Remember the old days before feeders...before trail cams...before cell phones in the blind?

Killed a lot of deer wearing a maroon Wall’s coat and coveralls. Sure takes a lot of the excitement out of it with all the tech.

Hunting is what you make it. You don’t have to use a feeder, camo, high powered rifle and scope, newest and greatest bow, game cameras, or anything else. Hunt the way you want to and if you don’t like it change it.

I remember my dad buying two feeders at a yard sale. One was a contraption in 1/2 of a trash can. Wooden wheel inside with coffee cans you filled with corn and a timer moved the wheel and the coffee cans would dump through a hole. 'Don't remember if we ever got it to work. An old Mexican man that was like an uncle to me taught me how to put corn in glass bottles (like a Coke or Corona bottle) and the deer would paw at it and keep them there longer. I'm still gonna show that one to my grandson someday.

As far as clothing tech. I'm okay with some of it. Shivering to death has never been exciting to me. I don't know why.

When I first started hunting with my uncle, they used wooden coke bottle crates to put the corn in. Squares were too small for the cattle to eat much out of. No windows on the blinds, so you better dress for the weather. Did a lot more walking, didn't have the ATV\UTV's running all over now days, and actually had fun doing it.

I still hunt that way, no feeders, my phone has no service, my last camera gave up several years ago, and I still kill my 2 deer a year out of the same blind I was hunting when I started in 1979. I enjoy the surprise of what shows up, and having to make that choice if it will be the best I will see this year not knowing what else lurks out there. There were a few years I fell victim to the tech and bought cameras, built feeders, and picked my deer out a month before the season. I lost interest and didn't even hunt a whitetail for a few years. When my son was 6, he got interested and I started going again. I decided then, that we would keep it old school and simple, and I wouldn't change a thing.

I actually miss the days when I didn't have a cell phone. No trail cameras, no feeders. Nobody bitching about what you or your kid shot. Lots of big deer killed but also plenty of deer that many would look down on now, on here. We fed the roads from a tailgate or by hand with corn dumped into barrels in the back of the truck from the silo. It was more fun to me not knowing what was going to stick it's head out of the brush. As a kid I dreamed about it and couldn't wait to get out there. Now I run lots of feeders, game cams, my phone never stops. It is cool to be able to communicate with the kids and other hunters during a hunt if you have service, but to me was more fun not knowing what was going on. I guess I miss the anticipation, and the days when deer hunting wasn't all about inches. Anyway.....

We used to fill quart soda pop bottles with corn and about 3AM get up and take them to the stands, pouring out a little corn. Then came the PVC pipe feeders, like the hog pipes and up right PVC pipe feeders like chicken feeders. The up right pipe feeders would be empty if not filled up about after the evening hunt. But with the pipe version we would hand corn the area. The deer were quickly trained to go to those pipe feeders.

With the help of a student at TSTI's electronics section we made our first timer using a battery operated clock kit from the hobby shop. He taught me how to solder a capacitor in line with a battery etc. and wire all with a switch to the motor spinner. Used old windshield wiper motors for the motor and 12V car batter for power.

Clothes, my old Army fatigues served me well for decades. Still have some, but they "shrunk". Way back when, I would gather up my old overcoat with the liner, and crawl up under a cedar tree and pray a snake wasn't keeping me company. I don't miss those days, I like the dry warm blinds better than the old days.

We used the 12 oz wooden coke cases and also filled 32 oz 7-up or coke bottles with corn for feeders. The deer would roll the pop bottles around to get the corn out of them. Cattle could not figure it out. We took a 15 gallon grease barrel and made a free choice corn feeder after that. One of my first spin feeders was made from a 7 day oilfield well timer. Buddy was a ADT installer so he had the knowledge to make the rest of the timer and got me a used 12 volt battery to run the 12 volt fan motor. That was back in the early 80's. We wore the same clothes were wore for everyday. Heavier in the colder weather. We shot the first buck we saw and never had doe permits till the mid 70's. Still did not get many of them at that time.

Had a couple tree stands. Nailed 2x4 steps to the trunk, that would get you to the fork in the trunk. Then a small seat built in the fork, with a backrest. And a small rope to tie to rifle to haul it up after you were situated in the tree.

My oldest Son has been pretty much spoiled to box blinds with heaters, that's on me. I am tempted to put him in a tripod all year this year (whenever he has a day off), just to see if he will be able to freeze his azz off and still make the shot like I used to My 7 yr old Son, I will wait for another year or two.

Top of the line footwear was your broke down high top basket ball shoes spray painted camo black and brown. Were actually very comfortable and quiet. Just don't hunt near the cactus.

Man I nailed many a 2x4 and later screw in pegs to trees, with only a couple of 2x4's nailed for a seat. The backrest was the tree, I'm pretty sure that would kill my back & backside now I always climbed with my rifle on my shoulder w/sling. The first time I used a rope to lift/lower my rifle it felt pretty weird to me lol.

I remember the days before feeders too. Remember sitting for hours on end and not seeing deer, or very few. I like deer hunting where I actually get to watch deer. Or at least have them within a reasonable distance in case I decide to shoot one.

Grew up hunting in old plywood box stands, tripods, lock on stands and on the ground next to trees. Had 80’s model 4 wheeler or old jeep. No phones but read books or magazines to pass the time. Sometimes we had feeders sometimes we just spread corn on the ground. Sometimes feeders worked sometimes they didn’t.

Now have much better feeders, much bigger plywood blinds, much better vehicles. Also much better deer on average. More bucks to look at. Better Binos, better rifles and better scopes. Better clothing, boots, knives, etc.


None of it bothers me.

While I enjoy hunting my food plot, I make it a point every season to pull out the deer hunting knowledge that was passed down to me from men who are long since gone. I feel I owe it to both them and the sport, and I always make it a point to start each season that way. I took a spike Saturday morning while hunting with an open-sighted 30-30 in a stand that was near a fence crossing on a tract that with no feeers or food plots. It does, however, have plenty of cows roaming it.

I remember freezing my arse off while wearing two pair of jeans, socks, maybe I was lucking and had a pair of long johns. I look back on it and think of my father, uncle, and grandfather that helped teach me when they could. I DON'T MISS freezing my Arse off. I think myself as well as others have gotten lazy with our hunting. My trip to Colorado this year helped wake me up to my skills now or lack of.

I have to admit my office chair in my box stand make a great place to nap. The deer might hear me, but they can't see me cause I'm camo'ed. I still would rather be out in a stand than doing pretty much anything else. Especially now that my grand children are getting old enough to shoot the deer. I enjoy getting to supervise the cleaning.

There are things about the old days that I miss and things that I don't.

Stands versus fork of a tree. I also remember fondly (most of the times) sitting in the fork of tree. I miss the close encounters with deer right below you or various birds landing right above you, nice days with a cool breeze in your face and unblocked views. I do not miss freezing my arse off or having to squirm around to get blood circulating in your butt area again.

Feeders and food plots. Glad I have them, do not miss the days of sometimes not seeing any deer. I also believe they help sustain a larger deer population with the extra food.

Game cameras for the most part like them, neat to see what is coming around when you are not, small down side is it takes away some of the surprise or hunting experience if you know what is coming and some cases when.

Cell phones for the most part I like them so you know who is where and what is going on, small down side is kind of miss everyone driving around to see who shot what and saying hi in person for the more often.

Trailer versus camping on nice evenings I sometimes miss it, for the most part I love my Butt Hut!

Good luck everyone.

I think about the changes from my start in the early to mid-sixties all the time. Some of it better, some of it not.

• Leases were for as long as you wanted them without written contracts.
• There were a lot more invites given or extended.
• A feeder was an empty wooden coke box. You didn't use them if there was javelina on your place. Didn't know what a feral hog was other than up in the Hill Country, one gave Old Yeller rabies.
  
• In South Texas, you wore your pajamas under your blue jeans. Only adults had thermals, and they always told you that the PJs were a bit better.
• An Aladdin thermos was your best friend. If you were old enough to hunt, you learned that you were old enough to drink coffee.
• Only Wage-Earning adults had new rifles. I was around a lot of hunters and did not know an adult with more than one deer rifle.
• Hunting Shows were different; they were not a marketing event. You went to a theater on a weekday night and watched reel after reel of hunting films with a host MC'ing the event. I remember a fellow that was Wally or Walt, his hunting shows were the best. Always at the Ayer's Theater in Corpus Christi every year leading up to a hunting season.
• The County Commissioners set the hunting season dates, not TPWD. In some ways, this was better as locals and leaseholders could go to a meeting and make an impact. It also made for some interesting season dates, but typically the South Texas counties went from November 15th Through December 31st. They didn't worry about starting on a Saturday and ending on a Sunday, that came with TPWD. I do remember that McMullen County decided to go November 1st through December 15th, that was different at the time.
• You saw more cars than trucks at a camp. Trucks in the sixties were a luxury for a family. A truck was a truck then, nothing near what they are today. My dad had a Corvair; the rear wheel drive was outstanding on the sand sheet. My dad couldn't wait for me to drive. At fourteen, he figured I was responsible enough, so we went to a junk yard and bought a trunk. Paid to have it hauled home and put in the garage. It took a year to rebuild, but it looked new. At 15, he figured I was good to go without a license and didn't have a problem with me going hunting by myself. He lives on my ranch, 89 years old, and we laugh about that now. He insists I was born old and responsible.
• On our drive from Corpus to our Zapata County lease, you never saw a game fence; I didn't even know what that was. It's the opposite now.
• Because of the above, contests like the Muy Grande in Freer meant more to me as a kid. It meant that you never knew what was going to step out of the brush.
• The same with game cams as above, there is little surprise left. Now, you are more surprised when a specific deer doesn't show up.
• Finally, I remembered hunters talking around a fire, not piddling with their phone.

I do miss the old days. Every time you got in a stand you could fantasize about what might show up, because you had no idea what was out there. No cameras, no phones. When asked if you got a buck, it was answered by how many points he had. If you could say 8, you were the man. Deer camp was around a campfire where everyone would tell the stories of everything they saw and heard in their hunt. Cooking was on the fire too.There weren't any pigs. There weren't any high fences. I own land in San Saba county that has been in the family since 1932 and it is depressing how chopped up that country is now with high fences. It's unnatural looking to drive for miles on a dirt road with high fences on both sides. Doesn't look rural anymore like that. I know I'll get blowback for this post, I just liked it better when everything was native and wild and free.

I still hunt that way...sometimes. At our place in OK, there are no feeders, no cameras. We have a 10x20 shack that we sleep in, and we cook dinner over the campfire. If you want to know what deer have been seen, you have to ask Jones or Ishmael, because they are up there more often than we are. I love hunting up there...Man, Thanksgiving can't get here fast enough!!!

Times change. I doubt there would be one American indian that would turn down a custom 1000 yard rifle, heated stand, watching a feeder to fill his tipi, he would likely keep the rituals, but he wasn't stupid.

Hunting is big bidness and hunters have had brilliant marketing pushed on them, maybe that is our new ritual, more the accumulation of "stuff" vs the need for it. I think some change mirrors the general purpose as well, meat and survival vs big horns, again, marketing.

I hunt like the few in my family taught me (uncles and grandad), big horns are great, but the "whole package" is what I like most. My whole outfits probably cost less than a hunerd, no $200 dollar britches just to sit in a box, or even hunt the high country. Only real change is what you allow.

I miss the old days when hunting was simpler. Most all my blinds were a few boards nailed in the fork of a tree or a ground blind made from stacking logs or a simple brush blind. We had trucks on the ranch but most of the hunters drove their company cars down from San Antonio and that was their only transportation on the ranch. If they killed a deer, the field dressed carcass was tied across the hood, trunk or roof for the ride back to the city.
There were no feeders so you would hand feed senderos or natural opening along trails. We had screw worms so deer populations were extremely low. If you saw a buck, you shot it and I never heard anyone talk of management.
Most of the hunting population were better hunters and woodsmen as most were raised on farms and ranches and grew up hunting.
Adios,
Gary

I remember the days of cotton long johns, two pairs of cotton socks, suede boots and freezing every single time you sat. Don’t miss that at all

I do miss the stories and characters that you would see around the camp.



Someone mentioned hunters owning multiple rifles. I too only knew maybe a few people who had more than
1 or 2 centerfire guns.

As a teen I shot my first buck sitting inside a brush blind perched on a fallen log.
My second was from a cedar post from an old fence, placed in a cedar tree between two forked branches.
All my other blinds were boards nailed to a tree trunk, and a seat nailed to the fork of the tree.
Dressing warm was the ticket, and a hand warmer was a luxury if I could find it.
Didn't hunt out of a box blind until my late 20's.
Only thing I carried into the woods was my unscoped rifle, a pocket full of cartridges, a knife on my belt, and depending on where I was sitting I would take along binoculars.
Cell phones were non existent, and all phones were black with a dial, and receiver attached with a curly cord.
Almost all the rural gas stations carried 30-30, 30-06, .308, and .243 and most of the others were odd balls covered with a layer of dust.
People drove through town with the deer strapped across the hood, or hanging out of the back of the trunk or tailgate, parked at the gas station or BBQ joint.
Camo was a rare sighting and most wore the red and black plaid shirts and Elmer Fudd caps if you were a city slicker, or in the case of the locals, just plain old jeans, blue jean jacket and cowboy hat.

I remember hunting with a .303 british, deer stand was a couple pieces of 2x4 and small piece of plywood made into a lean-to and the feeder was an old garbage can with a mop stick to block the hole. You knew when a deer was there because they would bump that mopstick for the corn to fall out. Oh how things have changed.