Remembering the Old Days

I was thinking - years ago I would go rabbit hunting with two of my buddies - we would drive up into northern Pennsylvania to do this - there were a lot of old abandoned farms in the area with overgrown fields separated by rock walls - rabbits were everywhere - you would end up shooting at 20 to 30 rabbits during the day - was great hunting - after being out all day and walking miles around kicking out rabbits we got a lot of exercise and fresh air - usually hunted until it got dark -

On the way home we would stop at a tavern in a small town (Skinners Eddy) along the Susquehana River - the place served food along with drinks - we would sit in some old soft booth have a couple draft beers then order something to eat - we usually got the same thing - steak, french fries and a salad - I remember the first time we went there and ordered - when the steak came it was so big it hung over the side of the plate - the fries and salad was also so large at first I thought one order was for the 3 of us - man we ate like kings - after a couple hours or so when it was times to head home we could hardly get our butts out of the soft booths - those were the days - when I think back that always reminds me how good hunting was in those days and how the cost of food was so cheap - I often wonder if the that tavern is still there - one of my buddies died a couple years ago and the other lives in Maryland somewhere -

When making the rabbits I would marinate it in a bowel filled with baking soda, vinegar, and picking spices then cook it in a gravy - usually had mashed potatoes and German cabbage with it - man that was good - folks that was the good old days - at the time thought they would never end -

When I was in my early teens my Uncle and I would go ocean fishing for flounder, mackerel and the odd Lobster. We usually got 4 or 5 flounder and a half dozen mackerel and 3 or 4 lobster (We called them Red Ones on the CB). On the way home we would stop at the restaurant for some snips and chips (clams and fries) as my Uncle called them and ordered the children's plate which was massive and could barely eat it all. Never did order the adult size. I think back then each plate was under 5 bucks.

I am pretty sure most boys started their hunting career's over cottontails and up here snow shoe hare. I started out with a beagle and remember lots of good hunts with a friend and the dog out in the snow hunting both types of rabbits in the one bush. There was even a few European hare in the edges of the bush and if the dog got on one of those you had a 2 hours wait until he brought it back your way. A whole day in the bush sure gave you an appetite for your packed sandwich and coffee. Getting rabbits was pretty easy back then as we did not have so many coyotes around, be hard to say how I would do today in that spot. Watching a puppy learn his trade in the bush was pretty good and he was also teaching me to hunt, I remember the look on the dog's face when he had chased a rabbit by me and I did not see it LOL

Moved to small game section. Seems a bit more appropriate, and the subject definitely isn't off topic.

Rabbits ya. They had pads packed down in the bush. Put some wire out. Shake and bake in the oven. Not many left. Coyote eat them.

I started with my dad when I was 13. Great times had back in those days. Lots of rabbits, quail, grouse and pheasants. but like the original post, when older we would stop for beers and lunch. But all that was a long time ago, gas was like 50 cents a gallon. case of beer under 5 bucks, boy have things changed. Feel for all the new hunters,

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Originally Posted by Gilroy

I am pretty sure most boys started their hunting career's over cottontails and up here snow shoe hare. I started out with a beagle and remember lots of good hunts with a friend and the dog out in the snow hunting both types of rabbits in the one bush. There was even a few European hare in the edges of the bush and if the dog got on one of those you had a 2 hours wait until he brought it back your way. A whole day in the bush sure gave you an appetite for your packed sandwich and coffee. Getting rabbits was pretty easy back then as we did not have so many coyotes around, be hard to say how I would do today in that spot. Watching a puppy learn his trade in the bush was pretty good and he was also teaching me to hunt, I remember the look on the dog's face when he had chased a rabbit by me and I did not see it LOL

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I started my hunting career completely backwards. I started by archery hunting bear and whitetail in my early teens. Infact I distinctly remember climbing treestands and following deer blood trails before I even learned to lace my boots because my dad is red colourblind in low light (awful convenient I know). And I remember wearing a little life jacket while catching bluegil and largemouth off cabin docks so I could clean them for dinner and use their carcasses for bear bait piles. I didn't even hunt any small game until maybe 5 years ago.

The good old days. I remember the Country Style in Collingwood first thing in the morning for the most tasty apple fritters. Then heading up the mountain for a woodcock hunt in an abandoned orchard. I remember like yesterday my first ever woodcock hunt in a long forgotten woodlot, now turned into homes, in Dufferin county. September 25th and the frost covered the landscape like snow. I shot my first ever woodcock that day.
What got me hooked to small game hunting was when my dad tagged me along on a jack rabbit hunt in October 1989. I had no license, I just walked alongside my dad or brother when a jack busted out of cover 2 ft in front me. I called out to my dad and he planned the the strategy to get the jack that hopped back into the bush. As I watched from a distance, my brother headed back into the bush and my dad posted between two bales of hay in the field. I think it took 5 minutes and the jack busted out of cover. My dad took 3 shots at the motoring jack when it finally fell. I WAS HOOKED FOR LIFE! My brother ended up shooting another on the next push plus a lonely snowshoe. Great times! I got my license two years later..... and the saga begins!

I started out when Grandpa thought I was old enough to carry his single-shot Cooey .22 whackin' Ghogs (and the odd Coyote) on his farm and the neighbor's farms. Back in those days,nobody would bat an eyelash at a couple of kids with rifles walking fence lines. For a pair of 8 year old first cousins,it was nirvana. We could take off as soon as morning chores were done and not come back til suppertime. Fast forward 60 years,it's still one of my greatest enjoyments I love the most.

Interesting how it was Dad or Grandpa who got us started - and Dad for me too. I started at about 10 with Dad hunting rabbits and carrying a .22. If I could carry the gun the whole trip without dragging it in the mud, I was allowed to shoot at a target at the end of the day. :)
In those days of course rabbits abounded. Only had to step out of our door and cross a dirt road to hunt. Now that road is a 5 lane highway - Wharncliffe Road South. Dad also got 2 sons trained to be great hunters too.
He raised and trained beagles which led to my great interest in gundogs and trialing.
Thank you Dad.

https://imgur.com/a/Ii6X3Qk