I lost the last of my original mentors
09-10-2020, 01:40 PM
#1
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Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: texas
Posts: 1,201
I lost the last of my original mentors
I heard last night that JACK, one of the guys that taught me how to hunt elk & deer has passed on.
we were not close friends but I sure had a lot of related memories
he was in his late 90s, he just did not wake up yesterday from a nap.
Im sure most of us would prefer to go that way rather than being sick or in some hospital.
(his wife had passed about 6 years previously)
the house keeper found him and notified his son ,
who was in his mid 70s who lives on the same block.
back in the late 1960s when I was about 18 years old or so,
I spent many afternoons at the local rifle range hanging out with a group of about 6 local guys that were mostly in their mid 30s-mid 50s in age.
they all knew each other, as many of the guys worked for the local power or phone company,
and most of them were married and in any one year at least 3-4 would make the trip out to Colorado or Wyoming in two or three 4x4 trucks,
that 4x4 truck ownership seemed to be mandatory too own as transportation.
I was allowed to tag along and learned a good deal, doing so, several years.
these guys were ELK hunters and they spent all year either getting ready for the next out of state elk hunt,
or kidding each other about the mistakes each had made on previous elk hunts.
there was always in-depth discussions about choices in equipment,
handloading tips , and a friendly competition concerning who was the best shot.
now their concept of ACCURACY might be less than impressive,
to some of you gentlemen, but they were all impressive shots, and consistently filled their freezers with venison.
as most of them could consistently punch holes in a coke can,
at 100 yards shooting offhand.
(this was the way they all judged any rifles acceptable accuracy)
and every last one of these gentlemen owned a 30/06,
if you listened to them, this cartridge was the best invention since the bikini,
several of the guys owned bolt actions , winchester model 70 or remington 760 slide actions or ex-mauser military rifles that were re-barreled to 30/06 caliber.
most of the guys reloaded but they were constantly on the lookout for deals on 220 grain round nose bullets or ammo so loaded.
(this was considered by all these guys to be the ideal hunting bullet,
most of the rifles had 4x or strait 2.5X scopes ,, mostly baush & lomb or leopold
as variable power scopes were not though trustworthy.
and remington/peters and winchester were considered the best brands
and H4831 and winchester 760 were the powders of choice)
I doubt if any of these guys ever shot a mule deer or elk at a range exceeding about 250 yards and they all sighted their rifles to hit about 3" high at 100 yards, or as they said
"you put that coke can on a fence post , or on a log,
,walk back 100 yards, shoulder that rifle and aim at the base of the can,
with that scopes horizontal cross hair on the cans base,
and you got it sighted in correctly , when your hitting the can about an inch from the top."
shooting off a bench rest was considered "CHEATING, or something KIDS DID"
and the weekly competition was generally held by placing a coke can on the backstop,
each guy got two quick offhand shots,
and if you missed both shots you bought the first round of beer for everyone else.
if two guys missed both of those two shots, he bought the second round of beer,
if you missed one shot you had to chip $10,
and if you hit both you drank for free until the cash ran out.
I'm sure the local BAR-B-QUE joint,( that was down the road from the range,)
the owner looked forward to Saturday, after the range visits. ,
as they knew all these guys by name as the group routinely spent a good deal on food and beer.
I remember being told to always buy boots one size too large because you'll want to wear two thick wool socks,
and to mount a cartridge sleeve on the buttstock , loaded with ammo,
so you never leave camp with no ammo.
keep several cigarette lighters,
your license and toilette paper, and a compass, in zip-lock plastic bags in your day pack
most of these guys carried old-timer sharp finger knives many guys carried a tomahawk
we were not close friends but I sure had a lot of related memories
he was in his late 90s, he just did not wake up yesterday from a nap.
Im sure most of us would prefer to go that way rather than being sick or in some hospital.
(his wife had passed about 6 years previously)
the house keeper found him and notified his son ,
who was in his mid 70s who lives on the same block.
back in the late 1960s when I was about 18 years old or so,
I spent many afternoons at the local rifle range hanging out with a group of about 6 local guys that were mostly in their mid 30s-mid 50s in age.
they all knew each other, as many of the guys worked for the local power or phone company,
and most of them were married and in any one year at least 3-4 would make the trip out to Colorado or Wyoming in two or three 4x4 trucks,
that 4x4 truck ownership seemed to be mandatory too own as transportation.
I was allowed to tag along and learned a good deal, doing so, several years.
these guys were ELK hunters and they spent all year either getting ready for the next out of state elk hunt,
or kidding each other about the mistakes each had made on previous elk hunts.
there was always in-depth discussions about choices in equipment,
handloading tips , and a friendly competition concerning who was the best shot.
now their concept of ACCURACY might be less than impressive,
to some of you gentlemen, but they were all impressive shots, and consistently filled their freezers with venison.
as most of them could consistently punch holes in a coke can,
at 100 yards shooting offhand.
(this was the way they all judged any rifles acceptable accuracy)
and every last one of these gentlemen owned a 30/06,
if you listened to them, this cartridge was the best invention since the bikini,
several of the guys owned bolt actions , winchester model 70 or remington 760 slide actions or ex-mauser military rifles that were re-barreled to 30/06 caliber.
most of the guys reloaded but they were constantly on the lookout for deals on 220 grain round nose bullets or ammo so loaded.
(this was considered by all these guys to be the ideal hunting bullet,
most of the rifles had 4x or strait 2.5X scopes ,, mostly baush & lomb or leopold
as variable power scopes were not though trustworthy.
and remington/peters and winchester were considered the best brands
and H4831 and winchester 760 were the powders of choice)
I doubt if any of these guys ever shot a mule deer or elk at a range exceeding about 250 yards and they all sighted their rifles to hit about 3" high at 100 yards, or as they said
"you put that coke can on a fence post , or on a log,
,walk back 100 yards, shoulder that rifle and aim at the base of the can,
with that scopes horizontal cross hair on the cans base,
and you got it sighted in correctly , when your hitting the can about an inch from the top."
shooting off a bench rest was considered "CHEATING, or something KIDS DID"
and the weekly competition was generally held by placing a coke can on the backstop,
each guy got two quick offhand shots,
and if you missed both shots you bought the first round of beer for everyone else.
if two guys missed both of those two shots, he bought the second round of beer,
if you missed one shot you had to chip $10,
and if you hit both you drank for free until the cash ran out.
I'm sure the local BAR-B-QUE joint,( that was down the road from the range,)
the owner looked forward to Saturday, after the range visits. ,
as they knew all these guys by name as the group routinely spent a good deal on food and beer.
I remember being told to always buy boots one size too large because you'll want to wear two thick wool socks,
and to mount a cartridge sleeve on the buttstock , loaded with ammo,
so you never leave camp with no ammo.
keep several cigarette lighters,
your license and toilette paper, and a compass, in zip-lock plastic bags in your day pack
most of these guys carried old-timer sharp finger knives many guys carried a tomahawk
Last edited by hardcastonly; 09-10-2020 at 01:58 PM.
09-13-2020, 07:08 AM
#4
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 12,745
I feel for you hardcast. This takes me back to my uncles and especially my grandfather. My dad wasn't a big hunter and only took me when he wasn't working.He worked 60 sometimes 70 hours a week to keep our family going. But he made darn sure I had the proper equipment to go. My uncles and grandfather mentored me. And they did a good job too because once I was able to hunt on my own at 16 there has only been a couple of years where I didn't shoot my deer. I was a better shot than all three of them too..as my grandfather continued to remind his sons...LOL.
We were at the range and after being sure our rifles were sighted in for deer season my uncles set a gallon jug filled with water at 300 yards. I was out of ammo and my grandfather had his rifle setting on the back seat of the car. They were sitting down trying their best to hit that jug. I asked my grandfather if I could have a crack at it with his Rem 760 in 270 win. (I had a 760 in 308) He nodded. I grabbed the rifle and a round and walked up between my uncles, dropped the round in the chamber and closed the action. Still standing I shouldered the rifle, took a breath and squeezed the trigger when the scope settled on the jug. At the shot the jug exploded and my grandfather laughed all the way home saying "I guess the kid showed you guys how to shoot huh?" Something I'll never forget.
We were at the range and after being sure our rifles were sighted in for deer season my uncles set a gallon jug filled with water at 300 yards. I was out of ammo and my grandfather had his rifle setting on the back seat of the car. They were sitting down trying their best to hit that jug. I asked my grandfather if I could have a crack at it with his Rem 760 in 270 win. (I had a 760 in 308) He nodded. I grabbed the rifle and a round and walked up between my uncles, dropped the round in the chamber and closed the action. Still standing I shouldered the rifle, took a breath and squeezed the trigger when the scope settled on the jug. At the shot the jug exploded and my grandfather laughed all the way home saying "I guess the kid showed you guys how to shoot huh?" Something I'll never forget.
