Who here dresses like this while hunting?
 

Me in my classic Pendelton back in 1996.

wow I didn't think many folks hired a guide to deer hunt back in 1996>

and to shoot a small buck too boot
I hope you didn;t pay too much LOL


times have changed for sure though this I agree,
but that is life, nothing will ever stay the same
doesn;'t always mean for the better or the worse, though!
most likely a little of the both,

I would have heat stroke if I wore a pendleton during deer season in California. Cool retro look though.

I use to wear Johnson Wool in the 80’s and 90’s.

I had to pay that man.
 

I had to pay that man $500. He was listed in the classifieds section of a hunting magazine, if I recall. That included skinning, gutting and quartering. His two adult sons pitched in with the work. His wife at his ranch house prepared me six hot meals over two days. I killed about ten ground squirrels on his spread and that varmint hunt was on the house. He would have included lodging too, but would have been a ranch hand bunk house so I stayed in town at a cheap motel instead. He would have charged me an extra $750 for a trophy buck. This was expensive California, though. I was then from the suburbs and did not know any rural landowners. People from the city and suburbs still indeed paid guides or private landowners even then. It was my first deer hunt.

Nowadays, some game ranches in Texas charge you $2,000 or more for the privilege of relieving their private land of one or maybe two deer. Good luck getting a berth on their spread before they are all booked up too. There are more wannabes these days than hunting opportunities available. Hunting has been getting progressively rarer and more expensive like housing. There is no cheap red meat on the table via your own gun anymore. The landed gentry seem to hold most of the access to hunting opportunity. There are too many people these days to compete for resources. The notion that the American public owns the game seems now old hat. Grabbing a gun, heading for the woods and going for game is no longer a free-for-all. You would be doing the game ranch operator no favor by taking his deer for free. You either personally know a private landowner (to relieve their land of pesky plant/crop destroying deer) or you pay the piper as they say. There is public land but it isn't recommended for greenhorns.

I was a noobie hunting in 1996 so I thought a paid hunt was a great way to start. I figure I had about $800 total into that little 1996 buck counting: the guide's 2-day hunt fee, motel, deer tag, hunting license, NRA hunter safety course, ammo, gas and a butcher. The butcher was some crabby old dude a friend of mine knew and he wouldn't even grind my venison so as not to get his meat grinder "dirty". I now know to use a bona fide wild game processor for deer that offers grinding services as well as fattening the grind with beef tallow.

I learned a few things from this nice older rancher gentleman and guide so it was a learning experience as much as it was a little meat in the freezer. I had not a clue on how to hunt DIY. My grandfather stopped hunting for good just before I was born and my mother was anti-hunting so my brother and I living in the CA suburbs had no family mentors. My father gave up rabbit hunting in boyhood.

well we all don't have things as good as others, this I fully agree when getting into the hunting world
and where we lives I am sure makes a big difference as well
but from my experience, most deer hunters in the USA didn't start off paying for hunts on private lands

I know for a fact I grew up in a NON hunting home, no relatives hunted and was 100% self taught, I read everything I could get my hands on to learn all I could, for yrs before I was old en ought o start hunting
I started hunting on public lands, but do admit there was lots of them
a s a fact, I knew very few hunters that DIDN"T hunt public lands , it was only the wealthy folks that seemed to have private lands to hunt!
I got a deer my first yr all on my own, and learned a lot doing so, and never went a yr without filling a tag since, and went from hunting my home state to hunting several states a yr and all of them hunts out of state were without a guide, to save me $$ to allow me to hunt more places
I mean NO bash here either,a s I said we all start in this sport our own way,
and all that really matters is we enjoy it and help keep it going

But I DO stand by that most folks STILL hunt public land over taking guided hunts in almost every state,
things do seem to be shifting due to so many people seem to need to THINK private lands are better or need to be more catered too,a s IMO< folks are getting soft, and need more comforts to enjoy anything, or they just won;'t do it! ~
TV hunting shows IMO have ruined a lot of possible hunters from getting into the sport or starting, when hings don;t work out as they seen ion TV, or feel they cannot have what they see on tv due to costs, so just give up!

its a changing world for hunting and hunters, just look at the numbers that have STOPPED, Lic Sales are down in most every state, add in the hate many have for firearms in private citizens hands, and this sport might not be here down the road
the desire to hunt in kids, isn;t what it once was, a shame IMO
but that's life nothing stays the same I guess!

As a hard working American whom you’d apparently dub as “landed gentry,” I can tell you, this wasn’t a great way to introduce yourself. Slamming doors in your own face isn’t a hobby in which I care to participate, but good luck to you.

Many hard-working Americans also don't own any land. My humorous term was not to offend honest Americans who do in fact own land. My apologies if landowners here are offended. I don't see the meaning of "slamming doors" here. The term goes back to feudal Europe when the game did only belong to the wealthy and the King. Peasants used to be put to death for poaching the King's deer. The American ideal starting with the colonies and the founding of our nation was that game belonged to all free white male citizens. Later on, and more rightfully so, all citizens including women and non-whites equally owned game.

This ain’t feudal Europe.

Maybe one day you have a thread on a topic where you need help (rather than threads like this one in which you’re simply complaining about the changing winds and insulting others), or maybe even someday you wind up on the other end of my phone asking about permission. Honey and vinegar. My door, my phone, and my keyboard won’t be open for you. Good luck.

Man this sure turned to a crap topic in a hurry. From a guy asking about hunting attire to people jumping in his $#!t for paying to kill a smaller buck Kind of disappointed and surprised or am I the only one who see this?

Nomercy, your disposition sure fits your handle. You are in Kansas. I don't ever have any intentions of hunting in that state anyway. Be careful that your house doesn't get get blown to wicked witch country. :wave:

That landed gentry rancher I hunted by his guide/ranch hunt services in CA was a rather pleasant old gentleman. Don't get me wrong, I don't use "landed gentry" out of jealousy. That man was a beef rancher. Farmers and ranchers, even landed gentleman ones, often can barely keep their heads above water but FEMA may help them in troubled times. Mr. Rourke was offering his generous amount of land to paid hunts with amenities for extra revenues when beef might not be so profitable. Why does he surcharge $750 for a trophy buck on top of the $500 hunt fee? The cost of feeding and raising those deer?

well, if your referring to me,
I never meant any thing negative by the size of his buck he shot
I was just sating that back in the 90's few folks PAID a guide for a hunt for deer in the USA, it was NOT common practice in MOST all US states
and if one was paying for a guide, Honestly, I would have expected a better quality of game than what most average hunters found on public lands
as isn;t that the point of PAYING for a service, to get more than you can for free?

and I also stand by the fact that hiring a guide is NOT the way most folks learn how to hunt, even in NON hunting house holds and families!
a week or a few days with a guide don;t teach a LOT of skills that make a GOOD hunter a GOOD hunter!
they might help you learn a few things IF there willing to teach you, as a guides job ISN"T to teach anyone how to hunt, there JOB is you get you on the game animal your paying them to do so!

I am personal friends with a LOT of professional guides and KNOW this for a fact!
some are more willing to help a guy learn and some are NOT!

Being that California is opulent, it wasn't cheap even back in the 1990's, I thought what I paid Mr. Rourke was fair market then just to have a fairly easy opportunity to go deer hunting for once in my life and say I did. That CA Colombian blacktail (little muley cousin) deer ran me a total of $800 in '96. If I remember correctly, about 45 pounds of edible meat was yielded. $17.77 a pound for California venison that was gamey as the devil. I have learned later on it would have tasted much better ground up with 10% beef tallow and cooked in things like spaghetti, tacos, stroganoff, burritos, enchiladas or pizza. Cooking the venison chops on the BBQ was tough as shoe leather and the meat had that gamey flavor like it had browsed on trees. The meat had an acorn-like aroma. My buck was shot in a forest.

who shamed him??
and if anyone wants to post on a open form, they need to accept that folks will reply to what they post
and thats all I did!
I have no disrespect for anyone that wishes to hire a guide to hunt
I replied based on what was posted and MY views on it, which is MY right, as is your's
but don;t go saying someone shamed someone when they didn;t!

No shame to me from anybody here! Mrbb was just surprised at the avenue I took to get into hunting, that's all.

mrbb, You and I are permitted to reply as we see fit. I see many of the comments jumping the OP because of his beginning in the sport of hunting. If he were a relative of some of those making the comments and those relatives were stuck with getting an outfitter to hunt, they wouldn't be busting on him. The OP asked about clothing, nothing else and all comments were addressed elsewhere. Just recently I asked about Crispi boot fitment and YOUR reply went on forever. Thanks to GASWAMP I got an answer. You came on as ABSOLUTE and that we all should buy boots your way without noting my circumstances. I didn't need lectured on boot buying at 74 years of age I needed an answer. But I've noticed your need to be ALL-KNOWING whether it helps or not. And, here you are again when you want to dispute whether he is being shamed. Despite the many things you say that you have experienced you can be wrong and often come on a a BLOWHARD. If it is within you, reflect on what I have written and try to be responsive in a helpful way in the future.

Wise words.

so you have an issue with me

seems you post about boots I offered lots of advice and suggestions trying to help you, but you took that too as a problem
and if it was with me, maybe you should have tried sending em a PM about it?
But gather you rather get high and mighty on a open forum to make yourself feel better!
that's ok, I don;t get offended by words on a screen, I just reply to those I wish too!

SO?? Maybe r its you that has an issue with not understanding , that when a post is made you will get all SORTS of replies and opinions, thoughts and what not;'s
if one has a issue with a certian person, that is sort of what PM:"?S are for!
so as to not delete a Thread
but since you singled me out here I will reply here as you did!
and I never said I know it all and openly admit I DON"T!

Done with you mrbb and will not play with you any longer on my observations here!! I can see by your response to my suggestions regarding your future posts being on the helpful side that you didn't, as expected, do a little self-checking. With that, I welcome you to respond with any advice I am requesting with an answer but not with a reply that is off base and self-promoting. I only speak for myself but THINK about my messages and refrain from being the BLOWHARD KNOW IT ALL that I and perhaps others see but won't tell you.

well first off NAME calling on the OPEN FORUM< is a violation, so mods??

and it is what will get you BANNED from the site for a time out??
SO maybe you need to read the rules before breaking them and thinking you know more and are righteous here!

and yes, I have added a LOT of information including to your post you brought up here that was factual and helpful if you didn;t have a ego to not see it!
so I am NOT self promoting myself , I am replying to posts with information I can freely ad without breaking any rules and trying to help OP's if I can, and add content I feel is worth adding as well!


and again, if you have an issue with me, I will offer some suggestions, maybe you will find them a problem, too

BUT if you dis like me, feel free to PM me and say why, rather than polluting a thread,(I am relying here as I have been called out by by you HERE)

next, if you dislike my post, DON"T READ THEM
if that doesn;'t work, maybe add me to your ignore list!

as again these are HONEST FACTUAL suggestion so try and HELP YOU!
But I am sure you will have a issue with them too!
so maybe you need evaluate your mind set !

and last, I didn;t know we were playing any game, I have just been responding to posts here, your the one that took things to a personal level!

I wouldn't even think about wearing a Pendleton during the late summer dove opener.

nag, nag, nag. :devil:

Thanks, the "ignore user list" really works. Best advice I've gotten from the user I added to the list.