From family heirlooms to sporterized military surplus rifles, the guns that hunters carry always tell a story. You can see that in the following vintage photos, these men and women pose not just with their winter’s meat, but also with the tool that helped bring home the bacon. Enjoy this trip down memory lane.
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At their cabin on the Williams Fork River in northwestern Colorado, these men each have a dog and a rifle—it isn’t clear which one they like more. Rifles from left to right are a Winchester Model 1885 single-shot rifle, a Mauser bolt-action repeater, and a Ballard No. 5 Pacific single-shot rifle.
Grancel Fitz was a hunting legend. A writer and commercial photographer who lived in New York City, Fitz traveled the wilds of North America with a .30-06 Remington Model 30. Here, with signature pipe and rifle, he poses with an incredibly wide typical elk from Blind Basin, Wyoming.
The name Augusta “Gusty” Wallihan evoked fear in Colorado mule deer in the late 1800s. Gusty was a crack shot with her .40-70 Remington-Hepburn single shot and didn’t mind posing for photos in her Sunday best.
On the porch of a cabin in Cedar Lake, Ontario, Francis Buckley shows off his typical whitetail that scored 160-3/9 points. He killed it with a .348 Winchester Model 71.
5 of 10 — Montana 1927
With a 53-2/8 spread, Paul H. Temple’s elk was one for the books. His son entered the elk years later. He killed the Jefferson County bull with a Savage Model 99.
Hunting near Dallas Divide in Ouray County, Colorado, Sophie N. Golden shot this non-typical mule deer in mid-September 1911. Boone and Crockett's records indicate that she was shooting a 170-grain bullet with her custom 32-inch .32-40 Winchester made in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1894.
This massive grizzly had paws eight inches wide and fat on its rump five inches thick. R.H. Johnson was hunting the Iskut River country when he used his .300 Savage to kill this bear with a bullet between the eyes—at eight feet.
Lavonne M. Bucey-Bredehoeft was only 12 years old when this whopper non-typical mule deer stepped in front of a bullet from her Springfield .30-06. It scored 269 points and weighed more than 357 pounds field dressed.
Even without brow tines, W. E. Canterbury’s typical mule deer is an absolute stud at 203-4/8 points. He was hunting the West Creek area near Howard, Colorado, with his .30-40 Winchester in October.
Vintage Photos and Memorabilia from the Boone and Crockett Club Archives
Sportsmen with an eye for the good ol’ days of big game hunting will delight in B&C’s visually stunning book focusing on the iconic mule deer of the West with hundreds of vintage photographs and score charts.
We’ve all heard it before…a picture is worth a thousand words. This couldn’t be truer with the release of Boone and Crockett Club’s book on the history of hunting featuring page after page of remarkable photographs of our hunting heritage dating back to the late 1800s.
$250.00
Only 1 left in stock
Regular Price: $250.00
Leather spine with handmade paper on the front and back covers
The Pursuit of Big Game for Life, Profit, and Sport, 1800-1900
By Richard C. Rattenbury
Experience the grandeur, excitement, and peril of the quest for big game in the West from 1800-1900 in this vivid interpretation with engaging narrative, direct quotations, and historic imagery.