Bob Peters
Well-known member
This post is not on a whim, been thinking of it for a long while. Was gonna wait, but after season the traffic here tapers off.
Here goes.
I think about the past a lot when I think of hunting. I wonder what it was like for my grandfather and his dad before him. I think about the old time pheasant drives, days when the corn was short, the rows were wide and full of foxtail and weedy cover. About hardware store single-shots being common and a time when the first model 12s, model 31s and Ithaca 37s showed up with shining blued barrels newly made in American factories. What it was like to be in Iowa or South Dakota, Minnesota or Michigan back when pheasants were thick and any farm boy could walk out the back door and shoot a rooster or two, or after school a kid could walk the railroad tracks home and kick up some birds. I could go on. I've already got a lot of pen to paper on this and other research I'll keep under my hat for now.
I started with my grandpa. Really both of them, but the truth is, by the time I followed a dog through cover or shot my first wild rooster they were no longer here to answer questions or tell of their hunts. At the heart of the matter what I'm looking to do is preserve some of America's pheasant hunting history. The first ever hunting seasons in the Midwest were roughly 100 years ago. I know those people are gone, but before it's too late I'd like to talk to some of the old timers who hunted a lot in their youth, and saw the early days of it all. If you know anyone with a story to tell or info to share and could get me in contact with them I would be so grateful. Please send me a message on here, drop an email address etc. Whether I end up with a bunch of notes, an article, a book or whatever, I'll be happy to share here. My time-frame is longer rather than shorter as I've got a full-time job etc.
Thank you for your help in this, it is very much appreciated and I'm grateful for any leads you can supply.
Here goes.
I think about the past a lot when I think of hunting. I wonder what it was like for my grandfather and his dad before him. I think about the old time pheasant drives, days when the corn was short, the rows were wide and full of foxtail and weedy cover. About hardware store single-shots being common and a time when the first model 12s, model 31s and Ithaca 37s showed up with shining blued barrels newly made in American factories. What it was like to be in Iowa or South Dakota, Minnesota or Michigan back when pheasants were thick and any farm boy could walk out the back door and shoot a rooster or two, or after school a kid could walk the railroad tracks home and kick up some birds. I could go on. I've already got a lot of pen to paper on this and other research I'll keep under my hat for now.
I started with my grandpa. Really both of them, but the truth is, by the time I followed a dog through cover or shot my first wild rooster they were no longer here to answer questions or tell of their hunts. At the heart of the matter what I'm looking to do is preserve some of America's pheasant hunting history. The first ever hunting seasons in the Midwest were roughly 100 years ago. I know those people are gone, but before it's too late I'd like to talk to some of the old timers who hunted a lot in their youth, and saw the early days of it all. If you know anyone with a story to tell or info to share and could get me in contact with them I would be so grateful. Please send me a message on here, drop an email address etc. Whether I end up with a bunch of notes, an article, a book or whatever, I'll be happy to share here. My time-frame is longer rather than shorter as I've got a full-time job etc.
Thank you for your help in this, it is very much appreciated and I'm grateful for any leads you can supply.