What Has Changed?

The difference? Money, mostly. I missed my first deer as a green kid with an old Mauser 98. When I fired, the 8-point I didn't see ran back through the drivers and almost ran over a fellow with a 30-40 Krag. He had just saved enough for a scope, but he fired point blank and missed! The next morning, he found a "bayonet" taped to his rifle. He was not amused. The deer I missed was killed on the next drive with a .35 Remington "corn sheller". Lots of wonderful rifles are debated on these forums--ain't it fun! As long as we remember that no magnum knock 'em dead will make you a hunter, we will do well. My shirt tail is still on the rafter of the "new" camp...built in 1943.
 
Money

Back when my grandfather was a kid in the NC mountains(1920's), many families only ate meat if they shot it. He put meat on the table hunting and trapping, there were few stores and little money. Hunting was a sustenance activity, not a sport.

Fast forward to today, when most folks think meat comes shrink-wrapped in Styrofoam trays. The majority of my friends have no idea how to cook, let alone process a deer carcass. We have more money now than in any time in history and a very well developed supply chain for our food. People are disconnected from the outdoors and where their food comes from. Hunting is a sport, quickly becoming a rich man's sport if you aren't lucky enough to live in a state with large public hunting areas.

As far as modern guns, camo, climbing stands, etc., well I know for a fact my grandfather would have used those things had they been available to him. He used a single barrel break action 12 ga and a Springfield .22 single shot that he and his brother saved all year for and ordered for $4.95 from the Sears Roebuck catalog. Later in life he was able to afford a Model 94 in .30-30. As another poster put it, they used what they had available and could afford, much like hunters today.
 
what would happen to all these gun and ammo manufacturers and magazines we all read if all the gun gurus printed that all anyone needs is a .22, a 30/30 and a 12 guage. the economy and the gun world as we know it would come to an end.
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thats exactly what i tell every new shooter and they always end up with something like 300wsm .17hmr and 20 gauge (like my brother hes 300 pounds and got a 20 gauge) and you never see them shooting them cause 1. they can not afford it. 2. they dont won't to scratch them. i mean theres some shooting rifles and some hunting rifles. in my mind by todays standards a good hunting rifle is a marlin xl7 a stevens 200 and the mossberg 100atr. because these rifles can be took through the brush, droped in the mud droped out of tree stands and still take that deer. now something nicer like a browning a bolt medallion .300 win mag. well seriously wouldnt you just die if it got scratched up?

im a firm beleaver in 30-30 but the guns are just to expensive now a new one is what 350-400$ for a marlin? a used winchester (post 64) is about the same. and you can get any of the 3 rifles i mentioned in just about any caliber for 300$ new? id take the bolt action.
 
re:Sportdog

I use all the latest technology and bring home the venison. I hunt deer from October 1 until January 1 with bow, shotgun, and muzzleloader. Call me crazy but give me that camo, scope sighted magnum, treestand, box blind, deer scents, etc and the results will speak for themselves.
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When nature calls, do use camo toilet paper too?;)
 
Lots of good thoughts here.
I believe that a lot of new stuff is bought to attempt to overcome shortcomings, real or perceived, in ones current gear. A ways back somebody actually posted that they had missed a deer. First time I guess I've ever seen that. Well, I have too. I was using a 30.06 and had nothing to blame but myself. (well me and iron sights).
What I'm getting at is if I had been using, say, a 30.30 and saw the bullet kick up dirt in front of the deer, I might have thought the round had too much drop at 100 yds and I need something flatter shooting instead of thinking, "Well I aimed wrong." or misjudged the range or whatever. I might think, "Hmmm, a .308 will fix that problem." I think some folks buy what I call "energy insurance" for a less than perfectly placed shot. And there might be some validity in that.
 
Whats changed is there's a bunch of cool new stuff to use. I like the idea of a kobra red dot sight on a saiga 308, as compared to a lever gun of any caliber. Nobody needs that to actually harvest deer, just personal taste. A lot of folks still like to use bow and arrow, muzzle loaders.

I've seen a pair of doe harvested with a 10/22, took less than 15 seconds to kill them both. It wouldnt be hard for any competent shooter to do that, but it is illegal in most places now.
 
Last 20 years has brought wide spread use of plastic stocked bolt action rifles. These rifles don't ring my bell but they're obviously very popular. Pricing for Marlin, Mossberg, and Howa bolt action plastic stocked rifles seem quite low to me compared to relative cost of living.

Don't be too worried that the glorious 30-30 is dying. More new rifles are available for this cartridge than ever before. Ammo has rec'd upgrade attention from Hornady to legitimize 225 yards shots at BIG mulies!

Amazingly, Ruger and Remington have spent vast sums to develop magnum hunting cartridges that will NEVER make the TOP 10 list. Yet writers can't pen enough crap about their perceived value. In contrast, 30-30, 243, 308, 270, 30-06 (no particular order) continue to outsell other ammo by extremely wide margins. The knowledgeable hunters who buy this "common" ammo are not in minority at all.

Jack

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