growing up in the 60' & 70's memory lane
 

thinking back to when I was a boy growing up in the 60's and early 70's just outside of Langdon AB, the population and growth has sure taken it all away
all the different breeds and types of dogs my family had, that I some how some way tried to incorporate as hunting dogs,
there was my faithful boarder collie she was the best cattle dog ever, but she would join me on hunting safaris for jack rabbits,
we also had a delmation and chessie, at the time, that Delmation ( its hard to find a Delmation with natural hunting abilities this day and age) was an awesome dog for finding Huns, and pheasants, the chessie was great to, also she was one heck of a retriever for waterfowl,
I also had a love for Beagles, and they were true rabbit dogs, that occasionally rousted up pheasants and huns,
those prairie road allowances , rr right of ways, irrigation canals, and fence lines were a smorgasbord, for a young boy with a single shot 22, or 410, or 20 gauge, and his dogs,
the miles we put on walking, and the different breeds and types of dogs I tried turning into hunting dogs, still amazes me some were really great natural hunters, like the delmation and chessie, & beagles for rabbits, some were just happy to be along for the walk , like my boarder collie,
there was no such thing as a truly trained hunting dog , and things like hunt tests, and, obedience classes,
one thing there wasn't was big game, but a boys imagination, with a little help from a once read story in out door life magazine from Jack O Connor could turn those jack rabbit hunts into an African safari easily enough,
what was it like for others while growing up in 60's and 70's

After I got my driver's license in the mid 60s a buddy and I would head east on 16th Ave. Just outside the city limits there were lots of sloughs where we had permission to shoot ducks. When the season opened there were lots of pheasants to be had even without a dog, however my buddy had an awesome black lab. A couple years earlier when I was about 14 and just started shooting we used to talk guns and shooting with one of our teachers who was an avid reloader and even mentioned reloading in science class. I remember him giving us a problem to solve. If you have a pound of powder which is 7000 grains and each load required 40 grains, how many loads per pound?

Times have changed:thinking-006:

we had a teacher at chestermere high , that was a big time hunter and gun nut
he would always bring his latest acquisitions of a new rifle or shotgun
in and call a Cpl of us in at lunch break to show us, we always thought we were in trouble, when he held us back at lunch time, another thing he would out of the blues was show up at the door Friday night to invite us on a duck or pheasant hunt, I still keep in touch with him

My dad used to take me out of school 2 days per year, my choice, to hunt with him. He wrote a note telling teacher that he was taking me hunting. Teacher sent me to the office to get principals OK.

Good ole Mr. Fredell was a bit suspicious of the note but gave his OK. When leaving his office he suddenly asked what type of gun I was going to use. I think he may have been trying to trick me,

I replied Model 12 Winchester 12 gauge with a 30 inch Nickel steel barrel. I was bit of a gun geek and knew everything about my gun. Mr Fredell just gave me a wink and a smile and said OK again:)

Monday night

Shooting .22’s with DND ammo in the basement of the junior high school. Guns and ammo stored in a locked closet. An actual range in the basement of a junior high school.

One thing i liked about Fairview

We all have hunting stories. I wonder how many kids these days could set points in a distributor with a match book?

Pellet rifle in hand, in the local store buying a handful of gum and a tin of pellets, old fella asks going hunting lad rubs my head and says good luck!

I wonder how many kids can even figure out how to open the hood on the vehicles today??

The light On the dash comes on and an audible warning too....off to the dealership for a 300 dollar lube, oil, filter, and rotation of tires.:snapoutofit:

When I was growing up I remember:

British Army on the streets
Vehicle checkpoints as a way of life
Getting searched every time you entered the downtown core
Paramilitary organizations controlling certain neigbourhoods in the city
Shootings and (car) bombings as regular occurrences
Bigotry and intolerance based solely on religion

Growing up with this (and more), I am so proud and grateful to be a Canadian and to enjoy the freedoms and opportunities this has afforded me.

Those of us that grew up here were and are truly blessed. We sometimes forget how lucky we were/are. Thanks for sharing.

I remember going down to the Police station every Sat. morning and shooting in the basement range with the Sea Cadets.

A fellow I know walked across the road from his school to the general store and bought a new .22 at lunch time. He then took it back to the school and at the end of the day took it home on the school bus with him. He was in grade 7.

I remember hunting coyotes with my AR-15, with a 20 round magazines. I remember riding my bicycle from the village to the farm, carrying a 22lr to shoot ground squirrels.

I attended high school in Sparwood BC. Home was halfway between Sparwood and Elkford. In shop class, some of us had a spotting scope set up by the windows to scan the hills for elk during break. I spotted a herd one day and asked my teacher permission to call my dad. Got permission for my dad to pick me up from school and go hunting. We never did make a connection as by the time we got there, they were gone. The parking lot in my school was populated with PU trucks with gun racks and guns in the back window. Also, many times we made it to school on our snowmobiles. I rode a 440 Silver Bullet. There were a few Scorpions, some El-Tigre, Panthers, Cheetahs, Ski-Roule, and many others no longer in existence. And, we had truly great rock music and awesome stereo equipment. I truly miss those days. :(

Awesome story!!!

I grew up in the 90’s. We had bad music, terrible music and ugly vehicles. :(

We used to dirt bike and snowmobile to school and for a while I was driving a super Beetle 25 miles to schoolwith about 10 of those that followed a twisting river - that was fun!:sHa_shakeshout:
Hitchhiking with my buddy when we were kids with bows and .22's all kinds of stuff that would bring the law down on you today but was taken for granted then.!:)
Cat

High School with a gun range
 

Eastglen Comp. in Edmonton did have a gun range in the basement. The gun club had (guestimate here 6 or 8) 22's, and we would bang away. I believe the shop Teacher was old time ex military and he was our Instructor.
I very much doubt if it still a viable range!!

60's/70's
 

Oh God,flashbacks......

*Walking across the train tracks to the local Cafe' with a written note from mom to buy her a pack of "Blackcat" smokes for 58 cents.

* Sitting in front of the black and white TV watching the news of JFK's assassination.

*Taking my BB gun and heading over to the 7 grain elevators to hunt sparrows and pigeons (and the odd wild cat).

*Our first color TV and watching the new car ads featuring the 70's Duster 340 and the Hemi Cuda.

*Moving to a small farm. Catching the school bus on the dirty dusty roads in the summer and getting to take the (Ski-Doo)Silver Bullet 340 to school in the winter.

* Learning how to trap rats and weasels on my first (so called) trap line.

*The country party phone line, one long two short rings. Talking to friends on a land line with all the neighbors listening.

*Having the Steven 58 12ga shotgun and cooey 22 in the front closet to take care of the magpies and coyotes that came into the yard.

Oh life was so much easier and real then.

Excellent thread. Thanks for the memories.:)

In the late 50,s and early 60,s , When Frenchy,s was on 9 av. east, one could rent a shot gun and buy a box of shells and head out east of forest lawn and shoot ducks.

That sounds a lot like my youth growing up in Manitoba chasing sharp tails hungarians ruffies usually had Labs though and can't forget the waterfowl hunting in the Interlake areas are Whitetail seasons were closed for three years from 75 to 78 so I didn't shoot my first big game till I was 19

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

Walking to school with the cooey 410, hunted grouse on the way there. Handed it into the office, picked it up after school and repeat the walk. On the days I wasn't the old man's farm hand, take the cooey and be gone the whole day in the bush. I was around 10 or 11. I think us kids of the 60"s and 70's where the last of those times. Wonder what memories of freedom today's kids will have?

Reading all these old stories is depressing when you see how good it used to be and what it has deteriorated to today.

Gun rack in the back window of Dad's pick up.

No quads, and not many trikes.

Using a wheel barrow to pack out a moose.

Walking in to the local Mcleod's store and picking up shot shells or any ammunition for that matter right off the shelf.

No draws for antlered moose, or any antlered game if I recall correctly.

Maybe not so much a '60's or 70's thing, but in '74 at 12 years old having a beer with Dad and some uncles after the first moose of the hunt was hanging on the game pole! This one will stay with me till my last breath.

BW

IIRC in the early to mid 60s a general big game license was issued with one tag which could be used for male moose, elk or deer where there was an open season and antlerless for a few days near the end of season. A white tail tag was an extra in some areas and antelope was for either sex and license was not restricted to specific wmus and was available on a write in request and draw.

I got my first bird license when I was 13. I had to say I was 14. Cost $5.00. I think my first big game license also cost $5.00.

Thanks 1899b. How times have changed. Back in those days when we had firearms in the truck gun rack, rode our sleds to school, we'd never hear of mass shootings in schools, knifes being pulled to settle a dispute. Nope, if we had issues with another kid, it was settled with the appendages that God gave us, ended up with fat lips or black eyes. And most times, we became friends after the dust settled. :)

The cost of living. I purchased a bear tag at a Turbo gas station in Sparwood for 50 cents. I remember vividly as I've had that bear rug up until a few years ago until my Pomeranian decide it was his pee carpet. :sign0176:

No kidding eh!. I'm so happy to have grown in the era and have such fond memories...alas. :)

Not to derail a great thread. But this is what gun control has taken away from us.

BW