about building the herds/flocks. Ohio had just 5 counties where you could hunt turkeys. It was a 3 hour drive to get there from Cincinnati. Deer were in abundance in the eastern half of the state. You could hunt deer over by Cincinnati, but there were not many taken. In Kentucky, they allowed 2 bucks. Overall harvest back then was about half of what it is now. When I started, you had to work to see your game. It was a win just to hear a turkey gobble. Now? I have both deer and turkey staring in the bedroom window.

I think the biggest changes in the hunting world follow the big tech changes in our lives. Some of this is good some not so much. Right up there with tech is the increase in hunting pressure, which is somewhat ironic as game departments report hunter numbers down overall.

On the tech side, the affordable and portable laser rangefinder is a revolutionary capability. Up until it’s invention, we all wanted to max out our high velocity rifles as a hedge against range uncertainty. Now, with accurate rifles and skinny streamlined bullets, a good rangefinder, and accurate trajectory dope we are technically able to hit at ranges unimaginable a few decades ago.

To scout these days, it’s tempting for some to park in their BarcaLounger drinking beer, watching Netflix, while a herd of trail cameras automatically sends scouting reports direct to the IPhone. Does it matter if we really walk and sneak in the hunting grounds to see for ourselves directly what’s going on? And should we sometimes forego the four-wheeler and use our hind legs?

I believe we are at or past an ethical fork in the road here, that is generated by these new capabilities. How far is too far? Is hunting slowly morphing into just game shooting? Do we owe our game the respect to be in the same arena with them, affording them the chance to detect us and escape?

Related to this question is the increase in hunting pressure that I have seen across the country, and especially in many of my old haunts in the West. Are we justified in taking extreme range shots because of the likelihood that we’ll miss out on a game killing chance that somebody else will get?

Finally, lots of other stuff has changed that has helped me, such as better clothing, boots and gear in general. Rifles are more accurate, scopes more precise.

The biggest issues that this discussion generates are the ethical ones, that go beyond the legal ones. Or so it seems to me.

I know the deer from 1980 were a lot closer and had thinner hides than the ones from 2021.

“To scout these days, it’s tempting for some to park in their BarcaLounger drinking beer, watching Netflix, while a herd of trail cameras automatically sends scouting reports direct to the IPhone. Does it matter if we really walk and sneak in the hunting grounds to see for ourselves directly what’s going on? And should we sometimes forego the four-wheeler and use our hind legs?”

GF1, This paragraph has me thinking. I enjoyed the philosophical perspective you wove through your entire post but again, this paragraph, seems to speak to the difference between this vs past eras.

A question I have pondered also. I kind of quit hunting with a bunch of guys east of here, who although I treasure their friendships have morphed into a bunch of techno-wizards who zip around the farms intent on racking up their body counts with little regard for "sporting spice". That's ok, more power to them, but my sensibilities preclude my joining in. I haul my butt to wilds of Pennsylvania and western Maryland where I can escape the "deer killing, not deer hunting" attitudes, and satisfy myself with their camaraderie over pints of beer in the off-season.

The whole trail camera thing has never sat well with me, pretty much up there with “scoring” bucks too.

But each to own and why I hunt solo with one exception.

Guys are still ass shooting and blowing legs off just as before just at longer distance now. Technology or not it remains about the same. Not trying to be an ass. I read on here where my daughter and grandkids in a nice warm blind shooting off a rest is not sporting. Maybe not but it gives us time together and better shots. I’ll keep doing what I’m doing and you can also. Edk

. . . and they were a lot easier to get in the truck.

Truck? What truck? 40 years ago I was stuffing them into MG's!

Hahaha