Childhood Memories

[piemaker720]

Originally Posted by Pocahontas

Even when I was a child my Daddy had a gun that he kept in a locked drawer.
I'm sure glad he did because he was a city slicker and wouldn't have a clue what to do with it.
On the other side of the family my mother's father was the town sheriff.
He was always cautious around us and only wore the gun if he was on duty. Of course we were never allowed to touch or go near it! I'm just surprised at how openly exposed to guns you were.

It is just not me. Country folks back years ago taught their kids what to touch and what not to. You don't remember ever seeing guys in pick-ups driving around with guns hanging on a rack in the window. The thing is they kept their guns there even when they were at home. I was hunting with my dad at the ageof 9 or 10 and we had our own gun a 410. We learned to shoot it and when not to. That was a way of life and I thinkthe now years are alot weirder than 30 years ago. We I was coon hunting, we use to go down a dirt road stick kitchen matches up in the sand and shoot them. If you could light the match then you could shoot a coon, because to sell the fur it needed to be shot in the head if it was shot anywhere else the hide was not as valueable. The matches developed very good aim.

[Pocahontas]

I do remember during deer season my brother and his friends having guns in their vehicles but that's the only time I saw them in there.

[joepole]

I have discharged a gun inside my parents' house. A squirrel climbed in their dryer vent and chewed his way out into their laundry room. He ate most of the trim off the windows before I finally showed up to kill him. I figured .22 shorts inside a brick house was safe enough but it was, in fact, against the law.

[Pocahontas]

Apparently I'm the only one on this thread who hasn't discharged a firearm inside a home or building! Wow this surprises me! Guess I just don't have any Ellie Mae in me except for loving critters!

[purpahurl]

Originally Posted by Pocahontas

Apparently I'm the only one on this thread who hasn't discharged a firearm inside a home our building! Wow this surprises me! Guess I just don't have any Ellie Mae in me except for loving critters!

Come on Pokie, try it you'll like it, everyones doing it.

[Texasbelle]

You are not alone Pokie. I've never discharged a gun inside a building. It appears we are the smart two here.

[rhertz]

I remember as a kid the troopers would put on an indoor gun exhibit at the state fair. The shooter would fire his revolver and slice a card in two, pop balloons, shoot backwards using a mirror, and all sorts of stuff that is probably illegal nowadays.

[Al Swearengen]

Originally Posted by piemaker720

It is just not me. Country folks back years ago taught their kids what to touch and what not to. You don't remember ever seeing guys in pick-ups driving around with guns hanging on a rack in the window. The thing is they kept their guns there even when they were at home. I was hunting with my dad at the ageof 9 or 10 and we had our own gun a 410. We learned to shoot it and when not to. That was a way of life and I thinkthe now years are alot weirder than 30 years ago. We I was coon hunting, we use to go down a dirt road stick kitchen matches up in the sand and shoot them. If you could light the match then you could shoot a coon, because to sell the fur it needed to be shot in the head if it was shot anywhere else the hide was not as valueable. The matches developed very good aim.

Yeah, it was a common sight to see pickup drivers with long guns on a rack in their rear window. I'm not sure why we dont see that much these days. I wouldnt do it just because I'd worry someone would break into my truck and steal it. Maybe we'd see a renaissance if someone came out with a window rack that locked the gun securely. BTW Pie, what sort of gun were you shootin at the matches with? I could see ya doin that with a .22 rifle, but if ya can do it with a .410 shotgun ya just impressed the hell out of me!

[piemaker720]

Originally Posted by Al Swearengen

Yeah, it was a common sight to see pickup drivers with long guns on a rack in their rear window. I'm not sure why we dont see that much these days. I wouldnt do it just because I'd worry someone would break into my truck and steal it. Maybe we'd see a renaissance if someone came out with a window rack that locked the gun securely. BTW Pie, what sort of gun were you shootin at the matches with? I could see ya doin that with a .22 rifle, but if ya can do it with a .410 shotgun ya just impressed the hell out of me!

Al it was most definitely the .22 because you had to be able to shot that coon between the eyes in the dark. It was good pratice. The .410 was first squirrel gun. Then I went to a .16 guage the on up. Old saying first crawl then walk, but I loved every minute. I have done every kind of hunting and fishing around this part. I use to kill a rabbit then go to the lake, clean it , build a fire, put some sticks up, a little salt and pepper then roast it over open fire. So good it would make you want to slap your mama.

[Al Swearengen]

Originally Posted by piemaker720

Al it was most definitely the .22 because you had to be able to shot that coon between the eyes in the dark. It was good pratice. The .410 was first squirrel gun. Then I went to a .16 guage the on up. Old saying first crawl then walk, but I loved every minute. I have done every kind of hunting and fishing around this part. I use to kill a rabbit then go to the lake, clean it , build a fire, put some sticks up, a little salt and pepper then roast it over open fire. So good it would make you want to slap your mama.

LOL, you're my kind of gal, Pie. Talk about self-sufficiency! Give her a gun and a knife and she could live off the land! One time when we were kids, my younger brother, a few of his friends and myself went campin in the area behind Curtis Elementary...must've been 26 or 27 years ago. When mornin came, we hadn't brought any food along with us, so my brother took a few regular old blackbirds with his .22, cleaned em, roasted em on a spit over an open fire, and although I was a bit apprehensive about it, we ate em. And I'll tell ya, I dont know if we were just hungry or what, but they sure tasted great. Hell, Pie, I bet ya could even make a fire without matches, lighters or a magnesium bar. Which reminds me of another childhood memory...I'd get the magnifyin glass from my dad's desk and go lay out on the sidewalk, burnin ants or whatever hapless insect happened to catch my eye. Or I'd get some tissue or notebook paper and set it afire with the glass. Got to be pretty good at it. These days, I carry a small Bausch & Lomb Tri-Lense multipower pocket magnifyin glass in my manpurse, which is about the size of a large marble ...just in case. If you're really smart and ya dont mind partin with about $70, Victorinox makes a Swiss Army Knife called "The Champ", and among other useful tools, it has a magnifyin glass. A nice lil investment that just might save your life one of these days. I carried one in my army days, but the damned thing grew some legs and I never saw it again.

[piemaker720]

Originally Posted by Al Swearengen

LOL, you're my kind of gal, Pie. Talk about self-sufficiency! Give her a gun and a knife and she could live off the land! One time when we were kids, my younger brother, a few of his friends and myself went campin in the area behind Curtis Elementary...must've been 26 or 27 years ago. When mornin came, we hadn't brought any food along with us, so my brother took a few regular old blackbirds with his .22, cleaned em, roasted em on a spit over an open fire, and although I was a bit apprehensive about it, we ate em. And I'll tell ya, I dont know if we were just hungry or what, but they sure tasted great. Hell, Pie, I bet ya could even make a fire without matches, lighters or a magnesium bar. Which reminds me of another childhood memory...I'd get the magnifyin glass from my dad's desk and go lay out on the sidewalk, burnin ants or whatever hapless insect happened to catch my eye. Or I'd get some tissue or notebook paper and set it afire with the glass. Got to be pretty good at it. These days, I carry a small Bausch & Lomb Tri-Lense multipower pocket magnifyin glass in my manpurse, which is about the size of a large marble ...just in case. If you're really smart and ya dont mind partin with about $70, Victorinox makes a Swiss Army Knife called "The Champ", and among other useful tools, it has a magnifyin glass. A nice lil investment that just might save your life one of these days. I carried one in my army days, but the damned thing grew some legs and I never saw it again.

Whe I was probably 7 we use to camp out on Black Lake. We didn't have tents, it was a mosquito bar with cots under it. Then dad built a camp with a screened it cook shed seperate for fish frying. I use to get in the alumiun boat and paddle down the channel fishing. Kept the baby brim for the drop hooks and trot lines, when I would get too far away dad would come in another boat and pull us back closer to the camp. Damn if I still don't prefer an alumium boat over a big rig to this day My dad has a bass rig and he tells me to drive it but I say no because I can get into places with the littler boat that the bass boat can't. My brother went out in his ski boat one time while I was fishing in the alumium boat. His boat quit and I pulled him back to shore with nothing but a trolling motor. Another time I was out fishing and vetured too far for the trolling motor because the battery died so I started paddling. Damn if I didn't get caught in a rain storm and all I could do was laugh, it was so funny. Got wet but I laugh.

[rhertz]

Originally Posted by Al Swearengen

Yeah, it was a common sight to see pickup drivers with long guns on a rack in their rear window. I'm not sure why we dont see that much these days. I wouldnt do it just because I'd worry someone would break into my truck and steal it.

Back in the day, putting a shotgun or rifle in the rear window rack was no beig deal. Other popular items for the pickup rear window included fishing poles, leather bull whips, and cattle prods if you came from way out in the country...

The worst thing I ever saw was called the "Cowboy Cuspidore" manufactured by Hodges Enterprises here in Shreveport. It was a mod for your pickup truck. Basically it was a spitoon for tobacco chewers with a drainage tube so you never had to empty it! LOL, do they still make Red Man!?

[Al Swearengen]

Originally Posted by rhertz

Back in the day, putting a shotgun or rifle in the rear window rack was no beig deal. Other popular items for the pickup rear window included fishing poles, leather bull whips, and cattle prods if you came from way out in the country...

The worst thing I ever saw was called the "Cowboy Cuspidore" manufactured by Hodges Enterprises here in Shreveport. It was a mod for your pickup truck. Basically it was a spitoon for tobacco chewers with a drainage tube so you never had to empty it! LOL, do they still make Red Man!?

Man...your mention of "Red Man" brings back some good memories! I chewed Red Man Wintergreen for years...finally had to give it up. Just a whiff of it'll take me back.

[rhertz]

Originally Posted by Al Swearengen

Man...your mention of "Red Man" brings back some good memories! I chewed Red Man Wintergreen for years...finally had to give it up. Just a whiff of it'll take me back.

I can proudly say that I never had a chew of Red Man.. I tried once, but I just couldn't do it. But I did dip snuff once or twice as a young'n... Or maybe I snorted it!

[Al Swearengen]

Originally Posted by rhertz

I can proudly say that I never had a chew of Red Man.. I tried once, but I just couldn't do it. But I did dip snuff once or twice as a young'n... Or maybe I snorted it!

Yeah, I used to dip "Hawken" wintergreen...more memories. Yeah, theres that ultra-fine ground snuff powder for snortin...I could never get into that.